Orissa

Tribal(Adivasi) Dance

 

Suresh Behera

Mondei : A Tribal Carnival

 

A carnival that announces the beginning of the annual festival of tribal people in remote India (Nabarangpur, Orissa). Mondei.
Camera: Deba and me
Assistant: Biju

 

 

Credit goes to Video team.

Suresh Behera

Congratulation : Oriyamusic.com

Congratulation and Many many Happy returns of the day to OriyaMusic.com.
We are looking forward to see more happening in future.

The site upgraded with lots of more feature.I like the following addition - New Look - Search is BOBAL(cool) ,it is easy to find.I tryed Koraput it get me all song -It added new Adhunika (Modern) song follow the link - Special attraction for Bhajan,I was looking for this since long time.I wish the would be video section.

Three cheers to www.OriyaMusic.com

hAri Bolo

Suresh Behera

Global market Vs Rural Village

Hi Rohini / Medha,
                  It is nice to get your reply.
Thank you for taking interest on western region and participate its change. Please try to address or focus on following area.

“…………..thanks a lot for the links, they were very helpful. but one thing i still
would like to know is problems of a very local nature. most of the sites
we see on the net are often official govt. websites. so the stuff we see
there is still on a larger scale than it is possible for us to handle in
our present framework…”

Yes this true.. You can definitely judge following few things from above statement.
-        This is all are Official data, You might expect theoretical or not updated or formal information
-        See the villages are still on backward. There is no electricity till now so it is hard to expect the information on internet.
-        If you notice most of the official sites looks like not updated…Somewhere it was written 2002 now imagine this is 2006
-        I agree the stuffs are on larger scale or not more practical approach.

Solutions:
-        You need to collect the data physically or non officially for updated one
-        To find a source who has latest information. I believe NIC (National Informatics Center) would be the best one but not sure how will help you officially or non-officially .I folds my hand on this part.


“…we want to find some specific region which has
something special to share with the rest of the world-- tribal crafts,
handicrafts, sikki tradition crafts, or even some way of sustaining
themselves…”

Well, I believe Nabarangpur would be the best place to your reach work with following reason
1.    Nabarangpur is famous of CHAU works. To be frank I do not have any date on this area but I know some tradition people they works since long time and won several awards on state as well as national level. Even few days back I was thinking to learn something but could not dues to lack of time or communication. This is unique kind of work which you will not found any over the world but it is kind of hidden inside the village.
2.    There is some kind “WORK FOR FOOD” concept working on that area since last few years. I came to know it is doing well but how far it is not sure.
3.    Nabarangpur is kind of isolated but potential village where as industrial growth is concern it has a DuraDraft manufacturing factory (http://www.mangalamtimber.com/contact.html)
4.    You will have easily access to near by BONDO Tribal People (http://www.tourorissa.com/pictures/TRIBAL15.jpg)
5.    Local resource to gain the advantage


   
“... he is poor because he doen't have the
land or labour capital to go into cultivation on a scale that would allow
him to make a comfortable income on it's sale. he is also not connected to
markets and is usually cheated by middle-men in whatever sale he manages
to make….”

           This is correct but most of the time you will get all sympathetically data where as my personal experience is concern tribal are very what they are they will behave wired if you show the sympathy which people are had been doing this and making them fool. If possible we need to make a may to create empathy rather to show sympathy. They are well aware that people show sympathy and make them fool easily. So, The challenge is how smart we are to act on empathy J ..hope it make sense to you.


“…now we can enter the scene by providing information, which can be accessed
even by illiterates( use of graphics) , let him know of govt. schemes for
funding, co-op. farming, connecting him with paddy cultivations across the
country so that they can share their techniques and introduce better
strains or farming practices, come up with technology-wise simple products
which can alert them in case of impending natural disasters, and a
hundered other small simple things, which could help a lot without costing
way too much….”

I like the concept of Graphics, Yes we can do that something like that but it recalling the old Mouse and Cat story. Who is going to put the bell on cat neck? ;) never mind… I have no idea on this area need more brain and more storming … 


“..small villages not being connected at all, and the lack of employment. i was wondering if something
like a scheme whereby the govt. supplys the material (if possible locally sourced fly ash cement or bricks) and the people have to construct the roads themselves for a bare minimum kind of wages is in existance and if not, will it work out? ….””


