When Droupadi Murmu rose from her struggles and achieved the biggest post of India as the 15th President of the nation, it made us question that there are many gems that are hidden around the nation, whom we are not aware about. Even though they were born and raised in poor conditions, they still managed to achieve bigger things in life. One of those gems is Haldhar Nag, a 71 year old poet of Kosli language, who received ‘Padma Shri’, the fourth highest civilian award of India, in 2016 for his beautiful pieces of poetry, barefoot. He faced so many hardships that he told the officials “Sahib! I do not have money to come to Delhi, please send the award (Padma Shri) by post”.
Born in 1950, in poor family of Bargarh district of Odisha, he lost his parents at the tender age of 10 and was forced to leave his studies in third grade. Living the life of an orphan, he spent many years in a dhaba cleaning dirty utensils. After this he worked as a cook in a school for 16 years and later he took a loan for Rs. 1000 from the book and opened a stationery shop and kept making his living for many years. During this period he continued to write and did not let his passion for writing die. In 1990, Haldhar Nag wrote his first poem ‘Dhoda Bargach’ (The Old Banyan Tree). Along with this he sent his 4 other poems for publication in local magazine and all of his works were published, after this the process of his writing started and continues till date. Haldhar Nag claims that he still remembers every piece he wrote word by word.
A compilation of his writings ‘Haldhar Granthavli-2’ has been made part of the syllabus in ‘Sambalpur University’. His poems are mostly based on the theme of ‘Lok Kavi Ratna’ including things related to nature, religion, society and mythology. Even though the word ‘Sri’ was never added before his name, his contribution to the literature made the government of India to acknowledge him and his work and awarded him with ‘Padma Shri’ in the field of literature. This humble and down to earth poet received the honorary award barefoot with only in ‘gamcha’ and ‘dhoti’. Even after living his life in extreme circumstances, he still managed to get the hold of his life and never gave up. He not only did not let his passion for writing die but wrote such beautiful pieces in ‘Kosli’ language which themselves speak about the wisdom of the man who had to leave his studies in third grade.
People like Haldhar Nag and Droupadi Murmu are the true examples which shows that no matter what life throws at you, what circumstances you face or in what conditions you were born and raised, if you have the courage and the will to never give up, you can achieve many bigger things in life and still managed to remain humble and down to earth. Their achievements show that if you believe in yourself even after facing many hardships then no power can stop you or your efforts from being known to the people. So these living examples show us that one cannot blame his conditions and adversities for his failures and can overcome everything only if he has courage and will to do so.
Report: The Stellar News (Hoshiarpur)
