Honoured with Padma Shri, three PhDs based on him, his life and work is a case study in Harvard University, nominated for Nobel Literature in 2008, BBC documentary on him and many more such achievements credited to his life. No, we are not talking about any premiere university pass out; in fact we are talking about a class three dropout, Haldhar Nag. In a world where report cards are given more importance than talent, his life story is bound to be a source of inspiration for many.
Haldhar Nag hails from western Orissa and was born in March 31, 1950 in Bargarh district of Orissa. He was barely 10 when his father passed away, leaving him with no option but quitting the school. He was then forced to work as a dishwasher in a local sweet shop. At the age of 13, a villager helped him to get a job as a cook in a school’s canteen where he worked for 16 years. With the mushrooming of schools in the locality he approached a banker and managed to get a loan of Rs 1,000. He utilised the money for opening a small stationery shop. This is when his journey as a poet started.
The beginning
Nag started observing the nature around and penned down his first poem in 1990 titled ‘Dhodo Bargachh’ which means ‘The Old Banyan Tree’. His poem was published in a local magazine which acted as a source of inspiration for him. And soon he became popular as the ‘Lok Kabi Ratna’. Nag started travelling from one village to another for reciting poems. Today he manages to attend three to four events per day. Till date he has penned 20 epics and has lost the count for the poems. He draws his themes from the rural surroundings and writes mostly on mythology, history, religion, society, nature and loves experimenting with new topics.
Recently his work has also been translated in English. When asked Nag whether translation has an effect on the original essence of the poem he says, “I cannot read, write or understand English so cannot compare the original and translated work.” He is blessed with an elephant’s memory, you mention any name or subject of his poem he will recite it for you.
The 67-year-old is always spotted in a dhoti and a vest and has never worn footwear throughout his life. He is also the director and singer of Dulabiha Cultural Troupe. Talking about the troupe he says, “The group travels from places to places to perform with an aim to enrich the culture and tradition of the community.”
Shared screen space with celebs
Though Nag is not a movie buff he knows all the Bollywood stars by name and feels happy to be a part of star-studded Padma Shri ceremony. Nag has also acted in a Bollywood movie titled Kaun Kitne Paani Mein that stars Gulshan Grover, Kunal Kapoor, Radhika Apte and Saurabh Shukla. The satirical comedy is based on the problem of water shortage that was released in 2015.
Achievements
Nag has a huge list of achievements to his credit. He has been felicitated with Orissa Sahitya Academy award in 2014 and Padma Shri in 2016. Sambhalpur University is working on compilation of his work that will be titled ‘Haldhar Granthabali – 2 and will be part of their syllabus. Though he didn’t get an opportunity to go to school he runs a school with the name Haldhar Bano Vidyalaya for tribal and orphan children.
