DRupadi Murmu’s house was often chased by Yama, the Hindu god of death, causing unbearable suffering. But his nomination as a presidential candidate by the Bharatiya Janata Party has brought the spirit back into his life.
Not only his life, but also the Santhal tribal communities living in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha (where he is from) and Jharkhand are overwhelmed. Tribal families are aware that this is only a symbolic gesture but an important one.
Murmu’s selection for the presidency by Prime Minister Narendra Modi – dubbed ‘Zamee Par’first citizen – has been so well received among Indian tribals that it has overnight opened a window of rare opportunity for a civilizational push to bring India closer to the mainstream. It’s a tough call but definitely an opportunity.
Over the past few decades, the spread of education and better road networks have made a fundamental difference in tribal life in India. Now it needs to be strengthened as most of the big promises made to the tribals remain unfulfilled.
This is not a blown hope.
hunger for growth
From a single visit to Uparbera, Murmu’s birthplace, Paharpur, the village of her husband’s family, and Rairangpur, the district headquarters of Mayurbhanj, where Murmu, a two-time MLA, has been living for many years, it can be inferred that the oldest How are the residents? There has been a stir in India settled in the forests.
Murmu will be the first tribal and Odisha leader to become the President if elected.
Aborigines are firmly uniting behind Murmu, just as the African-American community voiced its support for the rise of Barack Obama.
The local unit of BJP has put up hoardings in cities and villages wishing Draupadi Murmu and PM Modi for their victory.
Many local village residents have neither heard of Raisina Hill, New Delhi – his new residential address after Murmu’s possible victory – nor are they aware of the extent of the Indian President’s constitutional powers. But praying for herelection‘ (Elections), they are demanding more development in their forests.
The demand for construction of a bypass road in Rairangpur on the Ranchi-Vijayawada highway has been resumed by the Santhals. The locals of Uparbera want the railway lines to be extended beyond Badampahar and Gorumhisani – two famous hills where iron ore is excavated and a symbol of tribal exploitation in the region for decades.
Residents around these iron ore deposits are complaining about the questionable management of the District Mineral Foundation, formed after the 2015 amendment to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, to help mining-affected communities. Their hunger for development is being seen here.
Read also: Why are Dhankhar and Murmu a perfect fit in Modi’s Mission 2024?
putty
Murmu’s close relative and confidante Saraswati Tudu tells me, “All the villages in Mayurbhanj have conducted rituals at Jhakhira, our place of worship. Our gods are Sal trees, animals, insects and plants. whenever ‘my’ (Murmu) Uparbeda comes, she always prays at Jhakhira and Vad tree. We were told many years ago that someone from Uparbeda would become a very big person in India.
Then, she tells me a story.
“Our family is Tudu. We can’t get married in Tudus. Draupadi was married into the Murmu family of a nearby village. The Tudu family is called the Sardar family because Draupadi’s father Biranchi Narayan and grandfather were the head of the village panchayat. Our village is blessed with Buddha Rana hill (pointing his finger at a nearby hill). Mountains are God for us (For us, the hill is our god). Buddha Rana had seven daughters. Kamla and Bimla, two daughters, came to our village. We had built temples for these deities in 1967. Since then he has protected us. Draupadi has been the blessed daughter of Uparbeda. Four families of Uparbeda have already succeeded in politics. Our uncle Karthik Tudu was a minister in Bhubaneswar. He helped Draupadi to complete her matriculation and study in a college in Bhubaneswar.”
Draupadi was named after her maternal grandmother Draupadi Tudu, but her surname is Putti. His political career began in 1997 as a local councilor of the BJP.
Samay Tudu, her uncle and retired bank manager, says, “She is a passionate but determined woman. he is a Stubborn (stubborn) woman. His resolve is firm. Don’t underestimate his potential. She is well-read, can give speeches and understand what is good for the tribal community. He has a strong sense of self-pride. Don’t call him a ‘rubber-stamp’.”
Murmu’s family friend and Rairangpur-based journalist Ravindra Patnaik, 40, says, “She is an ordinary woman with few needs. Her favorite food is Pakhala, a local water dish made of rice and curd. She is a strict vegetarian, follows Hinduism and stays away from superstitions, keeping faith in the tribal culture. When she was the governor of Jharkhand, she questioned the law saying it was not in the interest of tribals. He refused to sign it. In her primary school class, she was a topper in studies and sports. There were 40 boys and 8 girls in his class. As a rule, the topper becomes a monitor, but more than 55 years ago, in a patriarchal society, she was not allowed. She fought hard and became a monitor.
Draupadi Murmu is not a charismatic mass leader like Shibu Soren, but her credibility as a social worker in her constituency in Mayurbhanj is quite high.
He has few friends in his social circle. Patnaik claims, “He has never engaged in money spinning deals of iron ore.” In most of his speeches to a tribal audience, Murmu says, “Remember that we are equal. don’t feel smallOneJayhNo (Don’t consider yourself inferior).”
Emerging from a ‘tsunami’
Murmu’s personal life is a story of resilience and ‘self-pride’. An unforgettable moment for her was in 2009 when her 25-year-old son Laxman died unexpectedly after attending a gathering in Bhubaneswar. His death broke him. Supriya Kumari, the head of the Brahma Kumari ashram in Rairangpur, tells me, “She was completely broken. There was no life in him to even talk to.”
In a conversation on Brahma Kumari’s television program, Murmu himself narrated the incident, “Tsunami came into my life in 2009. It was a huge blow to me. I could not hear anything for a few days. I went into depression. . to logIhey you will die (People thought I would not survive). But, no, I wanted to live.”
Two months later he called Kumari to the ashram, completed a course and learned Sahaja Raja Yoga. She got better by changing her life. Since then, she wakes up every day at around 3.30 and goes to sleep by 9.30 pm. She does yoga and meditation non-stop and is also punctual. The spiritual inclination of life not only escaped him, but also stabilized him.
But tragedy struck Murmu again when his younger son Shipun died in a road accident. When her body was brought home, she was once again completely broken.
Rajesh Sharma, a local journalist present at her house, says, “She was crying uncontrollably. She broke in front of her son’s body. He raised his hand to the sky and asked, ‘Lord, what more do you want from me? What’s left now?'” The devastation came in great numbers.
In an indescribable chain of events, his mother and a younger brother died within a month. And a year later, due to deep depression, her husband Shyam Charan Murmu also died.
At the time, Draupadi Murmu told a TV anchor with pain in her voice: “When my second son died, the shock was a little less than the first because I was meditating. My husband was not as strong as me, so he could not survive.” She insisted on marrying her only daughter Itishree and leading a normal life. After the death of five family members, she turned to spirituality and vegetarianism When she was the Governor of Jharkhand (2015-2021), she made the kitchen completely vegetarian. She is likely to bring about many fundamental changes in running the government at Rashtrapati Bhavan if she becomes the President.
Murmu has donated his family’s land in Paharpur to public causes. She runs SLS Residential School in memory of her husband and two sons. in the exact place, he has made tombs In his memory. It is a heart-wrenching sight.
Also when you see tribal girls and boys getting free education and civilized surroundings around samadhi, you can imagine creating a beautiful future from a past of death.
Salute Draupadi Murmu for becoming the President of India!
Sheela Bhatt is a senior journalist based in Delhi. Thoughts are personal.
(Edited by Likes)