Philatelic Tribute to Great Cart Puller
Today I am going to to give here a big contribution by our distinguished reader Ms. N. Kalyani of New Delhi who wrote about 'The Last Post' recently and was published in The Hindu daily on 24 June 2008 and of course another reader Mr. Anil Dhir who is himself the maker of this short film. Mr. Anil Dhir is not only an ardent philatelist but also an excellent film maker and his skill in making films is quite visible in this beautiful short film on World's Last Official Mail Tonga . This Tonga is still running in the small town Jeypore of Orissa. Today's post is dedicated to "The Last Post" and the hero of this film Nila Nayak, the cart puller of this traditional and the only existing mail tonga in the world who passed away just three weeks after the completion of this film.It is a Philatelic Tribute to this Great Cart Puller. My special thanks to Ms. N. Kalyani who sent me this write up and also to Mr. Dhir who made this wonderful documentary film. But this is not the last post from me I will be back here with some more new information for you till then, Have a Wonderful Day !.......
Catching the Last Post - N. KALYANI
The World's last official mail tonga ?
The horse-driven cart mail. Is it still being carried on somewhere in this day and age? Bhubaneswar-based noted philatelist Anil Dhir’s documentary, “The Last Post”, answers in the affirmative. “And it is the only official mail tonga in the whole of India and the world,” says Dhir. “The Last Post” captures the life, work and activities of the horse cart puller, Nila Nayak, in Jeypore, a sleepy, picturesque town in Orissa. “Just three weeks after the completion of my film, Nila Nayak passed away,” reveals Dhir. But Nila’s son, Padmanabh will carry on the tradition. Tradition? Yes, for this was the job that Padmanabh’s great-great-grandfather was recruited for by the king of this princely state in 1920. And the job has come down from one generation to the next.
What was he paid by the post office? A paltry sum of Rs 90 per day of which Rs 70 was spent by him for the upkeep of his two horses, Budhoo and Sania.
Nila points out in the film that when his cart goes into disrepair, thanks to it always being overloaded with mail bags, he incurs Rs 240 for it to become serviceable again. Besides, when the postal department hires the services of a rickshaw on the day Nila’s cart breaks down, he has to pay the department Rs 200! towards the expenditure incurred in hiring the rickshaw! It is such days that Nila and his wife, Chanchala, who has a temporary job as a water-carrier in the post-office, dreaded.
Destiny?
But why at all did Nila, the adivasi living in penury in a slum on the outskirts of Jeypore, have to continue this job? “This is my destiny…I have to bear it… It is my karma. Now it has become my dharma,” says Nila in the film. But Nila never faltered in his responsibility over forty years, with the reputation of never having lost a bag and of never having deposited a mail bag with its seal broken. Is that why the post office too did not dispense with him? Yes. Besides, it was only a pittance that had to be paid to him. Taking on a new contract would have meant at least a doubling of the daily payment, reveals the Jeypore Sorting Room Officer, Purnachandra Limai.
Of course, with Nila’s steadfast decision to stick to his job, it was on humanitarian grounds too that his contract was renewed each time. Interestingly, the townsfolk too want the tradition kept alive.
Does the 19 minute documentary that won a silver award at the INPEX (India National Philatelic Exhibition)-2008 have a message? Well, the postal department needs to adopt some kind of parity in remunerating such workers. Dhir says,. “A week after the film was released and the postal department had watched it, Nila’s daily payment was increased immediately to Rs 150. The income now of Padmanabh is to be increased to Rs 250 per day.” Dhir’s film priced at Rs 100 has already seen 200 buyers. “And the sale proceeds have all gone to Nila’s family,” says Dhir.
The horse-driven cart mail. Is it still being carried on somewhere in this day and age? Bhubaneswar-based noted philatelist Anil Dhir’s documentary, “The Last Post”, answers in the affirmative. “And it is the only official mail tonga in the whole of India and the world,” says Dhir. “The Last Post” captures the life, work and activities of the horse cart puller, Nila Nayak, in Jeypore, a sleepy, picturesque town in Orissa. “Just three weeks after the completion of my film, Nila Nayak passed away,” reveals Dhir. But Nila’s son, Padmanabh will carry on the tradition. Tradition? Yes, for this was the job that Padmanabh’s great-great-grandfather was recruited for by the king of this princely state in 1920. And the job has come down from one generation to the next.
What was he paid by the post office? A paltry sum of Rs 90 per day of which Rs 70 was spent by him for the upkeep of his two horses, Budhoo and Sania.
Nila points out in the film that when his cart goes into disrepair, thanks to it always being overloaded with mail bags, he incurs Rs 240 for it to become serviceable again. Besides, when the postal department hires the services of a rickshaw on the day Nila’s cart breaks down, he has to pay the department Rs 200! towards the expenditure incurred in hiring the rickshaw! It is such days that Nila and his wife, Chanchala, who has a temporary job as a water-carrier in the post-office, dreaded.
Destiny?
But why at all did Nila, the adivasi living in penury in a slum on the outskirts of Jeypore, have to continue this job? “This is my destiny…I have to bear it… It is my karma. Now it has become my dharma,” says Nila in the film. But Nila never faltered in his responsibility over forty years, with the reputation of never having lost a bag and of never having deposited a mail bag with its seal broken. Is that why the post office too did not dispense with him? Yes. Besides, it was only a pittance that had to be paid to him. Taking on a new contract would have meant at least a doubling of the daily payment, reveals the Jeypore Sorting Room Officer, Purnachandra Limai.
Of course, with Nila’s steadfast decision to stick to his job, it was on humanitarian grounds too that his contract was renewed each time. Interestingly, the townsfolk too want the tradition kept alive.
Does the 19 minute documentary that won a silver award at the INPEX (India National Philatelic Exhibition)-2008 have a message? Well, the postal department needs to adopt some kind of parity in remunerating such workers. Dhir says,. “A week after the film was released and the postal department had watched it, Nila’s daily payment was increased immediately to Rs 150. The income now of Padmanabh is to be increased to Rs 250 per day.” Dhir’s film priced at Rs 100 has already seen 200 buyers. “And the sale proceeds have all gone to Nila’s family,” says Dhir.
Published in 'The Hindu' on 24 June 2008
