PREAMBLE TO A LIFE PK ROUTRAY

In 1965, 45 years back I got a seat in coveted Mechanical Engineering in REC, Rourkela after passing Pre-University from Angul Science College. During that period there were only two Engineering Colleges in Orissa and that to under one University. Further, half of the seats of REC were reserved for non-residents of Orissa. It was top news among my kith and kin, teachers, friends and foes. Job would be assured, comfort and opulence for self and near and dear ones also would be ensured. Every thing desired in the world would be available at my doorstep. We used to watch and notice from a distance that Civil Engineers in Works Department were enjoying opulence of wealth and hence dignity in the society with awesome income. Vehicles and people were at their beck and call. Also, eminence of Engineer Sir Visweswaraya, proposals of guiding India with integration of rivers and roads, connecting every village and electrifying them, Steel plants at Tatanagar and Rourkela etc, were talk of every body.
Those were the strange feelings and now I can only smile at such thoughts and the then aspirations of mine and that of others. I could not serve those for whom I had reverence and gratitude and also self in keeping good health, providing comfort and opulence and ultimately could not serve God whose desire for service, as I have understood. I am not able to attribute these to my education or capability. Those dreams remained as dreams but however had given a motivational thrust to all for my admission into engineering. This must be a general feeling for a common man from a common village in India.
The intimation letter, for taking admission before a deadline posed problems to my father to arrange a huge sum of money and travel arrangements; and to my mother, to arrange everything so that her son does not miss any thing in an alien place. For me it created pang of separation and apprehension of uncertainty. The younger must have been happy, anticipating more shares of sweets in future and freedom from bondage of elder brother in study matters and homework at the cost of their valuable playtime.
I was really disturbed and had sleepless nights. At present, I remember those teen-age thoughts for which I had found no advice for self. I summaries them as follows:
1. IAS job, most lucrative, is to be forgotten
2. Nobel Prize to be forgotten, as applied science had no place in selection. For the same.
3. To lose my kingdom at Angul where I had my schooling and all love and regards from teachers, seniors and friends.
4. To lose friends of both sexes and ages.
5. As people joke on Dhenkanal and hence Angul as backward. How to come out of it at a place where culture and classes may be still higher.
6. Limited scope to serve GOD.
7. To read different subjects other than my pet subject, i.e. pure Mathematics.
8. How to share a hostel and a room with those not known to me.
9. Narrowing down the ambition, which was earlier sky high, equivalent to become president of universe and so on and so forth.
I laugh now at those seemingly absurd thoughts. But the absurd thoughts cannot be said as absurd when we know from Hindu scriptures that man ultimately is to merge with God, the president of Universe. Now this thought looks funny and foolish.
Really the problems insurmountable in past look trivial in future, a trivial problem of future looks insurmountable at present .All past histories prove the same that present apprehensions have been bulldozed with time by some body.
Father had to arrange huge amount of cash and the time was short. It must have been a herculean task for him. But his dream for me and for his family and his love must have pushed him to jump over the problem. When I think about at this stage while he is no more in this world, tears roll down out of gratitude, never attempted to repay his debt. When I look at my neighbour madam’s love and care for her grand daughter, the thought comes to my mind, whether this lady will get reciprocation from her grand daughter when she will need it? Had she given the same to her grand mother? Whether her present love is with any expectation or exhibited as a matter of duty? Philosophy is confusing. This aspect has not been taught to me so far.
Let me analyze animal and man at this context. Animals have limited memory, and emotion. And their animal qualities, ungratefulness, revengefulness may be tolerated. But where does man stand?
I remember the day as 27th June 1965. I started with father from my village Kalikapur in between Mahanadi and Chitroptala to Cuttack and then to Angul and then to Sambalpur then to Rourkela where luckily my uncle was working in Rourkela Steel Plant. It consisted of all types of travel: on foot, by road, in water, in sand, on boat, on rickshaw, in buses both govt and private and of various types and in train. After a brief stay at cuttack for blessing of my relatives we started for Angul to take various certificates and testimonials. For me it was to wind up an attachment of three years stay.
I feel it will not be out of the place to touch my schooling career at this stage. I had my schooling up to seventh class in my village, at times under the trees on sand near Mahanadi. For appearing in examinations in class- 3 class- 5, and class-7 we had to travel 15 to 20km and stay with other friends. It was just like picnic. I have seen brilliant village students appearing amongst with us from other schools. I am not able to track many of them. Some girls got married at an early age, some boys discontinued their studies. I was lucky, as I did not have to compete with them. I do not know whether God was generous to them or to me. After all, it is a debatable point considering what should be the aim of life?
I do not know why, without knowing any thing I insisted to study at B. B High school Dhenkanal staying with uncle and then at Angul when he got transferred.
I do not know whether it was destiny, which played a role in such decision of mine in life or it was sheer whims and plan of a human being like me. I feel it is the former.
