Prologue: The Eternal Rhythm of Words
There are those who write verses, and then there are those verses that breathe for people. Shibabrata Das was the latter; a quiet tempest from Balasore; these words did not just rhyme, but clang against one another, serving as golden sutra (formula) lining the very psyche of Odisha. His life was a paradox written in ink and melody; a police marksman whose hands steadied rifles by day and trembled with poetic fervor by night -- a man of discipline who set free the wildest dreams of a generation.
Born in 1930, when the very soul of India stirred with restlessness for freedom; Shri Shibabrata was never one to emerge from any of the literary salons, coming into existence straight out of salt-laden air from the seaside of Odisha. There the soil strummed to some particular tune, where Subarnarekha holds the hand of the sea and whispers some unheard secrets to the moon. So, this was in straight discord with him. His poems were never written; they came about spontaneously, sponte sua (of their own accord) -- like monsoon clouds pregnant with rainlets yet to shed or like a sudden flight of egrets from a paddy field.
To speak of the man, it is an epoch where poetry was not pen on paper but rather a soul in the veins -- wheresoever 'Ja jaa re Bhasi Bhasi Jaa' songs became an oar with which ordinary souls rowed in joy and sorrow. His lyrics were not for mere amusement; they were declarations of love, prayers to the Divine, social satires, and elegies unto time itself. In a land where the chariot of Lord Jagannatha rolls to the beat of drums, the word of Shibabrata became a sacred rhythm in another sense -- 'Mana ra taal' (or the heart's meter) -- that echoes in upscale artistic clubs, airwaves, and also in the muted corners of village hearths.
More than grandeur, it was grace that accounted for his genius. Spring was portrayed as a lover knocking at a door ("He Phaguna Kandanare" ), an ancient boatman under the moonlit sky had his weary wisdom captured in in aeternum as in "Uaansa Rati Pahila Majhi", while life's ephemeral drama was bottled into a single sigh: "Ei Jibanata Eka Nataka" (Life is but a play). Even his devotional voice was familiar, a murmur to Sai Baba ("He Sai Siridi Sai") akin to a child grasping its father's finger...
Odisha can never have another Shibabrata. When he departed in 1988, days after laying down his service revolver, Odisha did not lose a poet. It lost a season -- the fragrant Phaguna (Spring) of its cultural year. But like the eternal refrain of "Chandramalli Hase", his laughter lingers. For, almost spiritually, drops of rain drumming upon Odia rooftops, the song of the boatman on Chilika, or even the refrain of a child chanting "Itikili Mitikili" is Shri Shibabrata: not just memory but presence!
His pen has been stilled, but his ink still flows - an undying river feeding the delta of Odia identity. He was, and forever shall be the single flame in the temple of a people's soul -that sheds its light long after the lamp has burnt to ashes.
Early Life and Studies: The Making of a Wordsmith
Genius loci -- the spirit of place -- flowed through Balasore's coastal brine and monsoon-soaked earth, cradling young Shibabrata Das in a cradle of cadence. Having been born on the 26th of August, 1930, the faint memory or half-remembered dream of India's independence floated in the air, charged up with the salt-laden breeze of the Odisha shores, where Bay of Bengal's rhythmical waves and Subarnarekha's rhythmic sediments conversed with each other. Here, amid palm groves and fishing nets, the boy's imagination first learned to ride rhythms -- not yet ink, but instinct.
At Ravenshaw College, in medias res (middle of things), he plunged into the tempest of intellect and art. Here in those colonnaded halls wherein ambition crackled like static before rain, the pen of Shri Shibabrata was awakened. Among other purposes, he and his friend Jibanananda Pani created verses that shifted between satire and sorrow - a paradox in the form of silk-gloved daggers. Their work in The Wheel magazine were less juvenilia than oracle: sharp-verses that dissected society's follies with surgical finesse. Beyond this, Shri Das use to write for Daggar and Kunkuma. But fate, capricious as ever, dared him onto an unlikelier path: straight into the police force.
