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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Apr 29, 2021

12:42 PM

Ghasiram Mishra : A foremost Guru of Gonda baja

 

Ghashiram Mishra of Balangir is a living legend of Koshali music and culture. He has dedicated over five decades of his adult life on uplifting and promoting ganda baja of western Odisha. At the outset you need to know in Sambalpuri the word ganda refers to the community of  Schedule Caste or the untouchables. This ganda baja music could only be heard in the western parts of Odisha namely the districts of Balangir, Kalahandi, Sonepur, Bargarh, Sambalpur and Jharsuguda. 


Somewhere prior to the Independence of India i.e. in the year 1945 Ghasiram was born at Balangir which then happened to be a princely state. The socio economic scenario of western Odisha during the Independence era was worse. Here a majority of the population comprises Schedule Caste, Schedule Tribe and Other Backward Class(OBC) people. Seven decades back a major section of people were deprived of education, hence economically they were backward. They were oppressed by a handful of Bramhins who were  literates. His father ensured all his children should attend the government schools that were imparting free education.



Ghasiram attended upper primary school at Radharani Pada and was walking barefoot all the way to Prithwiraj High School which is on the vicinity only. 


During his childhood Ghasiram happened to fall sick quite often. Following the ritual of that era he was handed over to a dalit family and immedietly bought from them in lieu of a bag of paddy. It was how all the troubles were warded off from the life of Ghasiram. As a consequence of which he carried the unusual name of “Ghasi”. The reader should  know how the caste system in Odisha prevails even as on this date in the society. Especially the Bramhins don't even drink a drop of water at the home of any Schedule Caste i.e untouchables. 


Due to that event which took place during his childhood, Ghasiram got affiliated to the community of Gondas. During his school and college days for the sake of entertainment there was neither a tape recorder or television. Whenever a barat(wedding procession) used to pass through the streets Ghasi was dancing to the beats of the local band called Gonda baja. 



He recounts an incident of his life. When Ghasiram was barely nine years old his father conducted his thread ceremony(brata upanayana). Thread ceremony or Brat Upanayana is a sacred ritual which is observed by the Bramhin community where a kid is initiated as per the Hindu ritual. In this  function a sacred thread(paita) is worn by Hindu boys following a series of rituals.  All his relatives reached their home three days ahead of the scheduled function. Early in the morning the hair of Ghasiram was tonsured by a barber. All the while that kid of 9 years old was crying out of fear. When the hair removal was over the barber showed the mirror to Ghasiram.  That young kid  looking at his bald head in the mirror unable to recognise his own self. But when the ritual of yogyan started a group of musicians played the local Gonda Baza. Though  the priests were chanting the holy Hindu hymens, on the other end the ears of Ghasiram were stimulated by the raw  and unorthodox music  that was played by those people who were the oppressed class of the society. When the Ritual of prayers was over the guests went to have the  feast,  but that kid Ghasiram ran towards the group of people who were playing the local Gonda Baja. 


Ghasiram asked the musician who was holding the

muhuri(trumpet) to let him blow the instrument. Those musicians where fear struck  and asked  Ghasiram not to reach near to them, because they were  knowing their social status. If Ghasiram would touch  their musical instrument then he would be outcast by the orthodox Brahman society of that era. That kid became sad, because his wish was unfulfilled. But to make Ghasiram happy that musician went and plucked one green palm leaf and made a pipi(musical instrument) and handed that over to Ghasiram. Ghasiram became happy and kept on blowing that musical instrument until evening.  Now the reader needs to know the impact of that event. The moment when that musician handed over the leaf  musical instrument on the very day  of  the sacred thread ceremony, that unknown musician became the Guru(teacher) and Ghasiram as the recipient became the Sishya(student). In fact that musician has transmitted two essential elements out of the five panchatatwa namely vayu(air) and agni(fire) which Ghasiram is carrying until date. Now Ghasiram realises that it was a cosmic  event which had altogether altered the track of his life from Shastriya Sangeet to Gonda Baja or the music of the untouchables. And at the fag end of his career seldom he repents for choosing the music of oppressed class of the society, instead of sastriya sangeet.


