Who Is Gulabo Sapera? Buried Alive As A Newborn, Engaged At 9 But Defied Odds To Become Pride Of India

A Woman from a small town in Rajasthan survived unimaginable odds and emerged as a famous folk dancer making a mark on the world stage by enchanting audiences globally. Gulabo Sapera, a Kalbelia (folk dance of Rajasthan) dancer was born in 1973 in Rajasthan's Pushkar. 
Spaera, born in a nomadic family in Rajasthan, was buried alive just an hour after her birth. She was rescued by her aunt and mother only to become a sensational folk dancer and become the pride of the country.

Gulabo Sapera's Real Name And Story

Gulabo was born Dhanvantari. She got this name due to being born on the auspicious day of "Dhanteras" which marks the 13th lunar day of the Hindu calender's Month of Kartik in Krishna Paksha. At the time of her birth, she was taken away by the midwives and buried alive in the woods as her mother already had 3 daughters and the people of her community were against the little girl's life.

Gulabo's mother was not even informed about the sex of the child and when she came to know that her newborn was taken away, she begged the members of her community to tell the little girl's location. Gulabo's aunt told her mother her location and both the sister went to the jungle to rescue the newborn.

Beginning of Gulabo Sapera's Famous Kalbelia Dance 

Gulabo, who grew up around snakes and saw snakes dancing to the tunes of her snake charmer father, was just 2 years old when she also started dancing. When she grew up, she was taken to various places to perform by some women in her community to earn money. However, their behaviour towards her remain cruel and she was treated badly by the member of the community despite being at the centre of attraction.

Gulabo's fate took a turn in 1981 when she grabbed the attention of a government official at a fair where she was performing the Kalbelia dance with her group. However, as soon as the people of her community came to know about her recognition by the officials and her performance in the fair, her father was called by the panchayat members and told to get his daughter married. After this episode, Gulabo who was just 9 years old, was engaged to a man who was 35 years of age. However, the man called off the engagement after he saw that Gulabo was too much into Kalbelia dance.

After 10 -15 days of this incident, Gulabo was called to perform at Jaipur's Ram Bagh and the rest is history. In 1985 Gukabo performed on the international stage in Washington. In 2016, Gulabo was honoured with India’s fourth-highest civilian award Padma Shri for her outstanding contribution to enhancing India’s folk dance culture.