          I don’t think so, this all are looks like more theory approach rather than the practical.
Who has spare time to do something at least for others until unless somebody has passion or willingness to help others?
I am bit less optimistic on this part. Excuse me please..!



“…..also a new generation of young oriyas, educated and yuppie-ised, who have
migrated to greener pastures , but still seem very concerned about the
state of their home towns seems have arisen. what concrete work, and i
speak in terms of results and changes, have they done to change the
situation back home? are there any individuals who are, say helping out
with the education of the poor in his village or connecting his local
artisan with a global market? because for some one in the i.t. stream or
in contact with a foreign market it would be really easy to maybe design a
webpage which could act as an international marketplace or something along
those lines ….”

Rohini, you ask too much question I am loosing my patience to write or explain
(Just finishing one energy drink when and going for next ;)) Well I might be the wrong guy to answer
Just adding my 2 cents comments. Comparatively yes it is less change but good things are that it is changing.
There is lots of people who are getting involved or help to rural area even I too work with seedsnet ( www.SEEDENET.ORG)
The ratio looks to be less what I mean is solutions Vs problem. Governments also doing lots of work too but these are looks very slow which is almost invisible.
People did not see the computer in their life forget about the design of webpage which is unrealistic .As I told before it is not life of running paycheck to paycheck.
It is life of running daily basis where you act the instant situation. The whole philosophy might be inclined toward something like old Chinese probe.”If you give fish to a poor man he eat for a day but if you teach him how to fish he will eat or live whole life”


“…..i think that empowering can happen only when the information can reach
people and in a form that can process it and convert it into knowledge…”

True, but the information is not sufficient the challenge is adopting the information rather to defend it. We are getting hard time to adopt the change quickly.
If you able to teach somebody to adopt the change then rest of the work will be taken care…making sense J

You guys are doing pretty good work which something worth of investing time. Just keep on and keep dig the Well.

For any question call me on my cell…I am getting hard to write this long mail..:) Never mind it is my pain so thought to let you know.

Best of Luck.

Thanks and Regards,

Suresh Behera      




-----Original Message-----
Sent: Tuesday, March 28, 2006 1:26 AM
To: Suresh Behera
Subject: RE: [Fwd: Re:]

hi
thanks a lot for the links, they were very helpful. but one thing i still
would like to know is problems of a very local nature. most of the sites
we see on the net are often official govt. websites. so the stuff we see
there is still on a larger scale than it is possible for us to handle in
our present framework.
let me try to elucidate: we want to find some specific region which has
something special to share with the rest of the world-- tribal crafts,
handicrafts, sikki tradition crafts, or even some way of sustaining
themselves which is every-day and mundane to them but can be slightly
modified and utilized not only by that particular individual but others
too. for instance this farmer in orissa has been growing paddy , it is a
practice being followed for generations. he does not use pesticides, he
doesn't necessarily need fertilizer. he is poor because he doen't have the
land or labour capital to go into cultivation on a scale that would allow
him to make a comfortable income on it's sale. he is also not connected to
markets and is usually cheated by middle-men in whatever sale he manages
to make. he is aware of the options available to him.
now we can enter the scene by providing information, which can be accessed
even by illiterates( use of graphics) , let him know of govt. schemes for
funding, co-op. farming, connecting him with paddy cultivations across the
country so that they can share their techniques and introduce better
strains or farming practices, come up with technology-wise simple products
which can alert them in case of impending natural disasters, and a
hundered other small simple things, which could help a lot without costing
way too much.

some of the stuff i read on you page like small villages not being
connected at all, and the lack of employment. i was wondering if something
like a scheme whereby the govt. supplys the material (if possible locally
sourced fly ash cement or bricks) and the people have to construct the
roads themselves for a bare minimum kind of wages is in existance and if
not, will it work out?