By the time I arrived at Angul, the joyous and proud moments were waiting for me, thanks to the postal communication. The news of my admission into REC had gone to all of my friends their families, teachers and shopkeepers whom I still looked as if they looked at me with some interest and, nothing else who would cheat me at the slightest opportunity. After seeing their concern for me I got ashamed. We should not suspect any body without sufficient reasons. Please forgive me; you have also contributed to the making of my life.
Getting down from bus at Angul, I still remember how I deserted father and ran away to my friends. All friends gathered one by one on the barren mountain behind the Budhi Thakurani temple We were going twice a day to rhe Goddess knowing her power and we used to pray for every occasion, some thing small or big. The problem is always solved at times for better solution. Now it comes to me why should we overload her for the work, which we can do. It also comes to me that ten percent problems are by providence, ninety percent we create or imagine only without base. If we remove those ninety percent, God can have time to see our well-being.
Time passed very fast, hours like seconds at Angul .I visited houses of many friends met their parents and shared my proud moments. When I think of the same now I laugh at my foolish feelings. “Uncles! You must have commented and compared your sons with me with heavy heart”. It was only temporary at that point of time; many of them were more successful in life. To day if I see my contribution to society in absolute term I get confused. What should be the guideline for a man to perform which will be his acceptable contribution? Any contribution has some negative impact and it cannot be told as absolutely good for all. Does any scripture define it? Had Shivanand contributed? He had read medicine and gave up. Let us debate before commenting any body’s contribution in life.
It will not be out of place, if I say, what I learnt as philosophy of life –“ Nothing is absolutely good or absolutely bad. Inference is to be drawn considering the situation and perspective from which it is viewed”. For example, it can be said that even price rise of consumables and commodities is good. This will lead to people using less oil and less food, which will give them a better life as practised by saints. They on their path for perfection live on air and meditate without taking anything. Further, this will discourage malpractice of adding animal fat to oil to generate more illegal profit. [Not to laugh in a brainstorming]
During those times though there was co-education, the percentage of girl students was less than ten percent. They generally did not talk with boy students. If they talked, the boy was considered to be lucky or too smart and afterwards the incident was celebrated at the cost of the hero who had to find means of arranging money by stealing from father’s pocket or by forcing or fooling the mother. Under such circumstances, I got a call from back. Hey! Prasant you are forgetting us now before admission, what will happen in future – they were girls of my batch and senior batches .By chance of chances I had not seen them, as I was absent minded and looking at other direction. The moment is still cherished. This was the climax of my achievement and I promised them a party, which I am yet to fulfill because of lack of opportunity. Excuse me; I have lost your tracks. But I vividly remember your sweet faces and voices, which could not be matched by any lady in my life whether near or far away because of the special vibration of the occasion. Just philosophically or scientifically, Can any body explain motherly love, sisterly love, daughterly love, childrenly love, friendly love, and wifely love at different stages and ages of life? What about, Heavenly love? Why He did not keep every thing as static so that time would not have passed away and we would have stayed at Angul static at 1965.
To cut short, reluctantly leaving behind such felicitation at all levels, friends, foes, and teachers and public, I started with father from Angul by bus to Sambalpur to catch the train for Rourkela. At present I salute my father for his travel plan and pains to see my comfort at his cost. “Father, you are no longer, there. I repent I could not repay. But I will remember your face with gratitude till my last breathe and if possible in all future births”. At Sambalpur railway station we met a young man who was going to join in the gas plant of REC as an attendant. Later he rendered a lot of help to me as a well-wisher. I remember, I was to hide in his gas plant for eight hours to avoid ragging in the pre-ultimate day of ragging in college, please excuse me for not being able to recollect your name, let alone of your whereabouts. With this thorny path in life and a diseased body I may be excused. In life many such persons have come and contributed to my life, I owe them many things more valuable than gratitude. We reached at Rourkela at one A.M. in the morning and found the loud sound and the bright illumination of RSP as if we were being welcomed. This scene and the sound gave me an indication of what was in my destiny in the next fifty years of my life.? Salute to you!, Rourkela Steel Plant.
There was a riot in Rourkela in 1961 and I had heard in industrial towns burglary take place frequently at night. I had some fear but father had no fear even though his most part of life was spent in the village. Under the umbrella of father I went in a rickshaw and searched uncle’s quarter in Sector-16. Uncle, auntie and their small daughter welcomed us.
For a child it is first mother to protect from any enemy and then comes father, as if they are all powerful. But at certain age we doubt about their protecting power. Do we protect them now at any point of time? They are losing faith. In our pursuit to see our self and our children we think of sending them to old age homes cost at their reserve resources – Is it not man’s animal nature?
On the next day the morning sun showed me the industrial township, employees going to and coming from the plant. Morning siren, shift buses, scooters and Tiffin boxes, helmets boots etc gave a fair idea of an industrial life on my first day to …Engineering College. Now I realize that the destiny had given sufficient indication that day as to what would be my next fifty years of life? At 8 AM on 1st July 65, accompanied by father and uncle, a teen aged boy from a flood prone remote village educated in a back ward district went by cycle rickshaw to write the preamble of his career and life, with ample of dreams and aspirations, to a highly reputed engineering college to pursue his studies with fellow students from all parts of India of all religions and speaking in varied languages from different cultures and back grounds.