Unlike today then when Ghasiram was a school student there were no electronic instruments like a tape recorder or a television for entertainment. So to spend his time he was resorting to watch different forms of religious activities like dand, kirtan, palla, naam, Ramlila and ghubukudu. And most of the artists perform such roadshows during the month of Chaitra i.e. March when there is neither the chilling cold of the winter, nor the hot weather of the summer. Coincidentally it was the time when the annual exams of his class were going. Instead of attending the last paper he went to watch astha prahari in his Radharani Pada. After the summer holidays when the school reopened the class teacher called his father to report in the school. He questioned why Ghasiram did not attend the exam. On returning from school his father called Ghasiram and punished him blatantly without looking at his abdomen, chest or the buttock. 


When the martial punishment of his father was over while crying his mother with her motherly affection hugged him with care. She said she wants her son to be safe, sound and happy wherever he lives. She opened her wooden almirah and from the stack of sarees she brought out a  cloth money purse. She took out all the currency that she had saved in it. His mother handed over exactly 22 INR and said to go to any corner of this country and to pursue a career of his choice instead of getting the brutal punishment from his father.  His father was not only a man of strict discipline, but was also highly furious. She handed over 22 INR and said to run away even before his father returns home. 


Ghasiram left home with a cloth bag carrying a pair of dress and a karia(towel) and a couple of raw wood sticks called kathi to clean the tooth. A friend of his from the neighbourhood accompanied him. They boarded a local bus and reached Titilagarh. Then Ghasiram might be 13 years old and was a student of Class 8th. He had no knowledge of the world except one and only Bombay(now called as Mumbai) because it was the place where Hindi movies are produced. From Titlagarh railway station they caught a passenger train for Raipur. When the train crossed through  kantabanji most of the new passengers started speaking in Hindi which was almost an alien language to Ghasiram. On reaching Raipur his friend took an excuse and returned from there by handing over 6 INR to Ghasiram which he had with him.   At Raipur Ghasiram boarded one express train for Mumbai of course without buying a ticket. After travelling for 12 hours or so the  co-passengers questioned him where he was traveling all alone and the motive behind it.  When Ghasiram said he is going to Mumbai to work in the film industry, people discouraged him by saying Mumbai is a big city where you will go and with whom you will stay? They asked him to get down at the very next station. 



When the train halted he stepped out from the train compartment along with the cloth bag that he was carrying. At that big station all those people were speaking in Marathi to which he was alien. On questioning  he got to know the name of the city was Nagpur. He went to a munshi(police officer) and questioned if he could spend two days on the platform. Next day when he stepped outside the railway station he befriended with a rickshaw puller. That person happened to be a drunkard. In the evening when he used to drink desi alcohol and sleep on the pavement of the railway platform Ghasiram learnt to pull the rickshaw. On the very third night he got 2 INR from a passenger for ferrying his luggage to the nearest street. That small fair immensely boosted the spirit of Ghasiram. He got assured he could survive in this harsh world. Every Night he was earning somewhere 3 to 5 INR. Ghasiram was paying half of the fare to that rickshaw puller and keeping the other half for himself. 


After pulling the rickshaw for almost a month he came across a Sardar who was operating one road transport company by the name Lamba Transport. As a small kid his job was to just carry the bag of his owner and to travel along with him wherever his boss goes. That Sardar happened to be a humble man. It was a respectable job for Ghasiram as compared to pulling the rickshaw. In three months he was able to build a capital of 28 INR. But in the meanwhile he got a postcard from his father who addressed him to return home without carrying any fear in heart. Accordingly Ghasiram returned home while abandoning his mission to conquer Bollywood. When he reached home his father instead of giving any punishment asked him to follow a career that he wished for. 


Ghasiram enrolled his name at Bidya Bhushan Sanskrit College, Balangir. In Radharani Pada opposite his home was the house of Dr Ram Prasad Mishra who was a prominent politician of western belt of Odisha. He was working for Ganatantra Party and later joined Swatantra Party and Indian National Congress(INC) as well. He was holding important portfolios  as the Finance, Agriculture and Health minister of Odisha. He was the most prominent leader of western belt of Odisha. It was he who fought with the erstwhile Chief Minister of Odisha Biju Pattnaik to set up VSS Medical College at Burla. His two daughters were learning sastriya sangeet from Guru Bhrushaba Barik, while his son was learning tabla from Guru Sarathi Chand. While the gurus were teaching to those kids, Ghasiram was sitting outside on the pavement and was keenly listening to the gospel of those teachers. Without the knowledge of those two gurus Ghasiram became their student as if Ekalabya. 