also a new generation of young oriyas, educated and yuppie-ised, who have
migrated to greener pastures , but still seem very concerned about the
state of their home towns seems have arisen. what concrete work, and i
speak in terms of results and changes, have they done to change the
situation back home? are there any individuals who are, say helping out
with the education of the poor in his village or connecting his local
artisan with a global market? because for some one in the i.t. stream or
in contact with a foreign market it would be really easy to maybe design a
webpage which could act as an international marketplace or something along
those lines.

i think that empowering can happen only when the information can reach
people and in a form that can process it and convert it into knowledge.

i would really like to know your suggestions and if you know of any such
possible avenues, little bylanes of info, actually, and could share with
us i would be much obliged.

thanks for your time,
rohini

Train Services Artitecture in Orissa

FYI....

Dear Medha,
          It is awesome to receive your mail. I appreciate your effort and time. I glad to know that you guys are putting effort to studying the eastern region. I am ok to help you if it requires less time commitment.
Please follow my comments

          I belong to a region where there is no train facility till now although there is gunnies book world record politician. Well, I am not putting somebody down but definitely putting down the effort. I am not sure how would be explain the whole story. If you could give me small
questionnaires it would be really easy for me to explain.         

".. major economic issues in the region and transport and railways are a major issue.."

Well, I didn't dig the issue very well so could not comment much on this part. We can work on this area but definitely I can feel that there is a issue which you addressed here.

About transportation, please have a look at following few articles which I posted earlier. Hope this help but please let me if you need more information.

".. YOU feel about the railway structure out there, and what more can be done. Also if you could enlighten us about more issues and problems in the region and also your suggestions..."

This looks like million dollar question ;) never mind I see issue and issue only. We can focus on one solution which address to one problem rather to focus all problem and end up with nothing or whole bunch of mess-up.
Check this link..it might help somthing.
Tribal Life

I would love to work with you probably and can help your interest of area but before that please let me know how you would plan to act and what are the eastern area you cover? Would you be interested to spend specific to Nabarangpur, Orissa or All other area?

Looking forward to see more happening and work together.

Thanks and Regards,

Suresh
www.sureshbehera.com

Mr.Suresh,
Firstly congratulations to have the courage to write such an article. I'm a
student in NID, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad and currently we are
having a course Design Concepts and concerns and me and my fellow teammates
are studying the eastern region. Orissa happens to be a part of our
concerned region so wanted to ask you if you could spare some information to
us. We are dealing wid the major economic issues in the region and transport
and railways are a major issue. SO if you could add to this existing article
telling us more about what YOU feel about the railway structure out there,
and what more can be done. Also if you could enlighten us about more issues
and problems in the region and also your suggestions... Your information
would be of great help. Also if you could give us a direct contact of yours
we'd b thankful.
Thank you!
NID students...

The Role of Jiva

The general tendency amongst us is to personally take credit for
whatever good and successful things done and to put the blame on other
persons and other things in case of any failure. With this tendency, we
start misinterpreting and misunderstanding the scriptures, which are
meant for our elevation. Lord Shri Krishna in Srimad Bhagavad Gita 3.27
says,

prakrteh kriyamaanaani gunaih karmaani sarvasah
ahankaara vimudhaatmaa kartaaham iti manyate

"The spirit soul bewildered by the influence of false ego thinks
himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by the
the modes of material nature."

If we do not have proper understanding of the above, we tend to put all
the blame on the modes of material nature for any of the misgivings
that happens. We say that the modes have come and overpowered us or
that the Lord has put us in the modes of material nature and that is
the reason for all of our suffering and we are unable to do anything in
this regard. But the fact is that the modes by themselves are inert and
the Lord is always neutral (samoham sarva bhutesu). If we are not in
any way responsible and are never the conscious doers of anything and
if just put the blame on the modes and the Lord, then what is the role
of the jiva or the living entity? Why
are we then subject to the laws of karma?

