Rejected by his family for being a khoti, (effeminiate man who takes the female role in sex with men) Bashkar was taken in by a brothel. As a young boy he suffered from fits. A pilgrimage to Yellamma’s temple in Saundatti cured him, so he decided to become a Jogappa. Now a famous guru in the Sangli area, his father has welcomed him back and given him land to build a temple to Yellamma.