Scientia potentia est -- knowledge is power -- but what does one say about the hush of poetry's sovereignty? By daylight, he was master of the unfeeling ballistics: steady hands with rifles, eyes narrowing at targets. By the melancholy dawn, he would give himself over to syllabic alchemy, jotting down odes to the moonlit Chhanda (poetry construct) on duty rosters. That was his alchemy: the marksman with a soul for the lyre, the enforcer whose heart bled metaphor. The tension was exquisite -- a man wedged somewhere between order and ecstasy, his uniform stiffened with protocol, his pockets crumpled with takers of verses.
Then came the revelation: all the precision expected of a policeman -- the focus, the patience -- had been nothing but ars poetica. Each stanza written followed the bullet's trajectory: purposeful, clean, intended to pierce the very core of a listener. The Balasore lad, seasoned in Ravenshaw fires and forged in the police force, suddenly emerged not just as a poet; he became the marginal vates of Odisha whose words would soon become the voice of cultural resurrection. Fons et origo: the source and origin of his genius lay here in the clash between discipline and dream wherein a future balladeer was learning to aim at eternity.
Causa Prima: the source of his genius lay in this clash - a marksman learning to aim not at targets, but at eternity's heart.
The Career: In a Nutshell
In the bustling labyrinth of Delhi, where destinies often collided like errant comets, a young Parthasarathy (Arjuna) arrived, seeking fortune and purpose. It was here, amid the cacophony of ambition, that fate-fortuna audaces iuuat (brave fortune) -- orchestrated a meeting that would ripple through the annals of Odia art. Akshay Mohanty, the maestro whose melodies could stir even the stoniest of hearts, crossed paths with Shibabrata Das, then a man of the law, his pen as sharp as his service revolver.
Khoka Bhai, ever the connoisseur of verse, was struck by the poetic cadence in Shri Shibabrata's words. There was a charming, elusive, or mysterious quality (that is hard to describe) in his lines -- an effortless blend of rustic charm and philosophical depth. "Write me a song," Akshay implored, and thus began a collaboration that would birth some of Odisha's most enduring melodies. Through this bond, Shri Shibabrata was introduced to yet another luminary -- Shantanu Mahapatra, a musical smith, through whom lyrical prowess was waiting to be unfurled.
Shri Shantanu Mohapatra, armed with a sheaf of his compositions, approached Akashvani (All India Radio), Cuttack, where the discerning Bhubaneswar Mishra plucked 'Kaincha Patar Saru' from the pile like a gem from river silt. The song, tenderly rendered by Shri Raghunath Panigrahi and set to Bhubaneswar's mellifluous tune, floated through the airwaves, marking the dawn of a new era in Odia music. Between 1960 to 1971, Shri Das's aura of words floated over the Akashvani.
A Legacy Etched in Gold -- Both Lyrical and Literal
Shri Shibabrata's journey began in 1960 with 'Kaincha Patar Saru', and for nearly three decades, his words were the soundtrack of Odisha's soul. Even his final film, 'Sata Kebe Luchi Rahena', shimmered with his trademark elegance. His lyrics were love letters to Odia folk traditions -- simple yet profound, earthy yet sublime. His phrases like 'Urmi Adhira' and 'Jibana ta Eka Natak' were not just lines; they were fragments of a poet's heart.
But Shibabrata was a man of paradoxes -- a poet who could wield a pen with the same finesse as a pistol. A gold medalist marksman, he represented Odisha in national shooting championships for a staggering 25 years. O tempora, o mores! Here was a man whose artistry knew no bounds, whose genius flourished in both the serenity of verse and the precision of sport bearing the heart of a sportsman.
And so, dear reader, as the echoes of his songs still linger in the air, one cannot help but marvel at the life of Shibabrata Das -- a man who turned words into music, and music into immortality. Art is long, life is short -- but his legacy? That, indeed, is eternal.
Harmony in Verse: The Maestros Behind Shibabrata's Lyrics
In the sacred Odia halls of music, where poetry and melody engage in an eternal pas de-deux (intimate collaboration), Shri Shibabrata Das's lyrical genius found its supreme expression through the sublime music-wizardry of the highest-ranking music directors of Odisha. His precious lyrics, steeped in the nectar of love and the pang of yearning and silence of dedication, were but barely sung and kissed with melody by a few selective few composers whose sublime artistry converted the words into melodious whispers of legacies.
