Dr. B. Jagadish meets Jayanti Dip who has adopted to the dual role of being a cop and a Sachar performer  with ease. Sanchar is a popular folk performing art across the western Odissa and adjoining regions of Chhatisgarh

 

She carries a weapon or a mridanga with equal aplomb. And, her duty as a cop never came in the way of her passion of being a Sanchar kala performer. Besides, being a cop carrying a baton or fire arm during the law and order Bandobast or other such assignments, keeping up with demanding duty hours, she also pursues the passion of her life of being a performer who plays the role of Bahak or the principal entertainer of a performing folk art traditions, popularly known as Sanchar Kala. She is Jayanti Dip, a renowned Sanchar Kala artist.

“Being a cop is my profession, but Sanchar Kala is my passion. It adds aesthetics and meaning to my life, as people recognize me more as an artist,” says Jayanti Dip with a smile that radiates her happiness oozing from being at peace with herself.

Sanchar is a popular folk art in Western parts of Odisha and adjoining regions of Chhattisgarh. This Trimukhi art form is otherwise known as bahak gahak in local language. Bahak is the principal character who plays mridanga, sings, dances and while elucidating on the subject of the topic being presented. Other two characters are assistants who are known as Sumana or Bayamana and are called Gahak or Palia.

“As one of the mediums of mass entertainment, Sanchar Kala is in existence for more than 500 years, since the time of Sri Chaitanya, the founder of Achintya Vadaveda philosophical doctrine. Ramananda and Shyamananda are considered as the founders of Sanchar Kala,” claims Jayanti.

Samyak Charati iti Sancharah or Sama yoga achar, Jayanti explains. Sanchar carries four elements: singing, playing the instrument, dancing and exposition that also includes acting. These four elements make the Sanchar entertaining.

Topics are chosen from Puranas, Mahabharat and Harivamsam with Krishna as the central chara cter around whom the story is woven. While elucidating on the topic, quotes from classical literary works of famous Odiya poets like Upendra Bhanja, Gangadhara Meher, Radhanatha and others gets mentiones, explained to make the elucidation more enthralling. The quality of narration and the quality of quotes from vast corpus of Odiya classical literature determines the depth of knowledge of a Bahak. Who are the authors who compose the topic in poetry? To this, Jayanti answers, “there are many. In my case, my uncle, Kunja Bihari Lohar is my teacher and author. He is a Bahak himself, but also a lyricist. He has authored many Sanchar topics. He is a septuagenarian now, but continues to write lyrics for Sanchar.”

Both male as well as female Bahakas perform sanchar. Speaking about this, jayanti says, presently more girls are entering into this art form.

Talking about her journey in Sanchar, she explains, My uncle taught me to be a Bahaka. I started playing mridanga when I was studying in 1^st standand. I was attracted to Mrudanga playing. I was brought up at my maternal grandparent’s place. I used to sit when my uncle practiced on mridanga when I was only 5 years old. I was fascinated with rhythm. I was small and my hands would not reach both sides of mridanga at a time. So I used to play on one side, then on the other side. Looking at my interest, my uncle got me a small mridanga and I started playing. After my school time I used to practice with that mridanga in the evening.

“By the time I studied in 7^th standard, I was able to perform on my own. My first independent performance was at the Bahmini village in Chhattisgarh”. In her more than two decades long performances as a Sanchar artist, Jayanti has received many felicitations, awards for her craft. Her performance is featured in the critically acclaimed film “Sala Buddha” directed by Sabyasachi Moahapatra.

Sanchar is performed throughout the year, however, the period starting from the day of car festival of lord Jagannatha in the month of Asadha to the day of Jhulana festival in the month of Shravana is busy time for Sanchar troupes. Troupes are also invited to perform in festive occasions. A typical Sanchar act takes around two hours.  Performance usually starts around 10 pm and continues throughout the night, and for that, two to three troupes are invited.

