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Padmashri Sakine Ramachandrayya, a tribal folklore artist, is no more. He will not be seen by us forever from midday today.
He sleeps comfortably in the tomb built for him. We will no longer hear that bronze voice and bronze melody.
He did not die of illness as everyone is saying! We killed him mercilessly by giving him false hope. .
But his dying questions haunt us. "Many people have been given Padmashri. They have also been given crores of rupees. When they came to me, they showed an empty hand.
Is this discrimination because I was born in a tribal race?" He asked the same question till his death. Did he ask to give Padma Shri? Did he ask for one crore rupees? Hopes that did not exist. They took it around the offices.
They did not give a single penny.
Mentally crippled. He fell ill.
Finally, he died. Who should be called guilty now?
He lived comfortably before the arrival of Padma Shri.
If someone in the Koya community dies and performs the karma (last rites)
Doli artist Rama Chandrayya has to be there. The drum should be beaten. 'Purbam' should be said. When he sings the story, the whole town sways with enthusiasm.
Not only in Koya language, but also in Hindi, he used to say Purbam. That is why he also goes to Chhattisgarh.
He also voiced out Sammakka Saralamma's struggle story in Koyabhasha itself
Prof. Jayadhir Tirumala Rao and Manoja Madam brought to light the story in oral form. A workshop was organized in Palvancha and the poem was translated into Telugu by Paddam Anasuya and it was published as a book.
There was no change in his life except that Doli Ramachandraya became Padmashri Ramachandrayya. The same house, the same poverty, the same profession... In the end, that Padma Shri became a gift to him.
Honors and favors could not satisfy his hunger. God knows about crores of rupees! A debt of 14 lakhs is left around the hospitals.
The cemetery is better than the rulers who broke their promise to give the land of the house, and donated six feet of land without asking!
--- Vidyasagar Polla
It is sad to see traditional forms of art die a slow death. I hope some efforts are made to preserve his art of narrating tribal stories.
ReplyDeleteTrue. They have to be preserved. Thank you for stopping by .:)
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