P.K.
Mahanandia: Salute
To A Living Legend
By Vidya Bhushan
Rawat
30 December, 2006
Countercurrents.org
We all celebrated when Bobby
Jindal made it to American Congress several years back. Similarly whether
it is Mahendra Chaudhury in Fiji or Vasudev Pandey in the Carribeans,
Indians always rejoice on the victory of their 'own' people. But, it
is strange that an Indian who is known as the 'cultural ambassador'
of India for his noble efforts to propagate Indian arts and culture
in Sweden, remain unknown to a large tribe in India. It is certainly
because he happened to be a Dalit and has no public relation firms to
publicise his work and achievements. Nevertheless, PK Mahanandia's life
and achievements can give us many lessons of how we treat our geniuses
and that if opportunities are provided any body can shine under the
sun. Moreover, in a country where caste hatred dominate our discourse,
Mahanandia got an opportunity to develop his life and show his skills
to the world only after he left India. He got married to Swede Nobility
after a pure love story, which virtually had no parallel? Much before,
he could achieve so many distinctions even as representing Sweden at
various UN conferences, Mahanandia was humiliated in his home state
of Orissa and later in the streets of Delhi just because he happened
to be born in an untouchable family he had no God father who could guide
him and provide support to pursue his dream to become an artist? It
is important that we should understand what this story tells us. So
first let me introduce him to you. Yes, Mr P.K.Mahanandia, would have
made it to Swedish Parliament this year had his party Junilistan received
some more votes at the national level. Mr. P.K.Mahandia became legend
in his own lifetime for his amazing work, his love story and his contribution
to strengthen the multicultural life in Sweden.
PK as he is fondly called
was originally Pradyumna to his parents. Born in an untouchable weaver
family, in 1949 in a village of district Kandhapada, Orissa, this outcaste
always had a fascination for the nature. He had seen the dangers of
the Varna system and how it reduces people to nothing. An individual
become useless because of his caste identity. His father was a postman
who later rose to become postmaster. The father wanted to educate his
children and hence PK was sent to local schools yet his caste identity
always came in between to haunt him. His fellow student would laugh
at him and mock his family and caste. Knowing this, his father arranged
him a hostel at Mahendra High School but here also the cook behaved
in the similar fashion what I would recall what Dr Ambedkar witnessed
when he returned to India from Abroad. It agonized the young mind of
Pradyumna. I am sure all those who are reading this would understand
that caste is not class in India. It is worst than any other disease,
Pradyumna was a born artist
who had grown in the lap of nature. From the college days, his art started
reflecting in his various works. But very unfortunately Pradyumna was
unable to concentrate on his education. While he remained weak in mathematics
even though, he was a keen student of science at the school level.
He later joined Viswabharati
to study art on the advice of his elder brother. Despite his selection
at the art school, it became impossible to pay the high fee and he had
to return home disappointingly. It was more disappointing that this
legendary artist could not find a Bhadrlok gentlemen taking care of
him and exploring his art. One wonders what were the virtues of Vishwabharati
if it could not nurture a talent in India. But perhaps that is not in
our traditions particularly when we all suffer from Dronacharya syndrome.
Hence, after his failure to get admission in Vishwabharati, he joined
college of art, Khallikote, which was affiliated to government of Orissa.
But that did not satisfy his quest to develop art and he finally took
admission at Delhi College of Art to study Fine Arts 1971.
In Delhi he had to face similar
problems. The struggle continued where he slept on the streets and used
the public toilets. He still remembers those horrible days when he used
to roam around particularly near the old coffee house, which is now
Palika Bazar More painful was that there was no body to help him provide
him the basic necessities of life. He would walk barefoot and was virtually
homeless till a friend Tariq Beg shared his accommodation with him.
Talent never remain hidden and with in few years, Pradyumna became an
expert in making portraits, as his biographer noted Oriya poet of international
repute Mr Jayant Mohapatra writes ', The excellence of the portrait
of the cosmonaut Valentina Tereskova was the first in his efforts at
portraiture, and remains a memorable creation for all time. His art
became topic of discussion everywhere, and his name found prominent
place in the country's newspaper. Pradyumna could then easily obtain
permission from the Delhi High Commission and he began to take his art
to the streets, sketching and painting near the Fountain in New Delhi's
Connaught Place.'
In 1975 Charlotte, a Swedish
student Charlotte came to know about the creation of portraits by Pradyumna,
in a leading English Newspaper the Hindustan Times. Perhaps, that changed
the entire life of Pradyumna. Charlotte decided to visit his exhibition
and went to Connnaught place where Pradyumna was making portraits of
those who desired so. Watching him make portrait of people made immediate
influence in the mind of Charlotte. During the making of portrait for
Charlotte both of them fell for each other. They married according to
local traditions and Charlotte was later rediscovered as Charulata and
in short Lotta.
