Odisha: Inspiring Stories & Tales Of Courage At PHDMA Fest 2022

Bhubaneswar: The five-day workshop-cum-seminar of Poverty and Human Development Monitoring Agency (PHDMA) saw a first-of-its-kind beneficiary meet along with inspiring stories from sector-specific personalities.

The workshop, which was also known as PHDMA Fest 2022, concluded on November 30.

The fest aimed at bringing government scheme beneficiaries who have been touched upon by PHDMA during its field monitoring and evaluation practices to one platform and listening to their stories. Accordingly, the workshop witnessed as many as 10 beneficiaries from across the state selected keeping various themes and schemes in mind taking part in narrating their lived realities. Besides, 11 sectoral experts or inspiring individuals from different fields interacted with the PHDMA members and shared their life stories, a press release said.

The event kickstarted with a progressive farmer from Kalahandi, Krushna Chandra Nag, who narrated his journey from an aimless youngster 20 years ago to a rich and inspiring farmer now. The team had earlier covered his story during a field visit in 2021.

“After spending a major chunk of my youth without an aim, I decided to start farming at my father’s insistence. I initiated my journey as a farmer with chilly farming from a small patch of land and now, I own 14 acres of farmland and earn millions. I also conduct training sessions in collaboration with government departments,” the farmer said.

His session was followed by young filmmaker Arjun Samantray, who showcased his documentaries ‘My Grandmother’s Hand’ and ‘Anandban’ which were strongly emotive, visually pleasing and aesthetically sensitive. This Jatni-born theatre and film personality cited his love for the state and his roots.

The third session of the day was the oral representation of a woman journalist’s struggle and determination to overcome any hurdle in her professional as well as personal life. Senior journalist and communication professional Sarada Lahangir took the gathering on a detour of her journalism career in Odisha. A career spanning more than 25 years in television, print and digital media, she stressed how social impact stories have yielded her accolades and awards from various institutions of repute as well as praises from eminent personalities and members of the public.

Koraput Collector Abdaal M Akhtar joined the workshop through video conferencing in the afternoon. He provided a glimpse of the anthropological history of Koraput narrating about its people, culture, lifestyle and livelihood patterns and more. He enlightened us towards the path of development taken up by the tribal population and their journey towards modernization. He explained in detail about the transformation that he has witnessed within the people of the community.

The second day of the workshop started with two simultaneous sessions of two beneficiaries from Puri and Kendrapada. Young Pattachitra artist Purushottam Swain from Raghurajpur described about the history and practices of Pattachitra making. He also highlighted the gradual growth and transformation of this art form and its marketing in today’s world. Fish farmer, Sarada Kalyani Pany spoke about the realities as a fisheries practitioner using bio-floc and how it has been helping her in her economic as well as social development.

Himanshu Upadhyay, an assistant professor at Azim Premji University, said learning in the social development space can only take place by immersing in field reality. “Change will be slow, and may even be invisible. As young people the team may have to keep the faith and courage to keep going,” advised the professor.

Filmmaker and visual chronicler Snehasis Das was the resource person for the fourth session of the day. During his session, he shared his journey as a filmmaker focusing on different development issues. He accentuated that the government is contributing to the well-being of the people through the social safety net. “Time has come when the community has to change the mindset of dependency and move forward to change their lives on their own,” spoke the filmmaker who prioritises climate change.

He also shared his experience of making music videos like ‘Ghar Jana Hai’, ‘Mun Sei Kalinga’, ‘Kachha Kandhei’ and ‘Hausala na Ruthey’ so that he can enhance the outreach of his audience and not keep work limited to the intellectual masses.

The final session of the day saw visually impaired lecturer Sk Samad Kalapahad narrating his experience of living a normal life despite physical limitations. He inspired the young minds of PHDMA through his narration.

The third day of the workshop opened up with Saraswati Bal, director of a Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO) from Jajpur, talking about her struggle and taking the Mission Shakti movement forward in her area. The session was followed by the screening of ‘Shrikhetra Ru Sahijata’, a national award-winning documentary, and a discussion with its maker Ashutosh Pattnaik, who gave the team a glimpse of the life and culture of Puri and the story behind the making of this docu-film.

The third session of the day saw Amarjit Jena, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Mo School, recount his story as a witness to the transformation in the education sector in the state. Renowned filmmaker Amartya Bhattacharyya took the final session of the day in which he narrated his journey as a filmmaker and writer and how he balances his job and passion.

The fourth day’s proceedings started with simultaneous sessions of a physically-handicapped weaver from Bargarh and a Block Level Coordinator from Koraput, who works as a cutting-edge functionary. While Sangeet Luha spoke about carrying forward the family tradition of weaving and his growth after getting support from the state government, the VOP Debendra Panda recounted his life experience as a cutting-edge functionary and working as a voice of PHDMA (VOP).

In the motivational session, paraplegic actor and disability activist Jitendra Kumar Biswal’s never-say-die attitude and enjoy-life-to-the-fullest approach enhanced the self-confidence among all participants. His session was followed by a one-hour discussion on ‘Development Journalism and Writing in Odia’ in which journalists Bidyadhar Panda, Gargy Satapathy and Chidananda Jena shared their knowledge and stories from their reporting careers.

The final day witnessed three strong people sharing their stories. Samari Tangulu, Zilla Parishad president, Malkangiri was the first speaker of the day and she narrated her struggle as a woman from Swabhiman Anchal. The second session was taken by Lucky Hota, Community Resource Person (CRP), award-winning mushroom farmer and Youtuber from Balangir, who spoke in length about her success in every field. The third speaker of the day was Saditya Behera, a farmer from Bargarh who shared about the lift irrigation support he got from the state government, which has turned his barren land into a crop bowl and earns him millions annually now.