- Prafulla Kar: The Architect of Emotional Grandeur:
When those enchanting, mellifluous strains from Prafulla Kar -- a name synonymous with the golden age of Odia cinema -- conspired somehow with the pen of Shri Das, what had come into being was pure alchemy. With his penchant to convert feelings into notes, Shri Kar artfully elevated Das's poetry to anthems for eternity:- He Phaguna Kandanare -- a monsoon of yearning, where each syllable drips with the honeyed sorrow of separation (Tapasya).
- Mo Priya Tharu Kie Adhika Sundara -- a lyrical rhapsody that flirts with hyperbole, celebrating love's intoxicating delirium (Sindura Bindu).
- Shimahina Daria -- where the restless waves of the sea mirror the tumult of unspoken desires (Batighara).
- Akshaya Mohanty: The Bohemian Virtuoso:
If Shri Prafulla Kar was the classical maestro, Shri Akshaya Mohanty was the rebel poet of rhythm -- a man whose compositions defied convention much in the way that Das's poetry tingled between profound and playful and together, they conjured magic:- Nadira Naama Alasa Kanya -- a languid, dreamlike ode to a muse who exists between reality and reverie.
- Chandramalli Hase (Arundhati) -- A delicate, moonlit ode to clandestine love, where whispers and blushes bloom like jasmine in the secret garden of the heart.
- Dheu Dheu Ka Pahada Tale (Sansara) -- A lyrical dance of tender questions and whispered answers, where love blooms in the silent spaces between two hearts.
- Shri Shantanu Mohapatra: The Legend with a Class
No composer captured the soul of Odisha's landscapes of that era like Shantanu Mohapatra, in tune with the mystique of the Chilika waters and whispering reeds:- Uaansa Rati Pahila Majhi (Chilika Teerey) -- a boatman's lament, where the night itself seems to sigh.
- Urmi Adhira Rupasi Chilika -- where the lake's restless waves mirror a lover's solitude, its shimmering expanse a metaphor for love's unfulfilled dance.
From Upendra Kumar's ethereal dreamscapes (Sapana ra Pathe Pathe) to Rakhal Mohanty's ardent spirituality (Duraru Sunichi), from Saroj Pattnaik's heavenly crescendos (Hey Sai Sankara) to Bhuban-Hari's (the magical duo -- Bhubaneswar Mishra and Hari Prasad Chaurasia) frolicking romance -- every ith waterfall pull seduced out from the era of golden Odisha life. His words were not just lyrics that waited to be set to music; rather, they were poetic sirens whose call no musician of discriminating taste could resist, crying out for liberation by means of melody. This was so irresistibly enticing that every celebrated composer of his time went, almost invariably, to seek that poetic magnetism.
Awards Were Never the Measure: When Songs Become Soul
Shri Shibabrata Das's words never sought accolades -- they rather sought us. Now, years down the line, when we hear those melodies, the ask of awards seems trivial or even bordering on disrespect. What really lingers is something deeper: the sneaky way in which those songs quietly invade our solitude and resound as unacknowledged anthems for our celebrations, lamentations, and all events inbetween. These are not mere pieces of music but the very company of life. Here are few of mines:
"Mu Je Amruta Sagar Bindu" still tugs at me like the tide -- this lone boat surrendering to the current, carrying all my wordless longing toward some distant shore. "Nadira Naama Alasa Kanya"? Well, that is Shibabrata capturing the Odia soul -- that sly teasing in the tune, with which he made laziness sound like wisdom. But "He Phaguna Kandanare" -- I breathe out every time. A whispered despair to spring's first blush -- where the soul, like Phaguna's fleeting blossoms, aches quietly in the ecstasy of the absence of love. And "Uaansa Rati Pahila Majhi" ; Oh! that's moonlight converted into music; I have stood by the waters of Chilika at midnight just to absorb what he must have felt -- Great shining loneliness that offers more solace than paralysing crowding.
