By Rajesh Kumar Behera
A 24 years old rustic youth of nondescript riverside Gopinathpursasan village under Mahakalapada block on Monday erected a five feet high sand art on the debt ridden farmers’ suicide in the state in his native village with an aim to pay homage to departed souls and also to inform his fellow villagers and the nearby locals about the ongoing suicides of the debt ridden farmers in the state as the villagers used to remain in dark following most of the families sans television .
Ballav Mohapatra has portrayed the suicide of the debt ridden farmers of the state by collecting river sand from the bank of river Luna.
In order to erect the art ,he faced a lot of problems . It is more difficult to build the memorial with the images of many farmers in river sand as it took more hours to mould the sand. But, it is easier to build sand sculptor in sea sand,added Ballav
According to Ballav, “ I decided to build sand images of farmers ,who ended their lives in the state untimely , to pay homage to the departed souls of debt ridden farmers and also to pull the attention of the state government to mitigate the woes of millions of farmers. To construct the five foot long sand art on farmers’ suicide , it took two days .”, said Ballava Mohapatra the sand artist of Gopiunathpusasan.
Hundreds of curious villagers from nearby areas thronged to Gopinathpursasan to take a glimpse of the lively sand art made by their fellow village lad on farmer’s suicide.
According to one Pradipta Kumar Pani, a resident of Ostarpur,” earlier we did not know that due to crop loss the debt ridden farmers’ of the state are now forced to take drastic step by ending their life . As most of the villagers are farmers ,they used to work on the field from the dawn to dusk . And later returning from the field , they used to play cards in the village to freshen themselves from tiredness. Another thing is that only a dozen of families have television . So there is little scope to know the ongoing happenings on the state and major issues of the state .But we came about the gravity of the farmers’ suicide after we witness a sand art erected by Ballav Mohapatra at Gopinathpursasan village”
The 24 year old youth’s iron determination ,strong will power, hard work and the lively creation which depicts in his every creativity and differ from each other might have been able to create his own identity in the sand sculpture field in the coming days ,added the locals after witnessing his sand art on farmer’s suicide.
According to Ballav Mohapatra, when he was studying in class 8th he had gone to Paradeep to see the beach festival .There he came in contact with the icon of sand sculptor ,Sudarshan Pattanaik ,who along with his team were portraying a lively art on the beach of Paradeep. He was influenced with the art and had developed an interest towards the said art. From that day onwards ,being inspired by the artist and his artistic creation, he did not look back and started his sand art by taking Sudarshan Pattnaik as his ideal and mentor in his heart.
Remembering the past Ballava said that when he was moving in the Daman sea beach after completing his duty hour from the hotel he saw three little girl children were portraying an image in the sand but unfortunately every time the sand heap was falling before the image was completed. He went there and erected the image for them and from that day onwards he had started creating sand image in the sandy beach of Daman.
Some of his arts ,which got reorganization and won laurels for his won in other states but not at his own state ,were the 1999 Super cyclone at Orissa coast, scene of Tsunami , Jagannath Puri, 10 feet long image of Saibaba, Olive Ridley Sea turtle laying eggs ,the sand image of Mahatma Gandhi. Mesmerised by the beautiful creation, tourists and onlookers feel that it is a rare re- creation of the originals, which was the best reward to me in this field,said Ballav .
“Many print media and electronics media has also covered my art in their respective medias at Daman .But I have recently returned to my native as I have not got any work there after I lost job in the hotel”, said Ballav.
His ability in creating lively art in sand is no means less attractive and sub-standard than the noted sand artists of the country.But ,ironically , he is yet to come to the limelight as he does not get an opportunity and co-operation from any government and non-government organization which can promote him and explore his talents . As he does not belong from a well-to- do family, he is unable to participate in competition ,which are organized in outside the state. If he gets opportunity in the field ,then he will achieve success for his own as well as for the state and will manage to get accolades and admiration from all quarters, said the local art lovers .
The impacts of his sculptures are always amazing and all elements are represented in his sculpture, said the locals artisans. It is strange to know that Ballav has learnt the sand art by practicing his own self not by undergoing any training or tips from anybody.
His long cherished dream to become an Internationally acclaimed sand artist like Sudarshana Patnaik
