REBANA-NUAGAON (PURI): Nature’s fury can not only be devastating but also all encompassing. The extreme cyclone Fani left behind a trail of destruction of property, resources and livelihood that may be rebuilt over the years. But its impact on socio-cultural activities was unforeseen. And the first casualty on the altar was marriages.
Sanatan Pradhan had reconstructed a kitchen having asbestos roof next to his house in the backyard to prepare feast for his son Satyabrata’s marriage. With the cyclone blowing away the roof and damaging the kitchen walls, Pradhan, a resident of Rebana-Nuagaon village, had to postpone the marriage which was to be solemnised on May 19.
The Pradhan family had already printed invitation cards and booked marriage paraphernalia - from cooks to tent house and band baja to vehicles. Now they have to reschedule it, but they fear that the event may not be as grand as they expected.
“The kitchen has gone. We have to rebuild again. Lack of electricity is the main concern as generators are demanding three to four times of the usual charge. There has been huge scarcity of vegetables and other food items. Let things normalise, we will decide a fresh date,” said Pradhan.
His daughters, who are staying in Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh, had to cancel their tickets. The only solace was that they had not conducted the ‘Gua mangalan’ (a ritual considered very auspicious for a Hindu family). “It was to be performed on May 10. But we could not do it due to the cyclone,” said Sailabala, mother of Satyabrata, a bakery trader.
Prafulla Pradhan of the same village has also deferred his son Priyabrata’s marriage, which was scheduled on May 18 as he has suffered loss of property in the cyclone. With debris all around and cry for shelter and succour still shrill, the cyclone-ravaged people of Brahmagiri block in Puri don’t want to tie the nuptial knots now.
According to a rough estimate, at least 50 marriages have been postponed in the areas the TNIE team visited. Ashok Nayak and Anil Samantaray of Mahisa village had to postpone marriages as their houses have been completely destroyed. The most important occasion in their life can wait as they are busy rebuilding their houses. Mahisa and its neighbouring Berhampur are two worst hit villages located on an island in Chilika lake.
“My marriage was scheduled for May 6. I had already purchased groceries, vegetables and others items for the feast. But the cyclone damaged everything. I suffered a loss of around ` one lakh,” said Anil. But there are some people who defied the destruction in a gesture of human resilience to put life on track though at a heavy cost. “Since we were ready for the marriages of my twin sons, we went ahead as per schedule. I had to spend more towards charges of generators and vehicles. But we had no other option,” said Maheswar Paikaray.