SAMBALPUR: With degrees like MA, BEd and LLB, Bhopal Barbia of Jhankarpali village had numerous career options. Instead, he chose to carry on the legacy of his father and take up the family profession of making musical instruments like mridanga, mardal, dhol, dugi-tabla and pakhawaj.Today, Bhopal is popular in the Sambalpur music circuit for the quality of musical instruments he makes. All his family members including his wife Binodini, brothers Nepal, Gangadhar and Nakul, sister-in-law Bilasini and six nephews are involved in the business. Stating that he gets immense satisfaction from his work, Bhopal said while the local potter supplies him the outer shell made of terracotta for mridanga and mardal, he has to procure wooden trunks for other instruments. Thereafter begins a lengthy process of making the instruments which is a skilled job right from selection of hide to its treatment and fitting on the shells.It takes about four to five days and two persons to make a mridanga. However, Bhopal lamented that the State Government has no development programme for craftsmen like him. Neither they can avail of loans from bank nor does the State Government have any economic alleviation schemes for them. He is also facing difficulty in finding hide for the instruments. “If the apathy of the State Government continues, it is not long before the tradition dies,” Bhopal said.
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