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.

Breaking

Jun 30, 2015

10:11 AM

State Bank of India (SBI), Barpali Branch : A Pandora's box to unveil


While looking at the above image you may be mislead thinking it to be a fish market of Howrah or the long queue in a ticket counter of CST of Mumbai. But it is neither of the two. It is the view of SBI branch of Barpali. 


Though the working hours starts at 10.00AM, but you won’t find its staff on their respective seats till 11.00AM. Its employees are absolutely lethargic and highly indiscipline. The situation inside this branch is alarming like any other branches of this public sector monolith. There is absolute chaos. In an average every other day one account holder fights verbally with the bank staff for the poor or lack of service in the branch. In the past one of its Branch Manager Late M.R.Hanuman was a victim of hypertension and high blood-pressure caused while working in this ill fated branch of Barpali. He expired during February 2007 within six months from the date of occupying the position of the Branch Manager.


Though the branch has got three ATM machines, but most of the days they remain un-operational either because they are not stuffed with cash or because of internet link failure. Henceforth every account holder is forced to withdraw money from the cash counter during the working hours. On any given moment of a working day there would be around 30+ account holders standing in a queue either to deposit or to withdraw the money. It consumes an enormous one to two precious hours to withdraw money. It’s highly irritating especially when you languish for hours together to withdraw your very own money. Think how bizarre it would be for any service holder or a businessman to part this much of precious time during the business hours of the day.

It is highly disgusting when you step into its filthy ATM chamber  adjoining the branch. As could be seen in the photo the residents of Barpali are so vulgar that they spit the pan and guthka inside the ATM chamber, while waiting for their turn to withdraw money. 


Since the beginning of the summer the main glass door of the ATM chamber is all the time kept open, because the pull-back system does not work.  What is the point when you operate two AC machines inside it, while the door is open. The precious electricity of the nation is being wasted for no reason. It is such a small fault they should have replaced the equipment, if not getting a mechanic at Barpali to repair it.

A majority of the readers might be looking at the scenario from the investor perspective. But one need to look at the other side of the desk as well. Mr.Sanat Sahu the ABM of the Barpali SBI branch defends the position of the branch by saying, there are only seven officials of the bank to serve as many as 20,000+ saving accounts. Apart from this there are 5,000+ term deposits and current accounts that are in operations. When so ever any Government schemes or programs are introduced there would be a plethora of new application forms to open the bank accounts by the public to avail the benefits. This causes an uninvited extra burden.

The major cause of stepping of unaccountable customers to the branch is the non-use of alternative payment gateways, be it the use of mobile banking, internet banking or swapping of the cards. The reason for it is that, most of our account holders are either illiterate or not tech savvy. The mass does not use either net banking or phone banking.  

Nevertheless when you visit any private bank be it either the Axis, ICICI, HDFC or the IDBI Bank at Bargarh you would be greeted with a smile at the reception by a lady executive and most likely to be offered a cup of tea or a drink if you posses a priority account. And this writer is enjoying such status quo unasked for the past ten years, because he got a salary account of LIC of India with Axis Bank.

IFSC Code : SBIN0002012 

Branch Code : 002012
MICR Code : 768002044 

NB : The views expressed over here are personal and not targeted upon any particular employee or the Branch Manager of the SBI, Barpali.

Cell# +918249314972
E.Kiran Mohan
C/o.Dr.E.R.Rao (MD)
Tehsil Chowk,
At/PO. BARPALI – 768 029
Dist. Bargarh, Orissa, India 


3
By at 3 comments:
Labels:
Barpali, Orissa, India Barpali, Odisha 768029, India

Jun 21, 2015

9:03 PM

Artist Saroj Rout : A Blessing in disguise


This fertile land of Barpali has been bestowed with many renown  poets, writers, weavers, craftsmen and of course artists over the past one Century. In the recent years Saroj Rout of Barpali emerged as an artist of national repute. He is a self taught artist who in fact never went to attend any art colleges. By vocation he is a Government teacher, but art is his passion. Apart from fine art he is being recognized in the society as a stage artist, Oriya poet and an amateur photographer.

It was the year 1982 when Saroj Rout passed 10th Standard with 1st Division. In the Eighties of the last Century a boy securing 65% marks   was considered to be of par excellence. His mother Smt. Maliphula Rout was the sole mentor of this kid, who in fact herself was a teacher at Government Girls High School of Barpali. Whereas his father was a  farmer of Bandhpali village. All his father could do is just source the livelihood for the family.

