Chilika: Natya Gram, a theatre village of Natya Chetna Group in Chilika, was battered beyond recognition during extremely severe cyclonic storm Fani, which hit various parts of the state May 03.
Interacting with Orissa Post, director of the group Subodh Patnaik narrated the painful experience of the cyclone. He said, “15 artistes including me returned to the theatre village at the night before the cyclone. We had only one day to prepare ourselves. Earlier, we had gathered some food to cook as well as to have as snacks for next week.”
“We had stored amounts of kerosene and multiple candles. We also put sand sacks on the tin roofs along with electric bulbs. We pumped water to tanks, recharged all battery lights and mobile phones, stored drinking water, shifted the cows to a concrete hall, called all the Natyagram members to shelter in Natya Nivas,” he said.
Describing the beginning of the cyclone, he said, “All the artistes gathered at the concrete hall of Natya Nivas to face the cyclone together. Gradually, the sky became cloudy, electricity went off at about 11 pm and TV was naturally shut down. However, the mobile network was still working. The wind blew faster than the previous night. We could not even think of breakfast and kept looking at our buildings, trees and Natraj sculptures through the windows from a distance.”
“The Natya Ashram and training centre was out of our sight. The wind speed grew and in the beginning phase, the direction of wind was from East to West. We could imagine it was from the sea side. The wind speed grew suddenly in the reverse direction from West to East and perhaps touched 200kms per hour and our tin roofs were flying like a paper in the sky, tossed outside our boundary. It was a sensational scene for us. After that at about 4 pm, the wind speed slowed down and at about 5.30 pm we could come out of Natya Nivas with umbrellas,” he added.
Elucidating the sight of destruction, he further stated, “We were shocked by the sight of Natya Ashram in general and training centre in particular. Cottage of the thatched house, which was kept as a memory, was severely damaged. The water tank was damaged. The tinned part of the staircase had simply vanished. The Ashoka Tree, which was the main attraction at the center, growing for the last 26 years (1993-2019), was torn to pieces.”
The members of Natyachetana who were witness to the whole situation as it happened were Subodh, Mamata, Sujata(Bebi), Lipi, Manini, Raja, Rakesh, Raghu, Rupsagar, Dipu and Mausa. To get rid of the emotional shock, they made a list of damage and wished to get a clear visible idea of the tasks ahead.
Numerous trees including a 26-year-old Ashok tree were obliterated. Structural damages to the theatre village also spell doom for the artistes residing there. The Natya Chetana group awaits government help to recover from this tremendous setback.