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.