Really the college REC, later my Alma mater and my first field of assignment in this life was marvelous, amazing. Even being under construction it had a dignified look. The Alma mater welcomed me as if it had lot of expectations from me. Mother, I do not know how far I could keep up your expectations. But your get up, your silent posture inculcated a vibration in me by which I could lead a life shoulder to shoulder with any body from earth, from different institutes without a stigma or inferiority complex. Whether I have come up to your expectations or not, your blessing could keep up my dignity. Salute to you and salute to your blessings.’
Lo behold!! Here is Gopal Mishra a high school classmate, in fact a tuition mate standing there alone without his father or uncle and gazing at me reminding of my nasty fall from his cycle while coming from tuition. He was an expert in cycling as against I being a non-starter in the art. He was from Stewart and hence he had two or three friends from Cuttack. Friends and acquaintances multiplied. Some students mostly from outside the state were found alien, without father or uncle with them. I felt pity for them. They would study here staying far off from their mothers and fathers. I had to learn that we should not become a burden and liability to mother and father for long. Animals, birds win over men on this aspect of independence.
Friends multiplied and the procedure of admission was forgotten with vibrant vibration of friends, surroundings of the Alma mater and thought of our staying together. Gradually the apprehension of any hindrance, of language, pronunciation, caste, and creed was forgotten under the force of friendship and harmony in wavelength of thought and emotion. Hostels were allotted temporarily with our chosen roommates with expected change after 15 days. Hostel- 4 was allotted to our batch, which was under last stage of construction.
In order to see the hostel and the facility I followed the permanent road with father and uncle, which is usually used by fresher. A student from hostel-1 later known as hostel for 3rd year students called me by gesture from the portico of their hostel. Expecting him as a known senior from Angul I left my father and uncle, went to him and greeted him with Namaskar. Alas what a fire back? ‘‘From which jungle? Is Angul a jungle? Am I fit to study here?” And from his friends bombardment of questions came to explain one extra law of physics and chemistry than what was never taught. I thought that I had not read the extra laws at My Angul College. Guessing something fishy my uncle approached the area. Suddenly the tones of all ten of them changed. Then only, I could realize, it was ragging.
Ragging, I had faced. Ragging I have inflicted and there is debate and ban on ragging. Still at this age of life I advocate at top of my voice that ragging is essential to stand us in good stead in life. Life is full of ragging. BY the acts of juniors, seniors and colleagues, in work life, in society and even by life-less equipments. We are daily ragged. Raging is required to season the mental and emotional plains and season us to face the vagaries of life. I remember with pleasure the pain I have taken by crawling all the way on 14th July night from chemistry gas station through a cremation ground to hostel. This was to avoid seniors’ eye in light and shadow so that seniors would not catch me in their final stage of raging for the year, as 15th July is celebrated as welcome day and no further ragging takes place after that. But alas, when I reached the hostel I had to join ten of my friends who could not flee away, who were having ball dances to the innovative directions of the seniors and some crawling under cots and I, being fatter, was asked to go through the window opening where glasses were to be fitted. This was repeated not once but till God took pity on me.
Generally ragging is painful and we had developed hatred and revengeful attitude for raggers but it is soon forgotten. It develops closeness and openness and shy introvert nature gets rectified. Once as a senior I saw in the campus the helpless ness of my junior batch friends in their attempt to rag a hefty Sardarji who could neither answer nor care to answer a single question and behaved with vanity of strength and ihe pride of being a local boy. Seeing me passing the area, they came running to me and narrated their helplessness and fresher careless behavior.
I took over and succeeded to bringiho him down to his knees and to the realities of life.
A few days later I saw him with group of his muscled friends coming to me in civil township at Rourkela and naturally I had to call my all fore fathers and Gods to save me, But to my utter surprise they all came and Sardarji wished me with all reverence.
He discontinued his studies but his respect and closeness with me continued for many years. Mr Singh, please excuse me for not meeting you nor remembering your name. You had taught me a lessons from scriptures by your act.

I remembered some of the friends are made fool of because of their serious nature and aloofness in four-seated rooms. The two beds near the window are most sought after. But two beds near the corridors likely to be disturbed were not preferred; generally to reach for agreement for the distribution lotteries were drawn. Damabaru Subudhi, later a BARC scientist lost his luck for two consecutive years for the window bed because of manipulation. Till this day he does not know about it. Professor in IIT L.M.Das was the culprit. Whenever I used to remember the scene of mass ragging, I remember present CMDs, Professors, Directors, Vice chancellors and many friends with successful and prestigious status in latter life in India and abroad innocently doing the odd works at the whims of the seniors. I only smile at past when I remember the scene where a renowned director of an IIT and a chairman of a Navaratan company of to-day were crawling under cots and dancing on a table. Can you please imagine the scene with me?
