Dhanu jatra: An Effective Internship Platform for Youth of the locality

by: Dr Samarendra Nath Panda

Dhanu Jatra or Dhanu Yatra is the annual open air mythological celebration conducted at Bargarh of Odisha, India. This Hindu festival spread across 8 kms radius area around the Bargarh municipality, it is the world's largest open air theatre which finds a mention in the Guinness Book of World Records.

The idea of Internship for the graduates of the locality in Dhanuyatra, a World famous 11-day open air mythological drama may not look usual, but may be considered as an out of box idea. The objective is based on the recent technological transition, where the statement ‘change is the only constant’ holds true, as change is accelerating. The transition from typewriters to computers and landlines to mobile phones has been spread over two decades. Futurist economist Prof Jeremy Rifkin highlighted the impact of the third industrial revolution resulting in emergence of new business models, intelligent technology and future of work and collaborative education through a survey report. The report on "Skill Development for Industry 4.0" highlighted the "job polarisation" with decline in the mid-level, repetitive and rule based jobs and increase in demand for creative, design oriented high order skills. India will have to prepare itself to fully realise the economic opportunities of technological advancements and transform to create a quick demand led education system integrated with skill development. A collaborative effort from Government, industry and academia can certainly turn the challenge of Industry 4.0 into an opportunity.

The fourth industrial revolution that we are currently witnessing is being defined as the new age of automation, driven by exceptional technological advances. The pace of automation and its scope continues to grow exponentially. The implications on the global economy are manifold – changing nature of work, job roles being re-defined, a certain class of job roles becoming redundant leading to growth in new occupations and new roles. It also raises a whole host of questions. But the most important one is regarding the set of new skills that are needed in the future and how individuals should shape themselves for this future to remain relevant. So it is time to restructure the education system with a skill driven approach to create an employable human resource pool. This challenging scenario needs to be adapted by the policymakers, parents and students to prepare them better to appreciate opportunities as well as challenges in the near future. In this context the idea of Internship appears to be more relevant and appropriate.

Dhanuyatra provides the best platform for Internship for the undergraduate students owing to its diversified range of activities to organise this mega event. The devotees of Lord Krishna started the first “Divya Mahotsava Dhanuyatra” in 1870 Sakabda Pousa Sukla Pratipada Sombar (Monday) dated 12.01.1948 at 12:00 noon and ended on Pousa Purnami Sombar (Monday) dated 26.01.1948 at 9:00 am as per the official website. The date of commencement of festival and date of completion is decided as per the Hindu calendar that is Pausa Sukla Panchami to Pausa Purnima mostly during December - January. There are no written scripts for this act which depicts its uniqueness among the rest of the other plays. This is an Annual event managed by the District Administration under the leadership of Collector with the help of local people, social activists and different organisations of the town. The collaboration between people and administration reaffirms the strength of democratic system to face challenges of any magnitude.

In Dhanu Yatra the amazing aspect is the absence of any professional event management group. This is an event which involves planning in various areas like finance, law, revenue, general administration, transport, literature, hospitality, media management, public relation, stage management, performing art, drama, and music, sound, light and overall coordination. This event makes Bargarh Township as well as the Ambapali village an open air theatre with each and every individual of the locality being an artist. The activities are performed in various sites. The fundamental theme of Dhanuyatra mostly revolves around two central mythological characters Lord Krishna and King Kansa, so mostly it is considered a socio religious festival. But with time the festival can be viewed as a mega trade event as well as a tourist destination. The in-depth work done by various researchers on the various cultural aspects like Drama, Folk Dance, the concept of stage as per Natya shastra and many more put the festival in a different academic scale. Though it is a festival of 11 days, the various activities take place in a span of 60 to 90 days. This dynamic evolutionary character of the festival creates space for Internship of UG and PG students of various subjects.

According to dictionary.com, an internship is defined as “any official or formal program to provide practical experience for beginners in an occupation or profession”. The most important element of an internship is that they integrate classroom knowledge and theory with practical application and skills developed in professional or community settings. It gives the intern a real time experience to learn the desired profession, so that he or she can make the right decision to pursue his or her career in that area. Moreover the experience will enrich him or her to such an extent that he or she will be a confident individual with enhanced employability quotient for the competitive job market or professional sphere. The tough learning curve of challenging market scenarios for recent graduates will look simple to them.

The scope for internship can be identified only with complete study of organisational structure to carry out this mega event with a diverse range of activities. The complete organisational team operates through various committees to take care of the different activities in different sites. The organisational team of the event is an excellent composition of personalities of various walks of life along with people’s representatives of the district as an advisory panel. The entire District administration, eminent people and social organisations of the locality render their committed service under the chairmanship of district collector to make the festival a festival of unique character. The various committees with their nature and function provide ample space for the students to pursue internships. The different committees namely Executive committee, Programme coordination committee, Reception committee, Hospitality committee, Rajdarbar committee, Rangmahal committee Cultural committee, Publicity committee, Website committee, Byelaw committee, Law & Order committee Land allotment committee, Artist advisory committee, Gopapur committee Souvenir committee and Discipline committee.

