The occupations of the Dhimar are many and various. He is primarily
a fisherman and boatman, and has various kinds of nets for taking
fish. One of these is of triangular shape about 150 feet wide at
the base and 80 feet in height to the apex. The meshes vary from
an inch wide at the top to three inches at the bottom. The ends of
the base are weighted with stones and the net is then sunk into a
river so that the base rests on its bed and the top is held by men
in boats at the surface. Then other Dhimars beat the surface of the
water for some distance with long bamboos on both sides of the net,
driving the fish towards it. They call this a _kheda_, the term used
for a beat of the forest for game.
Another method is to stretch a long rope or cord across the river,
secured on either bank, with baited hooks attached to it at short
intervals. It is left for some hours and then drawn in. When the river
is shallow one wide-bottomed boat will be paddled up the stream and a
line of men will wade on each side beating the water with bamboos so
as to make the small fish jump into the boat. Or they put a little
cotton-seed on a stone in shallow water, and when the fish collect
to eat the seed a long circular net weighted with pieces of iron
is let down over the stone. Then the upper end is drawn tight and
the fishermen put their hands inside and seize the little fish. The
Dhimar is also regularly employed as a worker on ferries. His primitive
boat made from the hollowed trunk of a tree and sometimes lashed in
couples for greater stability may still be seen on all rivers. He makes
his own fishing-nets, knitting them on a stick at his leisure while
he is walking along or sitting down to smoke and talk. He worships
his fishing-nets at the Diwali festival, and his reverence for the
knitted thread is such that he will not touch or wear a shoe made of
thread, because he thinks that the sacred article is debased by being
sewn into leather. When engaged in road-work the Dhimars have unsewn
sandals secured to the feet with strips of leather. It is a special
degradation to a Dhimar to be struck with a shoe. He has a monopoly
of growing _singara_ [544] or water-nuts in tanks. The fruit of this
plant has a taste somewhat between a cocoanut and a potato, with a
flavour of soap. It can be taken raw and is therefore a favourite
comestible for fast days when cooked food is forbidden. It is also
sold at railway stations and the fresh fruit is prescribed by village
doctors as easy of digestion. The Dhimar grows melons, cucumbers and
other vegetables on the sandy stretches along the banks of streams,
but at agriculture proper he does not excel.