With 3 to 4 days’ of ragging experience, we prematurely started applying the same to our batch mates who came later to our hostel. Once it so happened, we mistook one of our seniors, who came to meet one of his friends or relatives, to be a fresher and attempted ragging on him. This resulted in dire consequences. Moral drawn was, ‘‘be a famous ragger.”
Our famous raggers were Mahadeb bhai, Chand bhai and a host of others who became our wel-l-wishers through out their stay in the college and even beyond. I remember, they were only two to three years senior to us but looked upon and respected as much much elders. To day when we look at a young man of that age, they look as teen angers. Angle of our outlook has changed with age but still they look same as same seniors and command same respect, Even fifty years(almost) could not make any change tin our impression and relation of 65.
I have been observing our changes from simple and innocent to complex and complicated .I am yet to find the analysis. Is it His direction? But I also get confused what is simple and what is complicated? It is not mathematics where we can solve all.
I cannot forget the day when at night at about 1 AM a forceful call seemingly by seniors, ordering to come from rooms for ragging session terrified us. We jumped through the windows under construction & we hid ourselves in the garden. Behind a hip of bricks I saw Mayadhar fully naked, leaving his lungi in the bed. He could not sleep without lungi, but seniors didn’t permit lungi at all. Mayadhar, I remember you. Did I do a wrong by dropping your love letter to a madam in medical college, which was being written by you silently without getting dispatched? When I saw 20 such letters from you under your bed without going to the addressee, I could not resist my helping attitude to help you. I had kept a track of her. She became an eye specialist and married to a heart specialist and died in a heart attack. You remained a bachelor and became a saint.
Narayan, I admit my fault. You had fired Gopal and didn’t talk with him for 2 years because you thought that he had brought out all the love letters from your suitcase. But he had no major contribution except giving me the key to independently open your trunk. Actually I had taken the full bottle of ghee from your suitcase as permitted by you but I wanted to help you, so that you would concentrate in study and remain a faithful son and brother to get married as per your family’s choice. Please excuse me from U.S.A .As I only studied the letter and made public to only few friends, but unfortunately I have forgotten her name. Can you recall? I can try to give her present detailed description to you.

I am getting tempted to disclose a confidential act of one of our friends

During regular holidays and at times during personally arranged forced holidays, some of our friends manage to play cards and ludoo with their logarithmically connected and unconnected relatives with pairing and partnering at various combinations obviously for various reasons of youth.
After one such vacation and game Gopal enacted the superb
acting of a friend stopping Gopal his partner in one such game in casting his covetous eye in to his territory. Gopal meekly surrendered his lust and greed on the altar of friendship without anger. But the property ultimately went to another third friend. The present t analysis by enquiry officers revealed and attributed it to the greed and lust of the original actor. But the inheritance of the property by present owner did not raise any angry scene and the fact remained so far unseen. However his superb acting on the real scene enacted by Gopal even now gives immense pleasure with fraud’s ds philosophy vividly depicting the scene.

Ashoka, Now you are a leader in propagating Gayatri philosophy and blessings and hence peace to the madding crowd. During our stay in hostel you had all types of dresses and had a auto changeable music system with many musical discs. We never thought that you would leave all material desire & a job in Rourkela steel plant & become a saint and left the job and went to Hardwar and dedicated your life to greater persuit along with your family. We are proud of our association with you. Your teaching ‘‘Desire should be diverted, rather than annihilated and then nipped in the bud” and the example of ‘‘coffee replaced by herbal drink and later given up” vibrates in our hearts.
I fondly remember logarithmic relationship of Rakesh Tickoo with famous actor Raj kumar, Mr.Kohli his being the President of Indian fans for Elvis Priesley. Hira lal claimed to have spent time with Devanand and Vaijantimala in Bombay and we used to enjoy Hiralala’s gossip with Mumtaz and Mumtaz calling him stupid. He became a hero in our eyes for sometime.
Friends with different characters, emotions and thoughts, though of same age group stayed in the same hostel trained and taught at same Alma mater and by same teachers we fought, quarreled, envied but had and have one thing in common, love for Alma matter and all its constituents irrespective of the achievements in life. At this fag end of life we draw inspiration and consolation that we were not lost.
As ragger we introduced new methods, some acceptable some not acceptable but having the consent of majorities. Now I remember the night, 1.30 AM, in the hostel-1 when everybody vanished from the site of funny kabadi match of fresher, leaving Pratap Mohanty on the spot when the warden professor Subrahmanyam came for surprise check. Then Pratap Mohanty was embarrassed and found begging mercy. He was excused by the professor, so that the next day Pratap would do what professor could not have done.
