The Barpali Days

This blog is the Facebook of Barpali which picturise its "life" and "culture". It was a "palli" or a village a century back where the all time great Oriya poet swabhaba kabi Gangadhar Meher had taken birth. Now this bustling little town is renowned world-over for the weaving of Sambalpuri ikat handloom fabrics. Agriculture is its prime economy. And when you happen to visit this little town don't miss to taste Chaul bara.

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Dec 13, 2011

Ikat Tour of Barpali by a French Lady


Our impression about our culture, lifestyle and ourselves remains mundane until we get to realize the contrary, when we meet foreigners.
A professor of Priti Rao(England) had suggested Nadia a French national that she should visit Barpali if she was keen on witnessing the world’s finest craftsmanship of tie-and-dye i.e. ikat handloom fabrics. I received a mail from Nadia on November 17, 2011 conveying to me her eagerness to visit this small town of Odisha (India). Barpali is bestowed with quite a few highly accomplished living ikat artisans. On the day following, she had called me and inquired about how to reach Barpali. After some conversation about her itinerary, I assured her, “I shall take care of everything, as you are alien to this land”.
She had requested me to book the train tickets, an A\c car and the hotel accommodation at Bargarh for her. On November 27, 2011, I got off to Bhubaneswar to escort her as she was an elderly lady and travelling alone. I reached Bhubaneswar late night and went to Mayfair Convention. She was waiting for me. She greeted me with a warm welcome and showed my suite.  Early next morning I was awaked by an attendee with a hot cup of tea. Early next  morning we reached Bhubaneswar railway station as par the schedule time. However, on reaching the railway station and on seeing the din, hustle and bustle there, she apprehended how tough and trying would be her stay in Odisha for the next couple of days.

No sooner our train had entered the station and stopped on the platform, there was a mad rush of the commuters to get inside the bogies, particularly in the non-a/c ones. I felt relieved to note that the rush at the A/C coaches were not so restrictive. As we waited for our turn to board the train Nadia suddenly announced desperately, “I am not going to board this train. Let’s go back to the hotel. We shall ride a taxi to Bargarh. I pleaded her not to change the travel plan at that eleventh hour and to board the train. I said “Please….please…… let’s board the train. Once you get inside and settle down in your seat you would definitely feel better !” And the idea worked.
I asked her to follow me close. I pushed forward the passengers while carrying the luggage and made our way in. It was a herculean task, indeed. Thankfully we boarded the train and lumbered to our seats. I began setting our luggage underneath the seats when she suddenly let out a shrill yell. Startled, I turned at once in a great panic. She was pointing her finger towards a cockroach  on the floor.
I couldn’t help stop a mild smile on my face and shooed away this ticketless traveller which, I knew, was just a stray one, out of a whole army of them in the bogie. She cautiously settled in her assigned seat by the window. Not very long thereafter the train began rolling out of the platform and her curious eyes began surveying everything outside the window that passed by. I was happy to see that she was relatively easy and comfortable now.
Our travel to our destination was of long seven hours duration. I felt smug that we had boarded the cool air-conditioned chair car which was elite by the local standards. I was happy when Nadia began conversing with me. She said, she wishes to conduct an exhibition of ikat handloom fabrics in a gallery back in Paris.  I assured that, I would introduce her to some of the finest Ikat weavers that we got at Barpali.
We detrained at Bargarh railway station sometime around noon. After coming out of the station we got into a cab that was waiting to pick and drop us at a hotel. It was a brand new AC cab with swanky upholstery and lavishly loaded with all latest car accessories.
There were many hotels in the town, but they were not as aristocratic as Hotel Mayfair Convention at Bhubaneswar. However, I had booked a room for her at Ganpati Hotel. But I was apprehensive, “What if she didn’t like the room? What if it wasn’t clean enough?” A bell-boy guided us to the room. He opened the door, and ushered her into the room. To me the room looked perfect; everything had been arranged neatly as I had mentioned to the manager to take special care as it would be occupied by a lady tourist from France. But my heart sank when she said “I don’t like this room.”
We moved to Oriental Hotel. She inspected the room herself before checking in. I was relieved when she uttered, “Kiran, I shall manage for two nights, but I only trust it is not infested with rats and cockroaches. Since I shall be paying the room rent I wouldn’t like to share the room with anybody else.” I realized how unprofessional our people are in their respective businesses. My national pride went for a toss. However, I smiled back lest she would think I felt offended. Here was someone who was willing to spend, but we didn’t have the adequate resources to serve.
After a light lunch we proceeded to Bandhapali village, a small village where Priti Rao did the project work for her Ph.D. Hardly we were just three kilometers short of our destination I noticed a frown on her face. The drive was extremely bumpy despite the fact we had the latest SUV. We were travelling on a fair-weather mud track. She asked “Kiran, I have travelled extensively in Kerala and Rajasthan, but I haven’t  seen such pathetic roads out there?” I smiled and jokingly replied, “You probably didn’t try camel ride in Rajasthan! These bumps you got here were similar to the jhatkas(kicks) you would get if you have travelled while mounting on top of a camel in Rajasthan.” I knew it was a poor joke, but that made her laugh out loud.
We met Bharat Meher, an ikat designer at Bandhapali, at the weaving branch of Samablpuri Bastralaya. She was quite impressed with the Ikat designs and was all praises for them. She picked a couple of dupattas. On the day that followed she visited Barpali where she was pleased to meet the world renowned Ikat weaver Bhagabana Meher. She made hefty purchases of Ikat fabrics and clothes. She suddenly realized that her Indian currencies have been exhausted. She asked  Bhagaban Meher if he would accept Euros. But this weaver looked at me with an utter confusion and humbly asked, “What a Euro is, Sir ?” I tried to narrate in local language as “bideshi tanka” which literally means “Foreign Money”. Bhagabana Meher asked “heta kene bhanjami agyan” ? Which literally means, where shall I go to exchange them, Sir ? Shri Meher expressed his inability as there was no way he could get the foreign money exchanged locally.
She was much at ease and joyful from the second day onwards only after meeting this master weaver at Barpali and checking his designs. She was overwhelmed so much that she forgot all the hardships she had undertaken to explore this corner of the planet earth. For three days she survived solely on bananas for food, even though Hotel Oriental serves good cuisine. Seeing her love for bananas on the third day I went to a fruit vendor to buy some bananas for her. The banana vendor extracted a hefty Rs. 25 for a dozen from me instead of the normal price of Rs. 15 as he saw me pulling up at his stall in a luxurious Tavera (Chevrolet) car instead of my usual Hero cycle. From the way I inspected the quality of the banana the vendor had sensed that I was buying for my foreigner guest only he had seen me with earlier. The locals do not spare a chance of making some good extra bucks taking advantage of the ignorance and innocence of the foreign tourists. Not many tourists from abroad however visit this place.
She had a whirlwind trip in and out of Bargarh all through the three days that she spent here. Though she wanted to visit the all blind Bhulia Meher family of Barpali, she had to drop the idea due to her very tight schedule. However, she did forward an envelope carrying a token of her love for them. I was glad and felt very proud of our ikat artisans when Nadia said, that she was carrying with her the heritage of our ikat fabrics.