On passing out successfully the 10th exam Saroj Rout wanted to go Khalikote to join the famous Art College over there. But his mother had higher expectations from her kid. She wanted to groom her son either as an engineer or doctor. And against his will his mother forced him to join Intermediate(+2) Science at Panchayat College, Bargarh. His heart and mind was never in the books. Like the score of other students though he passed out 12th exam, but could not qualify either in the entrance exams of engineering or medical. After 12th he went to do B.Com at the most premier college of western Odisha i.e. Gangadhar Meher College at Sambapur. Afterward he did his Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) to become a teacher.

In the year 1990 he joined Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Sambalpur as a mathematics teacher on adhoc basis. But the following year he got the Odisha State government job as a Sikhyakarmi (teacher) at Chiknipali U.G.M.E. School. Then he was a young man of 28 years old. He was passionate towards life, but his meager salary did not allow him to meet the needs. He charted out the means to make money on his own. He setup a commercial art shop by the name Elora Arts at Barpali Bus Stand to sustain in life. He along with his friends used to setup photo studio in Sital Sasthi Jatra. With the profit margin earned through this temporary makeshift studio once they even able to make a South India tour.


During 2009 his spinal cord disk skidded from its usual location. He was captive in a hospital bed for weeks. His life was in a chaos with uncertainties looming at large. But this prolonged illness proved to be a blessing in disguise. Curtailing the public life he had to spend time in solitude at home along with the loved one. His wife was of a great support to him morally during this traumatic phase of his life. She compromised with the given circumstances of the life by sacrificing every comfort a lady needs to run her home. While confined within the four walls at home Saroj Rout honed his skills in fine art which were lying dormant within him since his childhood. In the study room he searched for his paint brushes, papers and canvas. Painting  needs enduring hours of either seating or standing along with the easel. Challenging his physical impediment slowly and steadily he started sketching and paintings one after another.
[Divine Love - Acrylic on paper]

But the real boost in his art career came when he joined Facebook. He got connected with the big names in the contemporary art world like Bijay Biswal, Ramesh Jhawar, Stan Miler, La Fe and Liu Yi. He able to exchange the ideas with them. Inspired by these artists he shifted from oil paints to water colors. Working with the water colors is a real challenge for any artist, because there is no room for any error or omissions.



Saroj Rout is a keen observer of life and nature surrounding Barpali. Once a while he drives his car to the rural belt. While seating inside his car he takes snaps of the villagers unnoticed with his Nikon DSLR (Digital Single Lance Reflection) camera. On returning home, while observing these snaps he do the paintings of rural life of Odisha. But while doing the study painting on the locations he submerges himself with the Mother Nature.

    [Smile - Acrylic on canvas]     
            
[Paddy fields - Water color on paper]
                     
[Mahanadi - Water color on paper]
                                                                         (On sale)
[Pallha rua - Water color on paper]

[Forest Bunglow -
Water color on paper]

Saroj Rout along with his artist friends Dhruba Behera, Ramakanta Tripathy and Panchanan Barik founded Kalabhumi in the year 1999.  The objective of this organization is to impart art to the school students. At present Saroj Rout is heading this non-profit motive institution as the  President. One of his Facebook friend, who in fact himself is an artist from Turkey was inspired to send thrice lot many art materials as a gift for the students of this art school. They include sketch books, crayons, pastel colors, water colors and story books.

So far he participated in group art exhibitions at places like Amritsar, Hyderabad and Bangalore. But during the winter of  2014 he went solo at Barpali. This art symposium was inaugurated by Dr.Pravas Singh, the MP of Bargarh. This exhibition added another feather on the cap to Barpali as no such exposition was ever organized at this little town. He charted out the future course of action for his life well in advance. Leaving behind a well paid and secured government job he want to opt VRS (Voluntary Retirement Scheme) in three years time from now to be a fulltime artist. He want to take Barpali to the World platform of art and culture.

When so ever he completes a painting, as if a kid he carries the art frame with enthusiasm to show it to his mother, when she would be busy with cooking in the kitchen. On looking at his paintings she overwhelms herself, but simultaneously repents that she did not sent her son to any colleges to hone his skills in fine art.

kiranbima@gmail.com
WhatsApp# +918249314972
E.Kiran Mohan(The Writer)
C\o. Dr.E.R.Rao (M.D),
Tehsil Chowk,
At\PO – BARPALI – 768 029,
Dist. Bargarh, Orissa, India.
2
By at 2 comments:
Labels: ,
Barpali, Orissa, India Barpali, Odisha 768029, India