The Village History Song That Inspired a New Generation to Ask Questions

Swayamprava Parhi (Chief Editor)
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🎵 The lyrics of Village History Song
Our small village….

What a beautiful name …
From birth to death…
It gave us our identity and fame…
Our small village….
What a beautiful name…
It showed us the path to live in this world…

Come, let us learn about the village’s story, its history…
The tales of festivals, harvest, and village deity…
Let’s ask and understand what memory yields.

Ask the grandmothers and grandfathers, uncles and the elders….
How did they see the village they lived in?
When they played in the dust and grime?

What was their world…? What was its name?

When was it born…?  Who gave it its name…?

Who were the first settlers, and from where did they come?
What was their caste, and what was their faith?

How many rivers, ponds, and streams?
Forests, hills, and pathways….
What creatures, insects, flowers, and vines?
Once lived beneath these ancient pines?

How many castes and faiths lived side by side?
How did they live in those days?
Who were the rich who lived with grace?
And what remains of the poor man’s trace?

Temples, mosques, churches, gurudwaras – all stand,
Schools and health in this land.
How did justice flow? How did they teach?
What did the farmers preach?

So many lives once lived here –
Why did the forests disappear?
Why did the potter’s wheel stop spinning?
Why did the weaver’s thread stop singing?

How many seeds were stored in the granary’s keep?
Are they still alive… or do we weep?
What happened to the…
Lost food and cuisines?

Has that bond been lost in chains?
Shall we promise, hand in hand?
To bring back the lost beauty of our land?
Let us build a new history bright –
And the whole world will smile in light again…
And the whole world will smile in light again…

Our small village….
What a beautiful name …
From birth to death…
It gave us our identity and fame…
Our small village….
What a beautiful name…
It showed us the path to live in this world…

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ସ୍ଵୟଂପ୍ରଭା ପାଢ଼ୀ, ସମଧ୍ୱନି ପତ୍ରିକାର (ପ୍ରିଣ୍ଟ ଓ ଡିଜିଟାଲ) ସମ୍ପାଦକ, ଗାୟିକା, ଲୋକ ସଂସ୍କୃତି ଗବେଷିକା. Ms Swayamprava Parhi is an Artist, cultural journalist and folk cultural researcher. She is the Chief Editor of Samadhwani. Swayamprava has been involved in the Village Biography Writing Initiatives with school students since 2005. During Covid-19, she initiated a new approach to work with school students. She shifted her village biography work online while tying up with different schools in Odisha. She is extensively documenting issues like the Food culture of Odisha, Syncretism in India, and Music of the Marginalized Artists. Now, she is focusing on the role of Women in the Performing Folk Art forms of Odisha. She also happens to be a Documentary Filmmaker and a Pod-caster. She has been working closely with noted organic farmer Sri Natabar Sarangi since 2008 in the Narisho/Niali areas and documenting his childhood memories, life experiences and food history of coastal Odisha.