On return she asked me to accompany her till Bhubaneswar.  I travelled in a SUV. Somewhere at evening we reached Trident Hotel. It’s a unit of The Oberoi Group of Hotels. She had booked online a suite for me too. Possibly, never before I enjoyed such luxury in life. At evening she hosted a sumptuous dinner for me. 
kiranbima@gmail.com

E. KIRAN MOHAN,
C\o. Dr.E.R.Rao (M.D),
Tehsil Chowk,
At\PO – BARPALI – 768 029,
Dist. Bargarh, Odishsa, India.
Cell # +918249314972 

43 comments:

  1. Good to see u with paris beauty and good going

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  2. Dada,

    Again one more heart touching exp from your end, barpali re thai kari ete sundar jinis manku catch karbar ta au tahake lekha re prakas karbar ta gute bahut baad katha aye, i am really happy to and excited to read these articles rather all real stories.

    Sameer Panda

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  3. what a beautyfull heart touching writing style....!

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  4. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  5. nice story... and keep up the good work. Proud of u.

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  6. It is a matter of honour for we the Indians to have the tourist like Nadia from Paris to a little known place of Orissa.

    But felt sorry to know about the trouble she had undergone during her stay here.

    But we are looking forward for her visit again.


    Loved reading your article.

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  7. Good one...we need more and more like Mr Kiran in the ground level. I am pleased to know that unlike Chaturbhuja Meher Kiran Dada introuced Sambalpuri Sadhi (not Odishi Sadhi) to a Bideshi.

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  8. Great Effort. Chaturbhuja Meher feels proud of introducing Sambalpuri Sadhi as Odishi Sadhi. Tons of thanks to Mr Kiran who introducted Sambalpuri Sadhi by its original name to a Bideshi. I feel proud to be associated to Mr Kiran some way or the other.

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  9. I am very much happy to know that a foreigner came to this small town Barpali[odisha]. She appreciated our art which it self is promotional message to Europe.