I remember Srinivas Samant, a brilliant topper kissing passionately my elbow, which had touched the Scarf of one of the three girl students studying in the college. Srinivas once got furious when in a laboratory experiment his gravitational constant (g) came as 1500. He broke the instrument out of frustration. I still remember his remark on Murty who got second-class. As per him, Murty will not get any girl to marry. He thought who would marry a second-class student. But Srinivas, you committed suicide before passing Engg. and before your marriage, but Murty is doing very fine with both sons at U.S.A and he has houses at Banglore and Singapore. The performance in the college and classroom is not a barometer to judge your success in life. He is the Director and we are all actors in the stage and he knows our performance. I had never lost to you in T.T. But finally lost to you a day before your suicide , which did not gave me another chance to defeat you as in all previous occasions.
Sets Square, Slide Rule, Tee Squares were our ornaments while going to College. The act of putting a decimal point after calculation by Slide Rule was considered to be an ART. I was still afraid of Professor Vittal who taught us isometric View of inter-Penetration of Solids even when I became his colleague in the same institution.
We had weekly film shows by our audiovisual team. But it did not satisfy some of our friends. Besides visiting halls at Rourkela they used to go to Jharsugda , Sambalpur Calcutta ,Angul and other places to see the picture as soon as it is released .Some of them used to see one picture umpteen times depending on various factors like own favourite hero and heroine and influence of friends etc.
Though copying was not so much rampant but topoing the drawings was usually acceptable. Techniques of photocopying or scanning were not known. But some of us were experts in putting books on the sides and table lamp in between with a glass pane of window on top and copying over it. There were friends who engage others for toppoing from them to complete the sessional works. At times the signatures are generated in all copies and invariably the original drawing looks less neat tidy and than subsequent pieces. Sometimes it so happened, while topoing the drawings, signature of the original author was also copied and the friend who was the original author of the drawing got less marks because of lack of tidiness. In our machine design, students used to carry 20 to 30 books with a hope to get the answer directly from the book. But it never happened.
Some of the friends who do not read at all for some reason or other , even abstain from the class and do not score minimum in class test and terminal tests, claim to have scored all in final examination when they come out of the examination hall. Apparently, whatever they read the night just before the examination, exactly the same was fortunately asked in the question paper. Under such circumstances to save ourselves from such friends and avoid adverse effect in the subsequent papers, we would rush to our rooms closing our ears. But invariably the examination results spoke otherwise. Carrying copy written on the slide rule and reading books in urinal was then not the talk of the people. Rather they copied only the questions in the Answer Book and came out smilingly as if they have answered all. Hardly a student was successful in unfair means. After the examination it was to be the time for merry-making by all at all Sectors, all picture halls, all restaurants in and around Rourkela, which were thoroughly enjoyed by our friends. However, real jubilation was experienced in the hostel.
There were friends who always paid after a group meal or Tiffin. There were friends who would bring out ten rupees notes when the expenditure was only 20 paise thus to be relieved of the payment. At times in order to avoid payment, finishing the food and washing the hands would be purposely delayed. At times a tight pant and toilet would help some in avoiding the payment. Searching handkerchief, talking to a new arrival in the restaurant also would help. These arts and tacts were learnt. Let the accompanying friends settle the bills. At times a senior saved a junior from ragging by asking to take him by cycle on double loading to a restaurant at junior’s cost .The tacts were so many that even staying together for long five years some such innovative friends could not be exposed fully. The celebration after the class terminal examinations and pride in achievements like receipt of a love letter etc were observed at the cost of rich or innocent friends. Strategic tacts and counter tacts were learnt here- how to apply and how to avoid. Telling no is considered to be an Art and technique. This must be practised and taught before a teen-ager stays with such multitude of friends, even before he moves around with friends.
We remember the day when the then Prime Minister Shastriji advised everybody for skipping Monday dinner to help the poor. Our dinner in the hostel remained closed. Almost all of us used to take dinner outside. - a chance to go out and visit a restaurant out side with a legitimate license. We visited reputed star hotels like Standard and Sen and others, which were usually visited by rich and high officials of the steel township. In such occasions some of us had drunk hot limewater served for washing hands, thinking it as a dignity to drink it as a part of compliment to the menu ordered. Some started practising alcohol considering it as a mark of dignity, but most of them while imitating others add water or soda in the beer not knowing the chemistry. Anyhow we learnt the etiquette of westernized hotels. The kulfi sold on trolley in the afternoon in front of hostel-1 was famous. But sometimes friends used to add bhang and make fun at the plight of other friends who under intoxication would throw their only chadi at glowing lamp to sleep undisturbed.
Then we had friends who were real actors in stage and stage actors in real life. Some of the friends were defined as midday visitors to cinema and midnight visitor for a hot book. Acting as ghosts some friends at late night would peep through the sky light to make joke at so called book worms who were habitual readers in late night and at times the smart ghost actors got offended at unexpected scenes. And the offences used to become talk of the hostel next day. But yes four of our friends Uma, Prafulla, Chitta and Dambaru saw a ghost staring from cemetery ground in front of hosel-1, when they got up at 3AM to mug up lessons. These friends had the reputation and hence were believed. Do ghosts really exist? Are they souls who have unfulfilled desires? Are they souls before rebirth? Or are they spirits yet to find composition of five elements?