This is very nicely answered by Srila Prabupada in his purport to BG
18.14, where it is stated that the soul within the body is acting to
bring about the results of the activity and is therefore known as
'karta', 'the doer'. That the soul is the knower and the doer is stated
in the sruti. "Esa hi drstaa srastaa" (Prasna Upanishad). Srila Vyaasa
deva explains this in the Vedanta sutra that begins with 'karta
sastraartha-vattvat'. The jiva soul must be a performer of actions,
because the injunctions of scriptures must have some purpose. The
scriptures are meant for humans, giving them directions for action.

For example, there are many sastric injunctions on how to do the
worship to attain the heaven or to attain the spiritual kingdom. These
injunctions are meaningful only if a conscious doer exists. If the
modes of nature were the doer, these statements would serve no purpose.
Thus the freewill and responsibility of the jiva never disappears and
this freewill enables the jiva to choose the advise of the scriptures
over his material desires. But this is possible only by saintly
association. The consequence of our conscious decision to attach
ourselves with modes and not the saintly devotees is well illustrated
in the following story by Srila Bhaktisidhanta Sarasvati Thakura.

Once a pauper, who was extremely tired because of hunger, was leaning
against a pillar in a traveler's rest house. At that time, a wealthy
merchant passed by and upon seeing the hungry man, he felt
compassionate and purchased some popcorn to give to him. The hungry
person was naturally anxious to accept the food and so he promptly
stretched out both his hands but without undoing his embrace around the
pillar, either out of utter fatigue or lack of intelligence.

Realising that the hungry person wouldn't be able to make use of the
food while embracing the pillar, the compassionate gentleman advised
him to remove his arms from the pillar. Unfortunately, the foolish
person insisted upon accepting the popcorn while still embracing the
wide pillar. Most reluctantly, the kind-hearted merchant poured the
popcorn into the hands of the hungry person and went away. The wretched
person then started making all sorts of attempt to eat the popcorn but
his mouth could never reach his hands around the wide pillar. He
remained as hungry and dejected as before.

In the above story, who is to be blamed for the pauper's condition?
Just like the pauper, we tightly embrace the pillar of the modes of
material nature and put the blame on her saying that the she is not
leaving me. We reject the association of saintly persons just like the
pauper who never listened to the wealthy merchant. So Srimad
Bhagavatham advises us in 11.26.26

tato duhsangam utsrjya satsu sajjeta buddhimaan
santa evaasya chindanti mano vyasangam uktibhih

"An intelligent person should therefore reject all bad association and
instead take up the association of saintly devotees, whose words cut
off the excessive attachment of one's mind."

Thus the right understanding is that we are not independent doers but
dependent doers, and if we with our free will choose the right
association and abide by the scriptures, then gradually we can come to
enjoy spiritual happiness. We are not powerless to make our choices.

hAri Bolo..
Suresh Behera

Orissa Jagaran Avijan

I did not post any message since long time..not because i do not have content..it is because i was bit lazy to post one...Goos news is that i am getting tremendous reply from difference people from different of world..I think we start writing in Oriya if possible..Well it might be bit Oriya plus english but that should be ok..Because our goal is not to focus on wording or english or oriya ..our goal to reach you..Yes you by hook or crook ;)...Bhujhile Bhai...

Kich dino purboru pradeep Bhai mail kAri thila...Bahut bholo mail thils...it was pretty impressing..It looks like somthing this...

Dear Suresh babu,
Happy to know your concern.Definitely, we will like to involve the people outside through E-Magazine.But the problem is that we will have to be careful about the limited resources and manpower we have. Its for your Knowledge that we are a group of people having taken the vow to bring positive change in orissa without going for individual carrier.I have completed my M.phil in political Science and some of my friends are illiterates as well as Phds.Hence its a top job to amalgamate the force and surge ahead.
I am happy that you people are equally concerned about Orissa although staying at a great distance from home.I pray god,you prosper and bring glory to my land.
Sorry for the late response as I was moving in the interiors of orissa.
yous Nishikanta
Orissa Jagaran Avijan

Your rock Nishikanta Bhai...As you do the physically work you need lots of energy...bAhut bAhut dhanyabad ...Many many thank for putting your effort physically.

Hope you guys enjoyed this post..We will keep everything more transparent as much as possible.So that it will be common to everybody.

hAri Bolo..!

Suresh Behera