Shyamhari Chakra
“I will continue with my Kendera as long as I am alive. And I believe that I would live, at least, for 100 years”.
As 93-year-old Saheb Munda of the non-descript Neundi village in Odisha’s Keonjhar district – located near Odisha-Jharkhand border – said this, his pale eyes oozed with amazing hope and confidence.
This elderly tribal man, a daily labourer by profession but musician by passion, has been playing the indigenous string instrument of Kendera while singing for more than 70 years.
“He is a very familiar face for generations of people of our region. My late father used to be his fan as much as I and my children have been today”, acknowledged Ghasiram Naik of nearby Sadangi village.
“Though he hails from Munda tribe that has a distinctly different cultural and linguistic background, he has got an amazing grip over Odia language and Hindu mythology despite not having any formal education. He knows stories from The Ramayana and The Mahabharat so well that he often composes his songs extempore using the characters from mythology while wandering through the villages singing and playing his instrument”, shared culture-researcher Dambaru Mohanta who has been documenting lesser-known facts about the district for decades.
Saheb was a teenager when he met his music guru Kastu Munda of neighbouring Mayurbhanj district. “I loved the musical instrument that my guru was playing so beautifully. I dreamt of playing it someday like him,” he recalled.
Though he had to earn his livelihood as a daily wage earner since his youth, he continued as a wandering folk singer like his guru over the past seven decades. The villagers used to gather in large numbers to listen to him. They also used to offer him food-grains and money. But, he never asked for it. He was specially felicitated by the villagers recently as the pride of their village, added Dambaru Mohanta.
Illness has compelled Saheb to stay confined to his hut in recent months. Yet, he continues to sing and play the Kendera, his constant companion notwithstanding the number of his listeners.
