Sometime back, my friend, Bauribandhu Nanda, had told me, in a morning while we walked, about one of his dreams years ago which, he said, was a special one. He had dreamt that he had visited Puri and had offered Tulsi leaves to the Lords . This morning I remembered it and requested him to tell me about the dream again. He obliged.
In 1969, Bauribandhu was Assistant Superintendent of Police at Talcher. That was the year of Nabakalebar of the three Deities in Puri. Police officials from almost every district of the state were being brought to Puri to be on duty during the Nabakalebar, an event of great religious importance that brought thousands of pilgrims from different parts of the country, but mostly from different parts of Odisha.
Bauribandhu had a tinge of sorrow when some officials from Talcher too received orders to proceed to Puri. He wished he too had an opportunity to go to Puri. By then he had been to the Puri Temple only twice. The first visit was many years ago, when he was a young boy and had accompanied the family from home at Damapara. The next and the last visit was only after he had joined the IPS and was on a short training of four days, as a probationer, with the Railway police at Puri.
He had to visit Pallahara on work. Journey from Talcher to Pallahara involved a short ride in a Bullock Cart as well. The local SDO, being the brother of a Talcher based police Inspector, was kind enough to arrange for him a short lift in a government jeep.
Bauribandhu had a memorable dream one night. He dreamt that he had been asked to go to Puri. The dream was long; he found him in the sanctum sanctorum—Garv Griha-- and he was offering a handful of Tulsi to Lord Jagannath. He woke up in the morning to find himself in the lacklustre Pallahara . He made peace with the situation and attended to his duty.
That very day he received an order from the headquarters. He had been asked to proceed to Puri to be on duty during the Nabakalebar festival. He soon reported to the SP at Puri. He was assigned to be with Paramananda Acharya, the Administrator of the Temple .
And Acharya was to be at the Garv Griha. Bauribandhu stood just before the Deities, in awe. A priest thrust a handful of Tulsi into his hands and asked him to offer it to the Lords. A shiver passed through his spine. Like a robot, he had complied.
At that time, Prasanna Kumar Patnaik was the District Magistrate and NK Singh was the Superintendent of Police. SP assigned Bauribandhu to be with the District Magistrate on Nandighosa, Lord Jagannath’s Chariot. Bauribandhu felt blessed. New desire was born. He had heard about a delicious Prasad, Sarapapudi, that is offered to the Lords. This item is prepared with great care and in limited quantity. The very important persons on the terrace of the Emar Math used to be the privileged ones who got a little bit of this Prasad.
His yearning for this special Prasad grew. The kindly, experienced Deputy Superintendent of Police, Godabarish Misra, had been of great help to him at Puri and had been offering guidance to the young IPS officer. Bauribandhu asked Misra if he could help him having a bit of Sarapapudi. He expressed his inability. Bauribandhu gave up .
He was in front of the Prusty cloth shop near the Emar Math along with some police officials, when someone gave him a leaf-cup with a small portion of Sarapapudi and left the place as swiftly as he had come.
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