Autobiography of Nilakantha Das - IX

This is the 9th in series of recapitulation in my own words portions of Pandit Nilakantha Das's Biography in Odia. Enjoy...

Following World War I, the fight for freedom started gathering momentum. Mahatma Gandhi was the talk of villages, towns, cities - taking the entire country by storm. Inspired by him, Nilakantha Das joined Gandhi's non cooperation movement when the Father of the nation visited Odisha in the later part of 1919.

Post leaving Satyavadi School, after a long time Pandit Das had some time to spare. He started focusing on writing and on literature. He completed his translation of Tennyson's poem "The Princess" to Odia, titling it as PRANAYINI, published in February 1919.

While studying literature he came in contact with KEDARA-GAURI, the epic love story based upon the legendary Odia lovers Kedara and Gauri. It was written by our poet KABIBARA (The top poet) Radhanath Ray, in the lines of the famous ill fated love story "Pyramus and Thysbe" of the ancient Roman poet Ovid's Metamorphosis. Kedar and Gauri were our Odia counterparts of Romeo and Juliet, Heer and Ranjha - purely fictional characters, any similarities with any lovers dead or alive is purely coincidental.

But as witnessed by Nilakantha Das (I have observed too), the local Pandas (priests) of Bhubaneswar's Kedar-Gouri temple sell this fictional story to the gullible tourists. Pointing to the locations near the bubbling Spring, they would narrrate their fantasy to the pack of visitors - through this peep hole the romantic Kedar and Gauri used to share their sweet nothings. At this exact spot Kedar held Gauri's Saree (Indian ladies attire) as the lovelorn girl with desire to stay longer in Kedar's company tried to flee, lest the locals find out their love affair. 

"Down there at the dark, deep end their bodies were discovered, as the young love birds ended their life to be reunited in their next lives" - would narrate the Pandas. The smart priests recounted their own version, juxtaposing the fictional account of Radhanath Ray to the name of Kedar Gauri temple, making a successful living out of it.

It was one of the myths peddled by the Pandas which was exposed by Sri Das. Kedar-Gouri are nothing but Siva & Parvati, and the temple close to the water fountain is a vacation home, one of the several abodes of the duo in the temple city of Bhubaneswar. No humans named Kedar and Gauri ever met in secrecy and killed themselves at that location. But the myth lives on till date.

Soon Sir Nilakantha completed his better known poem RAMACHANDI RE RAATI (Night at Ramachandi). It took him seven days writing and rewriting the text, spending couple of sleepless nights dreaming for the right words. This poem was greatly appreciated in literary circuits, inspiring him to pen more.

Pandit Das has vividly described the draught of 1919 in an era where draught and flood were common occurrences due to the vagaries of erratic monsoons. He along with Sri Gopabandhu Das would go far and wide, distributing food, mostly CHUDA (parched rice) during the flood and MUDHI (puffed rice) to the draughts stricken people. 

There was a farmer named Siddhi Baral near Puri who had acres of fertile land lying fallow for 3 long years due to insufficient rains, driving him to penury. His hungry brother begged Nilakantha Das for some food. No sooner he was served, than after imbibing a few GUNDA (handfuls of rice) he collapsed dead. 

It was one of several malnutrition deaths he witnessed from close quarters, bringing tears to his eyes. One day when he arrived at a village to carry on his social work, he counted 22 dead bodies at the GAAN MUNDA (Village entrance). Its weak, malnourished inhabitants were not in a position to give them a decent funeral. Nilakantha and his friends would gather woods and twigs, piling one dead body over another on pyre, giving as decent a funeral possible under the present circumstances.

TO BE CONTINUED, AS I READ 📖 FURTHER