Executive committee is the central coordination team which takes care of each and every department as well as activities and consists of eminent personalities along with a dynamic team of administrators. This committee can provide the real time experience of know-how of planning and policy making. They can understand the process to draw the outline of such a mega project along with the inner intricate dynamics of maintaining multiple equilibrium like people‘s expectation, statutory need, ideological opinion difference etc. This will give them insight to know, to ascertain role and responsibility to the right person. At the same time this committee has to take a time bound approach to ensure completion of various assignments . They need to take care of the financial aspect of the event. The approximate budget of last year Dhanuyatra may be around 1.2 Crores out of which 10 lacs was government’s direct financial assistance. The financial planning involves revenue generation through various ways and means like land allotment for various trade activities along with allotment for other activities. The complete process is supposed to be transparent. This has to be ensured through the right financial regulatory mechanism. Apart from that it needs to protect the business interest of the concerned traders as well as the convenience of crowd movement in the peak hour. The total foot fall during the event is expected to be 10 to 15 lac as per previous empirical calculation documented. In this regard law, commerce, economics graduates can work with the land allotment committee. The arrangement of trade events also involves all sorts of transit arrangements of light, sound, fire extinguisher, CC TV, sheds etc in the exhibition area. This involves a complete integrated approach and planning where many students can participate as interns.

The centre stage of mythological and cultural activities is Rajdarbar and Rangmahal which are normally managed by two different committees. These activities need planning and execution both in various dimensions. The stage designing is an artistic innovation assignment. The stage design is based on the view of a royal palace of a king and its darbar, for which in-depth knowledge of the mythological era is required along with latest technological art innovation. The complete stage management during performance is the real challenge because it is a blending of a formal meeting and a pure cultural programme. On these two stages Maharaja Kansa carries out the complete range of activities of an ancient King. At the same time all the government officials visit the stage and a detailed account of developmental work along with awareness messages are provided to the audience as a part of the drama. The high profile dignitaries like Chief Minister, Central Ministers, State Ministers and other towering personalities of diverse fields also visit in various capacities. The complete protocol detail, management of time slots for those guests and their hospitality are managed with utmost care. This domain of operation provides a complete package for internship.

The arrangement of animals like elephant, camel, horse etc requires statutory work owing to various legal complications. The procedural details to make them available are nice for one to learn. Sometimes the required number of animals with a licence is difficult to get. The arrangement of around 150 cultural troops for the inaugural procession and three stage performances is one of the toughest challenges. Their travel details, time slot, accommodation etc are to be planned and executed with perfection. The expertise to scrutinise their performance is the best learning area as the interns will get an opportunity to work with renowned experienced minds of the field. That will expand their outlook in the respective field. Apart from that a good quantum of idea is also required to understand the various forms of music and art. The selection of artists and their practice is another imperative area for the success of the festival for which an Artist advisory committee is there. In that committee distinguished dramatists, directors and people with ideas on the core theme of Dhanuyatra happen to be the members. The Gopapur committee takes care of the artist selection and all other aspects of Gopapur: the location where spirituality of rural India is best depicted. Dhanuyatra is not only a mythological drama but also a drama to create social awareness and create space for social audit through it. The drama has to be performed by the professional artists as well as common men like officers, politicians, activists etc without script. So a lot of innovation, acting skill and a strong background of current affairs is required to make it more appealing.

The student intern can learn many aspects of hospitality by working under the reception and hospitality committee. They are having the scope to learn the know-how of invitation of high profile protocol concerned guests and subsequently after getting confirmation the arrangements to be done also require adequate procedural details. The scope in hospitality of domestic as well as foreign guests will improve their personality as well as personal network. The student interns who are interested to have their career in general or police administration, engineering, medical or any other wings will get firsthand experience of the delicate equilibrium of personal and professional life of all those dynamic people of administration. They will be inspired by working under them. The youth will come closer to the administration which may provide a better opportunity to the administrators who in some way are the policy makers.

The growth of social media is playing a very significant role in promoting events along with print and electronic media. There is ample scope of career opportunity in this segment. The publicity work includes writing in different languages, designing of flex, small videos for promotion, using social media platforms, contacting Brand ambassadors and many more innovative modes of promotion of the festival at national and International level. Nowadays students are taking a lot of interest in all such works. So it will help them to think their leisure activities possess a lot of professional potential. This division can promote the festival as a tourist destination also. The making and updating of the Dhanuyatra website is also a good project for internship of computer science students.

Dhanuyatra is a festival which is attracting many researchers to work in various aspects of the festival like evolution of the festival, mythological correlation with present day approach, drama form, environmental aspect or economic impact. In this connection the souvenir is helping as a reference tool. The souvenir committee consists of many eminent personalities of the literary field. Articles with strong fundamental ideas from eminent writers usually find place in this. So the work of the editorial board is also a challenging one. The student intern will get a chance to work with the editorial panel and also they will get an opportunity to interact with the writers of various fields. The procedural detail of getting messages from distinguished persons at the right time is also an act of learning for the students.

The need for Internship in present day education system and the platform available in the form of Dhanuyatra need to be synchronised for the youth of the locality. That will bring out the best in the youth to provide an option to make his or her passion as a profession.

Acknowledgement:

This writer acknowledges thanks to Sj. Sureswar Satpathy, Bargarh for the support

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