‘Chakullia Panda’, A fist of rice in Return of Literature, Walking Down Nostalgic Lanes

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By D N Singh

A drive down the memory lanes of the cultural ziz-zag of Odian traditional ethos bring back things those can trigger nostalgia, taking us  back to over one hundred years.

A culture which is being slithering away slowly from the memories of any Odia who can travel back to a certain periods somewhere saved inside.

Many such flavors of the past were intense enough to carry any Odia on its wings to the childhoods of all.

The coinage, ‘Chakulia Panda’ still can create a throwback to a past of solitary afternoons when a man could dot our afternoon siesta with their absorbing compositions plucked from Odian religious poems.

It is still fresh in our memories when a man with paste white sandal-wood on his forehead, an usually blood-red ‘Kurta’ and yellow ‘dhoti’ and a palm-leaf umbrella over him, vibrate the afternoons’ quietness with melodious poems.

This he does throughout the afternoon, repeating his renditions at many doors.

Families listen to him and offer him some fists of raw rice which he takes into the sack hanging on one shoulder.

His every rendition has new notes and his each religious or literary  poems speak of the societal realities we require to enamor in our lives.

Rice In Return For Literature

Rice in return for some doses of literature was never a bad deal for the afternoon idlers inside the homes or outside.

Chakulia Pandas who are usually from the lower-cast yet ‘dignified’ Brahmins.

As the faiths have, offering rice to Chakulia panda is considered holier as compared to hundred Brahmins.   They are heard reciting  Rama, Parasurama, Dasarathanandana Rama, Janakanandini Rama” while visiting houses.

They are never demanding and accept what is given(rice) to them by people.

It is an unique slice from the Odian tradition that is today on the wane, slowly fading to the past. Efforts have been there to relive the past but very, very few and far in-between.