Bidus Tripathy used to imitate Jay Mukherjee and he used to sit and enjoy from the 1st bench close to the screen in all films of Jay Mukherjee for 6 to 7 times. per film. He used to invite friends to accompany him to see his favorite hero from near the screen from the 1st row. But once out of boredom Prabhat accompanying him for 3rd time for the same film within a span of a week formed an innovative way to see and enjoy. He sat with his back to the screen and enjoyed the audience of his choice. Bidhus used to follow the dress and hairstyle of Jay Mukherjee with “love in Tokyo” on his lips. Bidhus you are no more, please excuse me for the observation. Once it became a fashion as some of us competed to write letters to celebrated actresses for their autographs, but clearly with dubious and funny intention. Generally reply came from their muscle men to the frustration of the friends. Some got good photographs but Soraj Tripathy got reply from Anju Mahendru who was the talk of the country because of Gary Sobers’. But Dama got a letter from Sharmila that he kept it in secretly for a number of days without knowing that he had been made fun of.
If I do not tell about love letters and friends my remark on the friends will remain incomplete. Some changed their beloveds every year and even every month and I still doubt their reality. They wanted to prove that would win over attachment - a great philosophy of life, some generated letters by themselves, sent them through their friends to take a masculine teenager-pride. A very few might be getting letters with tone of sisters. But at a later part of our stay, some got married; they were getting the letters, yet I have doubt whether they were letters of passionate love or letters of their plight and adjustment to new surroundings without their husbands. But they became professor to some of the unmarried friends who were taught by them above the imaginary married life and in turn got tuition fees in kind like cinema tickets, visit to restaurants etc. I could perhaps know the meaning of friends through thick and thin when I saw friends who were studying together, eating together, sleeping together, cycling together& doing everything together. One without other could not be thought of. However, I could not keep a record when they were separated but have the information that the closeness had disappeared at places with thorny forest in between them.
The dining hall used to open at 8.30 PM. There were friends who used to go first and wait to take the head of fish. Some claimed to have taken 1500 fish heads in the hostel. Once an interesting thing happened. Generally Bengali friends love fish and enjoy that one piece of fish given to the maximum extent. They take the rice or roti and put the fish in the fist and putting the tongue on the outer side of the fist close the eyes and enjoy. Hazra lost his temper once out of frustration, when he went to take the last gulp of the fish and found that there is no fish on the tray, which had been taken by Nilakantha. We could understand what frustration is.
The meaning of absent mindedness was clearly found demonstrated and understood by me when we were in our hostel -3 radio room, listening the cricket commentary of a test match between India and Australia in 1967 adjacent to lavatory. Sarat Mohanty came semi-naked to the commentary room to the pleasant embarrassment of 50 of his friends listening to cricket commentary; perhaps he misjudged the lavatory door by one foot. Students generally in their attempt not to lose a moment from study, prepare themselves right from their room to finish the call of the nature a moment after reaching the toilet. This bolt from the blue from Sarat Mohanty had, (as if) given India the wicket of Simpson. Friends who were serious to life learned yoga, read scriptures but were laughed at and criticized by other friends. Any depth of their annoyance lost its edge in the bondage of friendship and co-existence. Why does it not happen in later life? Learning to smoke and taking tea frequently under the plea of better output, were taught and learned from professional friends.
Our college was doing the best at university level and at REC meet in cricket, Tennis, TT, football, athletics, basket ball, badminton, boxing and body building etc. I had two to three inferences:
- Sincerity always pays
- The bad qualities of aggressive competition, hatred, envying to bring out the best should be nipped and transformed to performance in games and sports in daily life.
A good player is a good student and good human being.
Friends who represent college & university in sports and games got special treatment, Tarit played for the state. His achievements were hallowed for some time and such celebrations were short lived when he was dropped from team after poor performance. The peak of an achievement in performance can never be maintained. The team winning the glory today is chaired on the shoulder, when loses the next day, rotten eggs are thrown. Public memory is short. We had multitude of talents. When some of them learned, practiced and competed, they achieved laurels. Some were adept in music, songs and instruments. Talents were galore. But friends, none of the talents could get national and international recognition except Lala in acting in the famous film “Adi Mimansa” against Nina Gupta and Mohan Gokhle. Actual dream and aspiration were crushed under the realities of life. I doubt, without diluting the reputation of Einstein, whether he has done all the works acclaimed to him. Definitely some who remain unseen, unknown and unlamented have helped Einstein to achieve the same. Professor Behera’s advice that “be a man of value not a man of success as successful man takes more out of life than he gives”. I salute to the unsung heroes who lived for others.
Without touching the contribution of my professors, who were generally brilliant, any writing about alma mater will remain incomplete. You are great because you have taught us knowingly and unknowingly and your each gesture had effect on us. We have lived with your blessings, your strictness, your looseness, your pampering, your scolding, and your praising. It had the optimum recipe to stand us in good stead. We could learn both the extremes in any quality are not acceptable and we have to optimize them. Professor Behera!, your towering personality, father like behavior can never be returned in gratitude. Your certificate to me is my memorable treasure. The respect you commanded both from teachers and non-teachers and students then and now are an example. I have seen you last in 2000 at REC where Navin babu felicitated you and you told how REC Rourkela came into existence. Sir, I bow and salute at your feet.