While Charlotte had to return
to Sweden because of her visa, Pradyumna decided that he would go on
his own to that country. May be, the traditional 'purushartha' or 'manliness',
prohibited him to take a favor from his wife who could have easily send
him an air ticket. It was nearly impossible to earn that much of money
by designing portraits in the streets of Connaught place in the mid
seventies. So one fine day, Pradyumna realized that he probably might
not earn the amount of money required to buy an air ticket to Stockholm
and therefore he decided to go to Sweden on Cycle, which was his support
system to commute in Delhi. It was 1977 and Pradyumna started from Delhi
and passed through Amritsar and reached Afghanistan. From there he proceeded
to Iran, Turkey, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Germany and Austria, Denmark
and then Sweden. PK remembers how difficult it was for him to travel
in these tough mountainous regions. At the Sweden border, Pradyumna
was stopped by the immigration authorities, who wanted to know the purpose
of his visit to Sweden. The poor fellow showed them his marriage photographs
and letters with Charlotte which the officials refused to believe. The
official found it unbelievable that a woman from Swedish Nobility would
marry to an ordinary man from India. They feared that the man was lying
and therefore they called her. It was only after Charlotte informed
that that the said man was her husband that the authorities decided
to let him in. It was remarkable that Charolotte had never referred
to her family background to Pradyumna very unlike with our stiff traditions
where family background and father's business becomes bigger subject
than the individual getting married.
This shows also a clear difference
between the two cultures. The Indians value system and the Swede culture.
At a time when we have witnessed many honored killings in India because
of the caste tag, a woman of Swedish aristocracy marrying to an Indian
Untouchable boy in the 1970s was itself unbelievable. For an India,
which is still struggling to accept that Dalits are equal partners in
development, this is an important lesson. When I asked this question
to PK Mahanandia as what difference he found in the two cultures since
he has been living in Sweden for nearly 40 years, he said, " I
personally never felt any discrimination in private or in public. May
it is due to my personal image in this country. People respect me by
knowing my background as an outcast and married in the Swedish aristocracy'.
It is interesting that PK
has been able to find some relationship between India's caste system
and similarities in Sweden. 'Perhaps you know CHATURVARNA, of India
is the same as in ancient structure of Nordic society. In Sweden It
was called "Fyra Stånden. "Swedish society was divided
into four main groups ADEL, PREST, BORGAR and BONDE. Their birth professions
were like Chaturvarana in India. If you enter into Swedish Parliament
There is a room of Chaturvarna (Where I had arranged Dalit arts exhibition),
you can se 4 huge oil paintings representing Adel, prest , borgar and
Bonde like Kshatriya, Brahmin, Vasya and Shudra. It seems Sweden has
already come over the problem of Chaturvarna a long time back but India
is not able to get rid of Chaturvarna mentally", he says.
Mr. Mahanandia says that
India can learn a lot from Sweden, as they are a better democracy than
ours. India has a long way to develop itself into a mature democracy.
Interestingly, a documentary
film on his life, broadcast by Swedish National television three times,
became the entry point for common Swede to hear and understand the word
"Dalit". Impressed with his impeccable credential P.K.Mahanandia
was invited by a new political party JUNILISTAN to visit European Parliament
Brussels and then nominated as a candidate to contest the elections
for the Swedish Parliament. 'I personally got 9.7% of all votes where
margin is 8%. It means I would have come into the Swedish parliament
if my party had got 4% vote in whole of Sweden. Last EU election 2002
party had got more than 14. %," Says Mahanandia.
In Delhi, as the Lok Sabha
passed the reservation for OBC bill, the merit mongers have again taken
to the streets decrying government actions. Merit is again the talk
of the town and Dalits are lampooned as dull, ordinary, lazy and non-meritorious
people. I felt compelled to ask Mr Mahanandia, who is a living legend
and respected for his art all over the world as what is his view of
merit. He said, 'Merit does not belong to any caste, creed or sex. If
opportunity is given any one can rise. Reservation should be according
to the population of the area in private and in public'.
Many of the dalits have converted
to other religions because of the continuous humiliation at the hand
of the caste Hindus. What is the right choice, I ask. According to him,
'Buddhism is more human and more democratic way of living, after all
now whole world is crying for humanity'. He sincerely feels that the
struggle of Dalits is a battle of whole humanity. While treating love
and marriage is private affair, he feels that discrimination is a disease
and can only be cured by individuals. So it is important to understand
that individual is supreme and that caste discrimination kills individual
identity.
In 2005 Orissa's Minister
of State Mr Nagendra K Pradhan proposed his name for Nobel Peace Prize,
for his outstanding work to promote peace and art all over the world.
PK has started Orissa Cultural Centre in Boras, Sweden.
The most important part of
Mahanandia's achievements is that he is not bitter even after having
faced so much of discrimination in life. In fact, his contribution to
spread Indian art, culture and handicraft has been immensely respected
and acknowledged in Sweden and other parts of the world. More over,
in 1979 he instituted scholarship for needy students of art, Indian
dance and music. His village had severe water problem and PK understood
this and arranged drilling tube-well for solving the water crisis. In
year 2000, he built 'eco-cottage' to encourage village tourism in Orissa.
He regularly supports and sponsor activities in his village. A large
number of his admirers visit this eco village in Orissa. It is a tribute
to his conviction and work that 20% of his income is invested in Orissa.
As a rare individual, P.K.Mahanandia
is a role model for all those who aspire high and fight against the
unnatural injustice imposed by a priestly class. In Mahanandia's success
lies great lessons of humanism for India and its people. Indians need
to be proud of him and his achievements but at the same point of time
must introspect how legends like him are nurtured and respected world
over but not in their own country. How long will we allow this to happen
and then claim that we believe in ' Vasudhaiv Kutumbkum'. More importantly,
can we really say that discrimination in India is based on economic
condition and not on the basis of the caste identity of an individual?
P.K.Mahanandia's story also reminds us to get rid of our 'matrimonial'
values based on caste and religions and bring different culture together
by human bondage based on purely inter personal relationship of love,
respect and affection.
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