They were not just lyrics; they were my living companions. On weary days, "Sapana ra Pathe Pathe" walks beside me like a pilgrim's whispered solace, its wisdom etched into every footfall. "Chandramalli Hase" is alchemy -- moonlight spun into melody, its glow undimmed by time. When life grows heavy, "Ei Jibanata Eka Nataka" reminds me: the divine scripted this play, and we merely step into our roles. Then there's "Bhasa Megha Muje Bhashi Jaye Dure", where the lover's hymn to the hills turns clouds into conspirators, echoing a heart that waits, endlessly tracing the beloved's silhouette onto the horizon. And Shri Shibabrata's "Mo Priya Tharu Kie Adhika Sundara"? A single, teasing sigh -- "No jewel, no throne rivals you... but then, the question itself is your coronation."
When the lights dimmed, the screens would come alive with that faint something in Odisha's single-screen theaters -- a kichi ta anahata (that indescribable something). It would seem that Shibabrata's lyrics weren't just accompanying the films; they were the films. These words were not heard but felt: as if aftertaste from that slowly fading tune or the thunderous echo from a half-remembered dream.
Let us take "Chilika Teerey": a boat glides under moonlight. The lyrics don't describe longing -- they are longing. The Ghu..Ghu (shimmer) of waves, the "khan khan" creak of oars, the "gahanata" (depth) of solitude -- he didn't write about moments; he inscribed them into existence. And "Megha Barasila Tupuru"? The rain did not just fall -- little drops of it sang a note in nature's symphony.
Even after celebrating gems like "Uaansa Rati Pahila Majhi" and "Bhasa Megha Mun Je Bhashi Jaye Dure", the list stretches endlessly -- proof that Shri Shibabrata Das'sgenius cannot be confined to a handful of melodies. Consider "Mukuda Murari", where devotion drips like honey from his words, or "Smruti Tora Phere" -- a haunting ode to memory that lingers long after the last note fades. "A Bana Jharana" whispers of untold stories, while "Shimahina Daria" roars with the tempest of human longing. Each song a swara-mandala; some sparking with tease ('Priya Bina Jhure'), others heavy with biraha's ache ('Na Jaa Radhika'), like the same river split between sunlight and shadow. How does one measure such abundance? The more you uncover, the more you realize: his pen was a river, and we've only sipped from its surface.
Shri Shibabrata grasped the deepest truth about cinema: it must be lived and not merely observed. The songs for "Sindura Bindu" were not about lost love; they were the bhuli hue yaad (forgotten memory) resurfacing in the trembling hands of this old man. Even domestic tension in "Sansara" never found its weight in rhetoric but only gained through "Dheu Dheu Ka Pahada Tale", a chiaroscuro of hope and despair.
Decades may have gone by, yet his words refuse to wither. "Dekhi Se Bana malli" gently tiptoes on the verge of nostalgia, while "Duraru Sunichi" fervently chants to the thousands of generations that have come and gone. Even the less-explored treasures, maybe "Bandhu Re Are Bandhu" with its raw emotions or "Monalisha" dragging you into a foreign enchantment, strike frighteningly alive even today. His verses do not simply belong to the golden years of the Odia cinema but rather transcend it. His lyrics in the teasing of "Jeun Dinu Tumaku Mu Dekhili" or the stormy metaphors of "Dheu Dheu Ka Pahada Tale"-- stand so transcendent that they remain sahaja sundara -- unforced yet unforgettable. The list would grow, but time yields before his art. His songs will receive a new breath with the beating of every heart.
Today, when these films flicker on aging screens, a miracle occurs: the visuals fade, but Shibabrata's songs remain semper vivum (ever alive). Crackling recordings only deepen their sahaja sundara (natural beauty), like patina on bronze.
The accolades came -- Film Awards for Best Lyricist in Mamata (1975), the Film Journalist Association's honor (1982)-- but how could trophies capture what his songs did? Awards measure moments; Shri Shibabrata's lyrics measure lifetimes. When "A Re Mita Aa Sangata" (from Mamata) spun longing into melody, it became clear that no jury could ever contain his genius. The real prizes were those hushed theaters where audiences forgot to clap, too busy wiping away the tears, or the sunsets at Chilika's shore, where the fishers hum "Uaansa Rati" as if it were a second language. Institutions may have acknowledged his art, but the people? They lived it.
His true gift? Not writing songs for films, but writing films within songs. Each verse was a mise-en-scène, each refrain an emotional crescendo. We don't recall scenes -- we recall how his words made us feel. The images blur, but the songs? They endure -- for ananta -- as vivid as the first chhaya (shadow) of love, as eternal as the jhuma jhuma (dappled) moonlight on the waves of Chilika.