I remember one of our young fresh lecturers scolding and punishing and rejecting our sessional notes without any reason. Later it was known that Dr.Das Gupta, his HOD fired him for coming late. I remember the day when I was boosting that I have cheated Prof RN Das in sessional loudly after coming out of the class in student corridor, only to see him tapping on my shoulder from back. I had some real sleepless night and aftermath mental agony with apprehension of poor performance in the sessional under him, but Sir you are above that. Once I found in our reading room that Professor Sathpathy of mechanical department was working out the problems in structural engineering, which is under civil engineering, out the structural book. On friendly enquiry his answer was that he had not completed the same during his under graduation days, so he was doing the same then. We know that after checking our examination copies, Professors must have to read the books again because they must be missing the original definitions and spellings and getting confused with heaps of new definitions and spellings invented by the poor students.

All teachers were with brilliant academic career. But I shall quote some mischievous jokes on their brilliance. It does not undermine their reputation nor our gratitude and respect towards them. It is only to show and reveal students’ observations and analysis and logic to derive pleasure as a revengeful retaliation to the punishment they receive from them. Some illustrations are.
Proff Akhay used to forget either because he does not come prepared or not bothers to understand the intricacy. But blame the situation which occurs every year at that particular step as highlighted by him; but when it is checked from senior students it is found that it had happened several times and no connection to the step he blames.
Prof Sardarji P Singh of chemical engineering, when he was caught committing mistake in the blackboard, attributes it to his taste of the students.
Whether they are created by ignorance or negligence but this has been used by us as a guaranteed mode of remembrance. With such after math critical analysis; How can a student forget them and their associated intricacies and complexities
During our time there were two engineering colleges under one university. First two years it was Utkal University, which was later, transferred to Sambalpur University. Out of dismay we opposed to go to a new university. There was strike, which gave birth to a host of new leaders in our batch and in senior batches. But none of them succeeded in politics. Ravi Pattanaik is still trying. Our best wishes for him. Every year a group of students from both colleges join hand for strike to postpone the examination as they have got the least time to prepare. In fact the word and promise to start preparation from tomorrow remain tomorrow till the examination is on. It had taught us, always do it now and try to win over time - a hypothetical hypothesis. Let me recollect the incidences which generally occur in the other college: They fight for love for lady MBBS students at medical complex at Burla and go with heroism to their campus but get beaten. We used to enjoy their plight and talk of their foolishness out of frustration of not having such opportunity.
I will be failing in my dealing if I do not tell a bit on two-lady personality coming to the college during our stay. Prof Miss Mishra , joined us in 1965 for teaching English – a queen in no uncertain terms. We the students, whose brute youth encompasses their binocular from the age of 8 to 80 were really surprised at the gift. Collection from check post gossip revealed that the teachers were also on the same wavelength. Really the Government has made teachers not to retire, as they stay young while always dealing with young people and the youth vibration keep them vibrant and oscillating. Now I understand that the strategy of our Principal when professors compared their pay with the person ethical or unethical who leave lectureship for an Inspector Post. The invincible incentive in the form of the madam might have arrested out turn of some professors to reconsider the calculation.
In our fourth year a lady friend as Miss Rout joined us. Suddenly the class became vibrant. The skeletons gained flesh. The misers purchased scent and cinema ticket. The cinema halls Rajak and Lila must have got increased revenue. I as a friend looked at her with pity and her smart and clever tact command my respect. Now being a grand mother of two brilliant girls and served as a Principal in an institute, Madam your presence charged the life of many and benefited the college. I still remember how your famous letter “In spite of kadi dhoop I’m ready to go to the picture” came in the hand of Brahma instead of Prabhat Tripathy. Were you told about the situation that developed after the incident in the hostel? Madam, I propose to celebrate the first birth day of your great grand child with our batch mates in our college campus, preferably in hostel no 2. (of course with permission).
Without touching co-curricular activities so famous so interesting in the college, the remembrance will not be complete. .
Many of our friends had inherent talents in singing, music and arts etc which contribute to their initial excellency but most of them who did not put hard work and faded away. The natural talent alone cannot bulldoze the contribution of sincerity, which always and everywhere pays.
I forgot to write the miraculous 7 days round the clock cycling by Pravat because of her inspiration after she joined us. Please excuse me, it was a real feat and achievement. In drama competition the renowned Babi used to be our director to bring out the best talent. This made some of us as real actor in stage life and stage actor in real life. Apart from Babi, Dhyanchand visited us.
