BHUBANESWAR: The lockdown has turned the life of Manoj Nayak, a 48-year-old octapad player from Tankapani road area, upside down. The sole breadwinner of his four-member family, Manoj is now struggling to make ends meet. All his shows, lined up post-March 4, have been cancelled for the next two months.
“I earn between Rs 1,500 and 2,000 per programme. That’s my only source of income. Now that everything is stopped, I have no alternative to support my family, neither can I avail any aid from the State Government as I don’t come under the BPL category,” he said. What aggravated his misery was a recent accident that kept him confined to bed for past six months - recovering only to face another crisis!
Like, Manoj there are hundreds of artistes across the State whose livelihoods have been crippled by the pandemic. Umakant Biswal of Nuagaon area, who is a table player, is facing similar difficulties. Neither are they migrants nor BPL cardholders. Even, their services are not listed as ‘essential.’ In such a scenario, hundreds of junior artistes, stage technicians and light men are witnessing perhaps one of the most critical phases of their lives.
But in the dark times, when the Governments had little or nothing on offer, hope came in form of the senior and privileged artistes from across the country who joined hands to support them. Four days back, harmonium player Ajay Das, compere Jitu Mangaraj and tabla player Sachin Rath came forward to help the artistes in dire need. They stood by the side of such artistes by providing them five kilograms each of rice and wheat, oil, three kilogram potatoes, lentils, onion, sugar and soaps through crowdfunding.
Creating a separate group on Whatsapp, they connected with established artistes from across the country to raise donations. “So, far we have sent the relief supplies to 50 families in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. We will be sending supplies to 450 families across the State. For people staying far, we are transferring money into their accounts,” claimed Ajay. Similar efforts were made by members of Bhubaneswar Music Circle, who claimed to have responded to the calls of 15 families of Manganiar musicians (nomad singers) from Rajasthan.