The place where Sanchar is staged in called mandala. The Bahaka of the troupe first enters mandala with Mrudanga. S/he  first pays repect to Own Guru and  founders of the tradition. Then s/he starts  kneading both sides of Mrudanga and moves on to playing while bowing down to the omnipresent nada brahma.  Different rhythms are tried as the Bahak carries out early part of the act like alapa while moving around the mandala.  Gahakas, also known as palia, join the Bahaka for mandali sodhana, mangalacharana part of the act. Then, the Sanchar song is presented followed by bhajans to the accompaniment of Haribol, clapping and ululation from the audience. The Bahak takes up a topic and starts singing, dancing and narrating while also playing the mridanga. During the course of the act, the Bahaka delves into rasas like Karuna, Santa, Hasya, etc. Social, ethical messages are also thrown in between. Topic highlighting Krishna leela is mostly chosen.

Male performers wear Dhoti, Kurta and beads; female performers use Sambalapuri Saree with a gamchha used as cummerbund. Wearing anklets is a must. Mridanga, kashtal (cymbal), anklets (ghungur) and kathi are the main musical instruments.

Female Bahaks are integral part of Sanchara kala from the very beginning. Radha Turi was one among the foremost female bahaks. Jhara, Balsia, to name a few are other exponents.

Jayanti has performed throughout western Odisha and in Chhattisgarh. She is a high grade artist of All India radio, Sambalpur. Apart from her uncle, who trained her in Sanchara kala, she has drawn inspiration from the performaces of great exponents of Sanchar like Alekha sahoo, Guru Dukhanashana Behera and  Gunanidhi Das who have encouraged her a lot while providing tips on the finer nuances of craft.

 Sanchara kala received international accolades when in 1989 Alekha Sahoo and Dukha Nashana along with Chandrama and Vishakha as bahakas went to Japan  and presented this art in five cities.

Jayanti says, “I hope to teach this art form to the next generation. Being a cop is my profession, but Sanchara is my passion, my life. I would strive to keep this tradition alive and inspire younger generation. It is difficult to learn as many elements have to be mastered in addition to in depth knowledge of puranas and scriptures.”

Fortunately for her, members from both her paternal and in-laws side are artists. Her husband, Suresh Kumbhar works as a Havildar in Odisha Police band. As both of them are in police, they at times find it difficult to manage time.  She attributes her success to her husband’s encouragement, support and inspiration. Talking about her life’s journey she informed, she was born in Dunguripalli village under Jharabandha block of Bargarh district.  She studied completed secondary schooling in the village school until her 10 th standard, and graduated from Jharbandha college. She was attracted to literature, singing and playing mridanga than taking part in any other extracurricular activities. Her maternal grandmother taught her to recite purana compositions and scriptures in appropriate chandas (meters).  “In my grandmother’s home purana reading sessions called parayana would take place in which a purana such as Mahabharat or Ramayana or Srimad Bhagabatam would be picked up. Few chapters would be read aloud every day until the whole book is completed. On the concluding day of the parayana, sweets, payas and other such delicacies would be prepared and distributed. This would be like a mini festival which I enjoyed a lot.”  This practice of purana recital continues to this day in rural Odisha.

Interestingly, Sanchar duels (competition) are common in which a troupe competes with other troupes. In this each troupe tries to excel in presentation and depth of knowledge. Each Bahak is challenged with riddles and puzzles by the Bahaka of other competing troupes asked to solve these. They often criticize each other’s craft on performance, presentation style, etc. Sometimes, the audience ask questions on puranic narratives with prize money.

An artist has to remain completely engrossed in the craft to become an exponent. It take long time to learn Sanchar and greatly depends on the learner’s aptitude and sincerity. One can sing, one can play. One can dance. However, to be an adept in Sanchar is to be skilled in all these by one person. The training period is long as one needs to master all these elements that makes a Sanchar performer.

This traditional folk plays is declining in its popularity, especially among younger generations who are hooked to presently available entertainment mediums. However, artists like Jayanti are a dedicated bunch of folk adherants who are determined to keep this tradition alive.

To the question whether she is happy and content as a Sanchar artist, she replied with twinkle in her eyes, “Yes, absolutely! Sanchar is my life. Food for my soul. The kind of accolades, appreciation, joy and peace I get while performing Sanchar cannot be measured in any tangible things. I draw my meaning of life from Sanchar.”