Dressed in a shimmering white saree and wearing heavy artificial jewellery, this Lavani dancer catches everybody’s attention at a musical evening organised to mark the 40th anniversary of the Paraplegic Foundation. She waits near the stage, her ghoongat covering her face. She unveils herself only once on stage, a charming lavani dancer with arched eyebrows and arms smooth as a baby’s.

But a closer look reveals that the dancer playing a flirtatious damsel was actually a well-built man, Sunil Gujara (27), for whom dancing is a passion. And he is passionate enough about lavani, which he has been practising since the age of seven, to tweeze his eyebrows and depilate his arms.

Gujara, whose day job is at a unisex beauty parlour, is no cross-dresser. He is a key member of troupe called ‘Bin Baykancha Tamasha’ which literally means tamasha, (another way to describe the traditional Marathi folk dance) minus women. Even though he earns a paltry Rs 500 per show ¿ the shows are staged for very respectable audiences with a taste for rural folk forms — Gujara is happiest when he’s dancing.

And it’s only when he’s not dancing that you realize Gujara is also hearing impaired. Once organizers reveal this little detail, members of the audiences actually begin to send in donations. “I was not born deaf. At the age of four, a friend pushed me and I fell on the ground. Due to some complications, I turned completely deaf,” says Gujara, who can speak with some difficulty and some assistance from his “masterji”.

Anil Vasudevan, his dance trainer and long-time guide, says those surprised by the fact that he does not skip a single beat despite his disability says they should watch him lip-sync in Marathi, despite being a Gujarati. “Generally, deaf people learn only one language and that predominantly is their mother tongue. But he understands Marathi and Hindi as well,” says Vasudevan. “He is also quick at completing his make up and getting dressed, all by himself. If he’s late, he’ll start his make-up in the taxi itself.”

The troupe, all male, has performed 500 shows across Maharashtra. Gujara has been performing on stage for seven years now.

“All the other male members can hear. They are a cosmopolitan bunch, Muslims, Punjabis, Gujaratis. Sunil is a huge plus point for my group,” says Vasudevan, who has pledged to revive the traditional style that is slowly fading even in rural Maharashtra.

“Many women come up to us and say that though their children are normal, they goof up on stage all the time. Sunil is so perfect,” he adds proudly.