Rourkela: Twenty-five visually-challenged youths from across 21 districts of the state who are part of a musical troupe, have carved out a fan following for themselves through their singing skills.
The youths, who come from poor families, joined hands to triumph against all odds and stand tall in the face of adversity, not letting their physical disability come in the way.
The name of their troupe is Bhajan Samaroh Mandali, and as the name suggests, they exclusively perform devotional songs.
The members earn Rs 8,000 each for every performance, and they say they have come a long way from the days of poverty and helplessness.
What’s more, the group has taken a pledge to create awareness on eye donation and spread the culture of the state across the length and breadth of the nation.
The bhajan group was initially formed with six visually-challenged youths of Gosaninuagaon village near Berhampur about 10 years back. With time, more visually-challenged youths who had knowledge of music kept joining the group which gradually swelled to its present size. The 30-member team, with 25 quality singers, has already performed in several cities of West Bengal, Gujarat and Maharashtra to round applause.
“We don’t demand a single penny for our performances and only accept whatever donations we get from individuals or organizations,” the group’s mentor Bhabani Shankar Padhi, who suffers from partial blindness, said. His entire family of five suffers from partial blindness, and Padhi said this has inspired him to serve people with similar afflictions.
Padhi said the desire to better the lives of visually-challenged people led him to form a group named Orissa Service Centre for the Blind about a decade back. The organisation has now become a force to reckon with as it runs a school for hundreds of visually-challenged children. The school has even started vocational training programme for its students. The bhajan troupe has been formed so that it can support the school activities in case of a financial crunch.
With seven female singers, the group which arrived at Rourkela in the beginning of February has already won the hearts of citizens by performing at Sector-3 Jagannath Temple, Jhirpani Jagannath Temple, Koelnagar Jagannath Temple, Chhend Gundicha Temple, Sector-8 Jagannath Temple, Sector-14 Laxminarayan Temple, Fertiliser Jagannath Temple and Basanti Colony. The team was excited over the fact that over a hundred persons contacted them stating that they wanted to pledge their eyes. PNN