While keeping his word his father enrolled the name of Ghasiram at Koshal Kalamandap, Balangir. Officially he started attending classes from 4th August 1964 to learn sastriya sangeet. And the rest is history.


[Guru Ghasiram Mishra could be seen along with this blogger E Kiran Mohan]

E. Kiran Mohan(the bloger)
C/o.Dr.E.R.Rao (M.D)
Main Road, Near SBI,
At/PO : Barpali-768029
Dist.Bargarh,Odisha, India
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Apr 18, 2021

9:39 PM

Narendra Kumar Hota : Holding the baton of the Koshal Movement

Western Odisha is a rough terrain and was cut off from the eastern belt of Odisha until a few decades back. Over here our people were living life as aboriginal. But the irony is that even after 70 years of India getting independence and drafting the Constitution of this great Nation as a Republic our people of western Odisha are deprived of the basic amenities that are needed to live a wholesome life.

As on this day the poor and the downtrodden people are robbed off the benefits that were supposed to be availed. Even our children are not getting quality free education. On the other hand the adults are barred from the employment avenues. Whereas the women and the elderly are deprived of the basic amenities of life i.e. medical and health care.

To raise all these issues to the limelight Shri Narendra Kumar Hota a prominent leader of Western Odisha is carrying the baton of Koshal Movement for the past twenty years. He took the initiative all alone and campaigned in different blocks of ten districts of western Odisha. Shri Hota has travelled tirelessly from one village to another in 55 Panchayats which come under the periphery of three blocks of Barpali, Bijepur and Gaisilate. He made awareness programs highlighting how these ten districts of Western Odisha were forcefully included in Odisha in two phases i.e. 1936 and 1948.

Our Western Odisha or the Koshal Anchal was a treasure trove of forests, mines and minerals. Over the past seven decades all these natural resources were looted rampantly. As a result it caused regional imbalance. We were being robbed of all the basic necessities that are needed to live a tranquil life. Yet we are bagging to the people of eastern Odisha. Our people were kept in the dark for seven long decades. The gloom persists even as on this date. It is high time we should no longer allow this darkness to pervade over our children and the future generations to come.

As the name indicates Narendra is the amalgamation of two words i.e. Nara and Indra. Literally he is the Lord of the Human Beings. And this person possesses all the etiquettes of a leader. Suo motto this budding politician took the responsibilities of the common men. He made the awareness programs by conducting meetings at different towns and villages of Koshal region. Until now for the entire Western Odisha there is only one University i.e. Sambalpur University which is catering to the needs of aspiring students of ten districts all together. On the other hand the coastal region has got as many as two universities. Narendra highlighted the root cause of all social evils is only one thing and that is mass illiteracy. If children could be made literate then there won’t be unemployment, poverty, starvation deaths, labour migration, bonded labourers, selling of children or be it  destroying feline foetus.

That apart he addressed to the need of the farmers as well. The major issues related to it are black marketing of fertilisers, sale of counterfeit pesticides and inadequate rainfalls that causing draught and finally farmers suicide.

The total population of Western Odisha is somewhere one and half crores. And the language that we speak is Sambalpuri. And this regional language has not been included in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. During February 2017 at New Delhi there was a Conference of International Languages. Devi Prasanna Pattnaik participated in it on behalf of Govt. of Odisha. He did not endorse the Sambalpuri language on the presumption, if Sambalpuri would be given the identity then people of this region would get a ready platform to fight for its independent statehood. Narendra Hota along with common men protested on the streets of Sambalpur, Bargarh and Balangir while raising this issue.

For decades our people have been demanding to set up a bench of the High Court at Sambalpur. Despite there being periodic strikes this issue has not been answered by the Government of Odisha as yet.

On the other hand when you think of performing art or dance it is only Odishi that has been given the status of a classical dance of India, whereas until now Chau Nrutya or be it Sabda Nrutya of Kumbhari village has not been given the due recognition by Sangeet Natak Akademi the apex body of India representing Ministry of Culture.

