Padmashree Chaturbhuja Meher : Draping the nation with his ikat fabrics

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. 

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Padmashree Chaturbhuja Meher : Draping the nation with his ikat fabrics

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