Cuttack: From cricket to priesthood – well it may seem strange, but then that is the story of former Odisha under-19 cricketer Himansu Panda more popularly known as ‘Panda Nana’ for shop owners stretching from Link Road to Palamandap in this city.
Every morning when they open their shops, the shopkeepers eagerly wait to hear Panda Nana’s cycle bell ring. He comes and performs the puja rituals for all the shops in the morning and then only they start their daily chores.
Himansu, a leg-spinner, was a promising cricketer, but financial burdens forced him to give up the game and take up the priesthood more than a decade ago to maintain his family. Since then there has been no looking back for him.
Being a priest has helped Himansu gain social recognition also, probably more than he could have earned if he had been a cricketer.
An epitome of hard work, determination, and honesty, Himansu is from Bisola village under the Bhandaripokhari block in Bhadrak district. However, he stays with his family in a rented house in the Brahman area of Khannagar in this city.
Himansu is happy to… he makes around Rs 10,000 a month which helps him live ‘comfortably’ he admits. “Moreover, I am loved and respected by all and sundry, what more could I have asked for,” said Himansu.
PNN