On 26th August 2013 a strike was called in the entire western Odisha for a separate statehood of Western Odisha. And that one day strike was observed peacefully by one and all let it be public transport, shops and traders, schools and colleges, banks, post offices, courts, Tehsil offices and every other government offices were shut in support of this Koshal movement whereas it was made sure health services should not be hampered because of it. Hospitals, health clinics, chemists shops and ambulances were allowed to operate without any hindrance. The strike was a huge success because the general public participated in it wholeheartedly. Since then consecutively every year 26th August is observed as a strike in Western Odisha. And it will be continued until a separate state is formed as Koshal.

Looking at the untiring efforts that has been put by Narendra Hota during the 2009 Odisha State Assembly elections Koshal Party gave him the ticket to contest as a Member of Legislature(MLA). But the ruling party of India i.e Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) as well as Biju Janata Dal the regional party of Odisha approached him to join their parties. But Narendra preferred BJD over BJP merely looking at the leadership quality of President of Biju Janata Dal who is none other than Naveen Patnaik the longest served Chief Minister of Odisha who is the Undisputed leader the Assembly of Odisha since past 21 years. 

On individual capacity this leader is also worth appraising. His noble deeds are countless. Being himself a Bramhin he had taken the noble job of doing Brata-upanayana or the thread ceremony of several boys of poor Bramhin families who otherwise were unable to bear the high cost of conducting this holy ceremony. He financially aided in conducting the marriage of a couple of girls who hails from poor families. On the other hand he is giving regular monthly financial aid to two old age persons so as they can survive. He has even accomplished doing a mere impossible job. He gathered the courage to rehabilitate the life of a widow, by getting her remarry with someone else. He took the initiative and conducted a couple of blood donation camps in his Bargarh district.

Narendra Hota has set an example for the society, how a person in his individual capacity  can contribute for the welfare of the deprived and the downtrodden people. He has undertaken a couple innovative steps for a greater cause.  Their organisation Yuba Brahma Bharati has set up one fridge at Jay Bharat Hotel(Eswara) which is located at the private bus stand of Barpali. Any person who is visiting that hotel to have lunch or dinner can buy an additional plate of mill and put it in that fridge for the needy person to take it. On the other hand if in any wedding or public feasts there is some surplus food left over that can be donated to this food ATM. And the hungry people on the street can take that food free of cost. 

Likewise he has set an old cloth ATM outside Gangadhar Meher Upper Primary School. Persons who have got unused old clothes may hang them on this board. On the other hand those persons who need clothes may take away from here. Similarly he is operating one old book ATM where students are donating their textbooks on qualifying in their school or college exams and promoting from one class to another class. He is observing the ATM of textbooks belonging to Oriya medium schools are doing well as compared to the English medium school books. He says most of the children of Oriya Medium schools hail from medium or poor families that is why they can't afford to buy new books and prefer to borrow from this books ATM. 

Mostly it is seen our Indian politicians never observe the values and the ethos that they preach. But this burgeoning politician always led life on high values. Though he got a bike but he prefers to ride his  20 years bicycle merely to check the carbon emission.  

On the other hand he has opted a wiser way of disposing of scrap newspapers. Instead of selling the old papers to kabadi he donates them to the poor families and encourage them to prepare paper bags (ଠୁଙ୍ଗା) so as they can make a living by selling those bags to grocery stores. This is how Narendra Hota brought a positive change in the society. 

  

In the past 25 years our leader Narendra Hota has conducted over 2,000 meetings in different villages for Koshal movement. This grooming social activist of Barpali is worth a watch and will be a big challenge for any opposition parties. In life he got enough scope to prosper either in the public life or in the personal field, but he was not someone to sell his dignity for any kind of selfish means.

During pandemic feeding to cows and dogs. Since last 20 years financing poor students for their higher studies. He has donated study books and study materials to poor kids. Every Sunday he is distributing biscuits to poor kids. Supported Dibyang for their uplifting. He is acting as a Family Counselor. For a couple of instances he helped on marrying poor girls. He has contributed money to different social organisations.

​​kiranbima@gmail.com

WhatsApp# +918249314972

E.Kiran Mohan(The Writer)

C/o.Dr.E.R.Rao (M.D)

Main Road, Near SBI,

At/PO: Barpali-768029

Dist.Bargarh, Odisha, India

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