Epilogue: The Immortal Echo
On September 8, 1988, the music stopped. Or so it seemed!😢
Shri Shibabrata Das left us just as the first rains of retreating monsoon whispered through Odisha -- a week after his retirement, when the world expected encore after encore. The cruel timing made it seem like destiny itself had forgotten to pause the reel.
But here's the wonder: his silence became his most enduring composition.
Today, when fishermen stitch 'Uaansa Rati' into the slap of their oars; when children skip stones to "Itikili Mitikili's" cadence; when strangers in a dim-lit club lean in, hushed, as 'Uaansa Rati' spills from the piano -- that's when we hear it -- Voice of his words!
His mortal calendar ended at 59 summers. But his art? That still counts its age not in years, but in generations of Odias who discover, again and again, that his words were written not for his time, but for all time. The final refrain has not been sung -- because in truth, there is no final refrain. Only the eternal music of a life that learned to rhyme with eternity.
The golden pen laid itself down that dark September day -- yet its ink still runs, mingling with the Mahanadi's currents. Even now, Shri Shibabrata conducts, his baton raised in the space between notes.
Complete Biography & Works Summary
- Full Name:Shibabrata Das (also spelled Shibabrata Das)
- Nickname:Munna Bhai
- Birth:August 26, 1930 in Balasore, Odisha
- Parents:Shachindra Nath Das (father) and Kumudini Devi (mother)
- Spouse:Suhasini Devi
- Education:Graduated from Ravenshaw College (1951)
- Career:Police Sub-Inspector, Armed Forces Sergeant, Homeguard Commandant
- Children:Daughter (Baby) and son (Babi)
- Retirement:August 31, 1988
- Death:September 8, 1988 (aged 58)
- Notable Awards:
- State Fil Award for Best Lyricist : 1975
- the Film Journalist Association's honor (1982)
- Legacy:Annual "Shibabrata Smruti Sangeet Sandhya" memorial concert
- Literary Debut:"Kaincha Patar Saru" (1960)
- Kavita Sankalana (Poetry Collections)
- Nadi Ra Naama Alasa Kanya (1992)
- A lyrical exploration of nature, love, and Odisha's cultural ethos
- Features some of his most celebrated romantic and philosophical verses
- Krushna Chuda Ra Giti (1999)
- Devotional poems blending spirituality with Odia musical traditions
- Focuses on themes related to Lord Krishna and regional folklore
- Nadi Ra Naama Alasa Kanya (1992)
- Notable Film Works:
- 1977 Mukti (Lyrics)
- 1977 Abhimaan (Lyrics)
- 1977 Ae Nuhen Kahani (Lyrics)
- 1976 Bati Ghara (Lyrics)
- 1976 Krushna Sudama (Lyrics)
- 1976 Sindura Bindu (Lyrics)
- 1975 Samaya (Lyrics)
- 1975 Mamata (Lyricist)
- 1974 Mana Akasha (Lyrics)
- 1973 Ghara Bahuda (Lyrics)
- 1973 Dharitri (Lyrics)
- 1973 Sansaar (Lyrics)
- 1976 Shesha Shrabana (Lyrics, Screenplay, Dialogues)
- Some Notable Songs:
- Nadira Naama Alasa Kanya
- Movie: Nadira
- Lyrics: Shibabrata Das
- Music: Akshaya Mohanty
- He Phaguna Kandanare
- Movie: Tapasya
- Lyrics: Shibabrata Das
- Music: Prafulla Kar
- Uaansa Rati Pahila Majhi
- Movie: Chilika Teerey
