Dear friends,

We, along with representatives of the Hakki Pikki community who were part of making the film, are
delighted to invite you for the Bangalore release of our film

“Sikkidre Shikari, Illdidre Bhikari” (BirdTrapper or Beggar!)

Date: Saturday, July 22 2017

Time: 5.30 p.m

Venue: Chamundeshwari Studio No.48/3, Millers Tank Bund Road, Millers Road, Bangalore 560051,
Opp.to Al Ameen Hospital

We are also honoured to have Prof G.N Devy grace the occasion with his presence and release the
film.

About Prof Devy:
A former professor of English at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, he is a renowned
literary critic and activist as also founder director of the Bhasha Research and Publication Center,
Vadodara and Adivasi Academy at Tejgadh, Gujarat established to create a unique educational
environment for the study of tribal communities, particularly the denotified and nomadic tribes. He
has worked extensively on the conservation of the history, languages and views of oppressed
communities in the Indian state of Gujarat. He also initiated the unique People’s Linguistic Survey of
India (PLSI) envisioned as a survey rooted in people’s perception of language. He was a recipient of
the Padma Shri in 2014. He was also awarded the Sahitya Academy Award for his extensive writings,
that he returned in October 2015 as a mark of protest and in solidarity with other writers who saw “a
threat to Indian democracy, secularism and freedom of expression and “growing intolerance
towards differences of opinion.”

About the film:
It is a journey that perhaps began decades ago and a film that has been many years in the making.
The Hakki Pikkis are a free spirited nomadic tribe who began their wandering many generations ago
in the North Western part of the Indian subcontinent.
Over time they traveled through and settled in different states of the country.
As they moved, they survived through trapping birds and hunting small game in the forests and
selling them in cities and towns along with lucky charms and trinkets. If the trap failed, begging was
the next best bet!

Exiled from the forest, reviled by the city, their traditional ways of life outlawed, the Hakki Pikkis
share their stories of wit and survival in the film that emerged through a series of community
conversations held when we travelled with friends from a settlement in Bannerghatta, Bangalore to
other settlements across Karnataka.

Warm wishes
Vinod Raja/ Madhu Bhushan/George Kutty