    Chitaranjan Bhutia
    Dhenkanal, Odisha

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  10. I AM SO GLAD THAT YOU WERE ABLE TO SPEND SO MUCH OF TIME WITH HER AND WITH YOUR PATIENCE AND GENUINENESS, SHE MUST HAVE TAKEN A VERY GOOD IMPRESSION ABOUT HER VISIT HERE..VERY WELL WRITTEN ARTICLE AND I WISH YOU ALL THE BEST..JYOTSNA DEVI MARDARAJ

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  11. Ananda Kumar MohapatraApril 12, 2012 at 9:39 AM

    Good work Dear Brother......Barpali is a holy place in the geography of Odisha...the land of Bhakta Sresta Gangadhara Meher. Good work

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  12. the article makes mockery of your own system publically.their are many serious and committed foreigners who contributed and understood other way of living like Verrier elwin,who wrote anthropological book on Bondo Highlanders in 1950.if you would have shown her the family of blind brothers weaving Ikat in your village and wrote the reaction.It would have been more contributing
    - Maneet Kaur Chhatwal

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  13. Excellent Story - Congrats

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  14. excellent way of promoting our ethnic talent kiran.. good

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  15. Good know your effort to promote Odisha Handloom in Paris.
    Jagannath Bless you.

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  16. An excellent job you are doing very inspiring and motivating

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  17. Dear Kiran Sir,
    Really feel excited to readout the story drive with a White Lady ...
    Now a days sparing so much 3 day's time & before preparing for her comfortable stay n visit I understand what pain u take...
    But sir what u do for a foreign visitor is highly appreciated .. Because it's shows your dedication to wods your own country.
    PradeepDebta
    Bargarh

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  18. Dear Sir,

    This story didn't tell much about our Ikat Heritage. The story mostly focused on the unpleasant journey of a Visitor. Ikat Tour should be more focused instead of Visitor's experience. Nice narration. Some nice punchline adequately adding charm to your writings. If possible ,please promote more the Textile value rather than pleasing someone. Appreciate your effort. Keep up the good work. Please do let me know, if I can contribute to your initiation in any form.

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    Replies
    1. Dear Bubun,
      perhaps you did not checked the link of "ikat". I have worked extensively as if a researcher on the the ancient technique of tie and dye weaving of Odisha called ikat. Please do find here the link :

      http://barpalidays.blogspot.in/2012/08/what-is-ikat.html

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  19. Great to read this.
    Appreciate your efforts.
    Hope our Odisha art is discovered by handloom-lovers across the world.

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  20. Dear Kiran,

    It good to see putting the barpali traditional product in the global platform.

    Lets make it to other part of the world..Keep it up. its good work.

    Thanks,
    Manas

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  21. such a great & wonderful story... i like it

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  22. A nice episode, though it's many years afterwards that I am reading it. You've done a fine job of conducting a tourist and creating awareness of Indian handicraft. I hope over these years more such Earopeans have taken interest in the ikat.

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  23. Dear Sir
    you Prooved the Sying""अतिथि देवो भवः"
    Hats Off Sir

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  24. Dear Sir
    This article has some special taste . It is apart from general trends of writing .It is not only a travel story but it shows the picturesque of our nation . It has scope for future .
    Regards,
    Sushanta Mushra

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  25. Good narration with beautifully crafted words which really takes us to the places where the story was heading.Hats off!

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  26. Thanks Kiranji for this lovely article on Barpali & the experience of Nadia. I particularly like your way of presentation with a lighter tone which helps in visualisation. Hope, to visit Barpali soon in future & in turn get featured in your blog story ..haha :)

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  27. good one Kiran..liked the experience.

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  28. Really incredible journey and promotion of culture to next steps

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  29. Sir really apankar Lekha apankar enta chatpata aau entertaining aai ...

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  30. So happy and relieving to know that the estimable craftsmanship has found its much deserved fondness in the hearts of people in the far and wide west ....

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  31. It is really nice to know and feel the hardships underwent by the lady to visit to Barpali...you have managed to bring smile to the lips of the readers through your humour in writing... However, it literally burst me into laugh at the scene where you compared jerks in car on Barpali Roads with that on the camel in Rajasthan.

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  32. Very nice sir ...you observed " atithi debo bhaba" with a fantastic way. Your writing style is too good.keep it on sir ...

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  33. Very nice sir

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  34. Nice to read that you have promoted our traditional Handloom fabrics to such a high level...Good Going sir����

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  35. Very nice article. Thanks for preserving and promoting our culture & heritage. 🙏

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  36. Wonderful story with detail narration. Keep spreading the word about India's uniqueness through your blogs. Keep it up👍

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  37. Odisha is also known for ancient culture, festivals and traditions. You can enjoy the food, attractive sea beach, temples and so many things during visiting Odisha. Barpali is small town in Bargarh district that is famous for sambulpuri sarees in different designs. These sarees are handcrafted and available at very affordable prices.

    odisha travels

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