- Lyrics: Shibabrata Das
- Music: Shantanu Mohapatra
- Sapana ra Pathe Pathe
- Movie: Dharitri
- Lyrics: Shibabrata Das
- Music: Upendra Kumar
- Chandramalli Hase
- Movie: Arundhati
- Lyrics: Shibabrata Das
- Music: Akshaya Mohanty
- Ei Jibanata Eka Nataka
- Album
- Lyrics: Shibabrata Das
- Music: Shantanu Mohapatra
- Bhasa Megha Muje Bhashi Jaye Dure
- Movie: Abhimana
- Lyrics: Shibabrata Das
- Music: Radha Krushna Bhanja / Saroj Pattnaik
- Mukunda Murari
- Album: Devotional
- Lyrics: Shibabrata Das
- Music: Prafulla Kar
- Kayeenchha Nuhen Ki Kankadaa Nuhen
- Movie: Chilika Teerey
- Lyrics: Shibabrata Das
- Music: Shantanu Mohapatra
- Pimpudi Bapuda Baha Hoigaley
- Movie: Chilika Teerey
- Lyrics: Shibabrata Das
- Music: Shantanu Mohapatra
- Mo Priya Tharu Kie Adhika Sundara
- Movie: Sindura Bindu
- Lyrics: Shibabrata Das
- Music: Prafulla Kar
- A Bana Jharana
- Album: Unknown
- Lyrics: Shibabrata Das
- Music: Pending Verification
- Mun Je Amruta Sagar Bindu
- Film: Ashanta Graha
- Lyrics: Shibabrata Das
- Music: Akshya Mohanty
- Ja Ja Re Bhashi Bhashi Ja
- Movie: Chilika Teerey
- Lyrics: Shibabrata Das
- Music: Shantanu Mohapatra
- A Bhauja Kebe Asiba
- Movie: Jhia Ti Sita Pari
- Lyrics: Shibabrata Das
- Music: Saroj Pattnaik
- Jeun Dinu Tumaku Mu Dekhili
- Album: Hey Sai Sankara
- Lyrics: Shibabrata Das
- Music: Saroj Pattnaik
- To Sathi Pirati Kari
- Movie: Mana Mandir
- Lyrics: Shibabrata Das
- Music: Prafulla Kar
- Padibani Bandhu Padibani
- Movie: Sindura Bindu
- Lyrics: Shibabrata Das
- Music: Prafulla Kar
- Urmi Adhira Rupasi Chilika
- Movie: Chilika Teerey
- Lyrics: Shibabrata Das
- Music: Shantanu Mohapatra
- Dekhi Se Bana malli
- Movie - Mamata
- Lyrics: Shibabrata Das
- Music: Prafulla Kar
- Mage Melani
- Movie: Anurag
- Lyrics: Shibabrata Das
- Music: Bhubana Bihari
- Bandhu Re Are Bandhu
- Album: Not Known
- Lyrics: Shibabrata Das
- Music: Rakhal Mohanty
- Megha Barasila Tupuru
- Movie: Shesha Shrabana
- Lyrics: Shibabrata Das
- Music: Prafulla Kar
- Na Jaa Radhika
- Movie: Sindura Bindu
- Lyrics: Shibabrata Das
- Music: Prafulla Kar
- Shimahina Daria
- Movie: Batighara
- Lyrics: Shibabrata Das
- Music: Prafulla Kar
- Smruti Tora Phere
- Album: Unknown
- Lyrics: Shibabrata Das
- Music: Shantanu Mohapatra
- A Re Mita Aa Sangata
- Movie: Mamata
- Lyrics: Shibabrata Das
- Music: Prafulla Kar
- Priya Bina Jhure
- Movie: Anuraga
- Lyrics: Shibabrata Das
- Music: Bhuban-Hari
- Monalisha
- Album: Unknown
- Lyrics: Shibabrata Das
- Music: Shantanu Mohapatra
- Duraru Sunichi
- Album: Devotional
- Lyrics: Shibabrata Das
- Music: Rakhal Mohanty
- Dekha Mankada Mora
- Album: Non-film
- Lyrics: Shibabrata Das
- Music: Sribas Patnaik
- Prema Kemiti Hue
- Album: Non-film
- Lyrics: Shibabrata Das
- Music: Akshaya Mohanty
- Jaubanaru Aparadha
- Movie: Sindura Bindu
- Lyrics: Shibabrata Das
- Music: Prafulla Kar
- Dheu Dheu Ka Pahada Tale
- Movie: Sansara
- Lyrics: Shibabrata Das
- Music: Akshaya Mohanty
- Nadira Naama Alasa Kanya
- Major Collaborators:Akshay Mohanty, Prafulla Kar, Shantanu Mahapatra