Manas Ranjan Mahapatra
I was once sending my poems almost in a mad manner to Puja specials in magazines and newspapers. Very few were there and many were not publishing new writers. I remember Bhagban Nayak Burma of Dharitri saptahiki, he was encouraging new writers….half a century ago.
Now I have reached a position that any newspaper or magazine will happily publish me, but the craze that was four decades back is not there in me after seeing the rackets of literature everywhere. I don’t find a single person like Bhagban Nayak Burma in the group of Odia literary magazine editors who goes by merit of the writing than the status of the writer. I feel sad and have almost stopped sending my poems to magazines.
While writing in magazines and newspapers I came across many wonderful news items. Once I came across news about Bipracharan Pattanaik of Phulbani popularly known as Bipra Sir.
I had many reasons to meet Bipra Sir, for he preferred to be a school headmaster than an Inspector of Schools. He did an excellent translation of the book Janathon Livingston Seagull.
My happiness was doubled when I came to know that My dear young friend Binay pf Srujanika, Co-translator of Divaswapna and Tattochan with Nikhil Mohan Pattanaik into Odia for NBT is his son. We were doing the largest newspaper in the world which later got the Limca Book of Records award.
A series of workshops involving children were being held throughout the country for the purpose. Binay proposed that the workshop for Odisha be held at Phulbani, his hometown in Odisha. I being the Odia language editor of NBT was given the responsibility to conduct the workshop with the help of Manavik, an organization led by Binay’s brother Bijoy. I reached Phulbani.
Phulbani valley is the district headquarters of Kandhamal district, one of the most underdeveloped districts of the state. It is home to the Kandha tribes who constitute more than half (54%) of its total population. The literacy rate of the district is low (male 65% and female 44% as per Census 2011).
This district at the heart of Odisha is known for its natural beauty, rich biodiversity, indigenous culture, and forest products including turmeric (with a GI tag), ginger, arrowroot, and varieties of honey, mushrooms, seasonal fruits, and organic vegetables. This district is also known the world over for the longest riot of the world that took place in 2007 after the assassination of Swamy Laxmanananda Saraswati, founder of the Chakapad Ashram.
It was a bright morning in April 1999. Bijoy had given me their address. I had been to Phulbani twice before, once in 1995 for attending Phulbani Book Fair organized by my teacher Adhyapak Biswaranjan as a Guest, and later, to hold a Book Exhibition of NBT in 1996. But this time it was different. On the two earlier occasions I heard about Bipra Charan Pattnayak, popularly known as Bipra Sir, and this time, to meet him and spend a day with his family.
I knocked at their door. A girl opened the door.
‘ Manas Bhai, welcome. I hope, you had no problem in reaching here,’ she said.
She was Surabhi, the younger sister of Binay. They were aware of my visit, and Binay kept them informed. Soon the entire family assembled. I had a grand welcome with tea.
Binay and Nikhil Mohan Pattanaik had a cosmic relationship. As said by Binay,’ Nikhil Bhai came to Phulbani in 1987 a couple of times and interacted with Bapa for organizing the Bharat Jan Vigyan Jatha 1987 that moved from South Odisha to North Odisha via Phulbani. Bapa, being a deep lover of science organized the grand BJVJ 1987 in Phulbani as its local President. We all supported the activities enthusiastically
Nikhil Bhai while interacting with us at our home came to know about my interest in science, participation in zonal science camps, and my keen interest in research. He asked Bapa if I would like to do research with him. Bapa liked Nikhil Bhai very much. He agreed. I gave up my research with Prof. Sushil Kumar Pattanayak, Berhampur University, and taught at Tikabali college and moved to Bhubaneswar.’
Over 50 enthusiastic children attended our Workshop. I must have done over a thousand such workshops and it was the first of its kind in tribal Odisha. We came back in the evening to a local bookstore, Geetanjali Book Store which was one of the local bookstores enrolled by me during my tenure as the Odia Editor of NBT. Alas, my successor has given no emphasis on the distribution of NBT books in Odisha. The owner of this bookstore was a teacher. He was a student of Bipra Sir.
I had to come back to Bhubaneswar the same night. In the evening I saw Bipra Sir distributing homeopathic medicines among the local poor people.
– ‘Are you a practitioner of homeopathic medicine Sir ?’ I asked.
Bipra Sir smiled and replied,’ This is a part of the debt I repay ‘.
‘Repay?’ I was amazed.
‘Yes,’ he replied. ‘ I have two more debts which I regularly repay. I spend only a quarter of my income for me and my family,’ he smiled and replied.
Then he said,’ I repay three debts as per the Hindu view of life. The first debt is Pitru Runa or repayment of debt of my forefathers. The second is Bhoomi Runa. The third is Deba Runa. This charity is a part of Deba Runa that I am repaying.’
Then he said, ‘Pitru Runa is what I have done or is doing for my seniors and forefathers. Bhoomi Runa is what I spend for the education of my children.’
Bipra Sir didn’t possess a vehicle. In the night Bijay dropped me by his scooter at the bus stand after our dinner.
(The Author Manas Ranjan Mahapatra is a former editor of National Book Trust, New Delhi. Views are personal)
Tags: #odiabooks #odiaarticles #Dharitrisaptahiki #NationalBookTrustIndia #OdiabookPublication #NBTbooks #BookExhibition #LimcaBookRecordsaward #PhulbaniBookFair