A Baba appeared out of the blue in a remote village hotel in Maoist-prone Kankadahad block in Dhenkanal district some 30 years back. The villagers recounted their experience in the backdrop of the Sarathi and Sura Baba episodes.
He began advertising about his caliber of turning any metal to gold and solving any problems through a deity whose idol he was carrying and he claimed the idol to be making gestures like a living being.
Soon, the four or five who were at the hotel that comprised a wooden cabin, a wooden desk and a few utensils, to take some snacks or tea got impressed by the Baba whose get-up and style of speaking looked as mysterious as his very appearance there.
The hotelier fell at his feet that he considered as an angel from an outside world and beseeched him to stay in the village for as many days as possible and take meal and tiffin for free. With the hotel owner becoming his first devotee, people huddled at the place to know who the Baba was and his miracle.
The people who first saw the Baba became his propagandists and fanned out in the village and nearby villages to spread the charisma of the Baba with the result that within a few days the Baba had a big crowd of followers who acted at his beck and call and provided all sorts of things from money to eatables to him.
But among the teeming villagers who were eager to throw them at the service of the Baba, not all were credulous. A few, especially those who were teachers at the village schools and the youths who had some formal education, did raise a doubt about the Baba’s supreme power though they preferred not to be open. But the shrewd stuff that the Baba was made up of, he did not take much time to dispel their doubt on him. On a week to his arrival in the village, the Baba declared to demonstrate some of his prowess and declared that he wanted to hold a puja.
The news spread like wild fire and attracted hundreds of devotees to the appointed venue on the appointed time. They came with currency notes, coins, various precious metals, besides huge loads of presentations like coconuts, bananas, vegetables, rice, flattened rice and pots of gur and ghee etc. The puja was to take place at midnight. Men, women, children stood anxiously till the time came.
Meanwhile, many of the Baba’s devotees had made all preparations for the puja. The idol of a goddess was placed on a pedestal decorated with flowers. Burning incense sticks produced billows of sweet smoke. Banana, sweetmeats and similar things were in front of the idol.
The devotees kept squatting there with various desires; some wanted their metals turn gold, some their girl friends say yes to marriage proposal, some for good harvest and some victory over opponents etc.
The Baba then came to the place with folded hands to respond to the namaskar of the devotees. At times he also flashed his palm as a symbol of blessing for them. The Baba was followed by a horde of followers chanting words of praise for him besides Haribool, Jai Sri Ram etc. Women started letting out shrilling ululations. The Baba sat on a mat.
The puja continued with all coins, gold, currency notes, and other presentations at the Baba’s feet. The Baba called one by one to speak out their cherished desire and on hearing from each one, his idol miraculously turned its head and hands which was interpreted as either yes or no. Thus continued the show till the devotees slept and snored. And, when they opened their eyes, the sun had shined and it was light everywhere, but where was the BabaIJ They asked one another but none had a clue. Finally, they found that the Baba had disappeared but not alone. He had fled with all money and gold.
What made the devotees course the Baba was the discovery of two hair-thin strings which were tied to the head and hands of the idol and lay on floors through the mat on which the Baba had sat. Those who were smart could soon make out what the arrangement was for. The strings were pulled by the Baba through his foot fingers in order to turn its head and hands.