The college had two vintage posts, one is check-post and another was back-post. Both had shops where salesmen and owners remembered the names of all students and their characteristics. Professors and non-teaching staff and some students who go there to catch the attention of professor while doing eye-catching purchases shared the check post. Some go to overhear the gossip among the teaching faculty only to grape-vine the same with spice. Gossips revolved about the following: Like students, the love binocular of teachers also encompasses 8 to 80 years. Mamtaz and Shamila of that era was the heartthrob of some of professors who were terrors to the students. One spicy story must be narrated. . Once a revered professor in Electrical department left his wife at Ambagon market and came back talking in the scooter and could not find his madam at the back sent. He had to be advised where she must be. After a picture is over, a renowned professor was asking his pet student who was the hero and who the heroine and whether the film is colored in order to avoid wrath from his wife. A professor named his daughter as B-2 after his quarter number, so that he doesn’t forget the name or the quarter number. A novel way of remembering, we students jokingly commented that the professor would not have more space in his memory for his wife and daughter, which he had devoted to electrical flux.
Back post had cycle shop; food stalls and Gupta book shop and was visited by hostel students and throughout the day it was dominated by dropouts, re-dropouts and re-re dropouts. We used to hire cycles at 20 paise per hour, which helped us in our attempt for discoveries in township and picture halls. He gave cycle only on faith with name and room number. He had never lost the bargain. Faith yields faith. Gupta had all books old or new, Indian or American, all types of slide rules, and variety of pens, instruments. We purchased from him without hesitation. At times he took money on installments at times, after employment. I remember him with respect and gratitude as he gave me his overcoat to travel to Ranchi in winter to get a letter from HSCL. What were his fatherly and brotherly feelings? He might not have earned manifolds of his capital in physical terms. But he must have had much in His account. Sitaram Canteen gave a Parathas at the rate 25 paise per piece but about ten parathas if you have rice with the meal cost limited to 1.25 rupees. Is he a fool? In my opinion, he is the wisest in settling the account. An old man I (I curse myself not remembering his name) sold groundnuts not as “china badam” as popularly known but as “ Bharat badam” as we had war with China. Patriotism of the poor man at the age of eighty!
Please excuse me for breaking the sequence by quoting Kali Mishra of mechanical workshop once expressing his anger, “Middle middle coming disturbing, you not do, I not do.” We laugh at it. But if it explains the meaning in emphatic way, is it not enough? We in later part of our life giving a wrong spelling to highlight and to catch attention used this art.
Surrendering to the time and space let me close abruptly with prayer for excuse that flow was not maintained uniformly to all sub-phases of this part of life. If I make an attempt to dwell on each it will be voluminous and will take years as each has contributed to our life... But let me close remembering the advices of professors in our farewell meeting which now I dare to counter argue:
- “Fools retread the same path even if they fall. Wise are those who abandon the path when they fall but the wisest is he who sees from others and avoids” by Dr.Mishra. This is still vibrating but sir, you were brilliant in your pursuit for research, you joined a research institute. Our juniors must be unlucky. But Sir I beg to differ as all famous inventions are by fools who retread and fall and find an innovative way.
“Nip the desire in bud” by Prof. LN.Mishra. You are no more and died prematurely. The staff of tennis court and our successors must be missing you. But sir with present society and our family background and society it is not possible. We may divert the desire for better cause and divert and replace. As we were taught without ambition we may go astray...
I have a notebook with noting of classmates and a galaxy as souvenir, which I often see to remember you all vividly.
I beg excuse from Lalla’ because I had failed in his examination when could not tell the names of wives of 25 of our classmates. An expert always fails in his subject. Considering wife as girlfriends to my friends, I being an expert, I got confused and forgot the names of unfriendly (Then as imagined) wives like Madhuri for example, wife of my dear friend Subas. Subas had 50 to 60 names everyday, imagined, seen through various means including skylight of bathroom etc. Which name should I have remembered? (Madhuri, madam! Please excuse me. My friends’ hearts were so accommodative that it would be compared with a paper stand on an office table to which infinite number of papers like Sita, Rita, Babita, Pranita so on could have been pinned to it with further equal empty place for future. This illustrates a great spiritual theory of attachment and detachment. Further your husband and we must be excused as even great Mahapurusha Achutananda had confessed the same in famous Astagujjari, whose English translation is that he had less time for God in his life as it was totally dedicated to the fair sex.)
At this moment I must narrate an incident involving my friends. Ram Patnaik, Manu,Sanjiv were walking through the college buildings during the lonely hour in an evening. Rama suggested for shouting loudly an obscene and filthy word to enjoy the reverberations to break the boredom and silence and to enjoy the plight of all inanimate objects, which usually used to see our plight at the hands of the Professors. Immediately and spontaneously Manu shouted at the top of his voice the name of a junior girl Experts in psychology and philosophy may analyze and saints to suggest the remedy. This reminds the creation by SANKLAP by Muni Rishis in olden era.
Many things taught in the college and mugged up for examination might not have direct effect on our practicing life. But most of the learning taught or not taught but observed and happened , watched and followed, noticed with or without knowledge developed our eighth sense, expressed in our emotional plane and on the canvas of intuition which came in a big way to row us through so far.
Salute to my Alma mater and to all who were part of her. We bow with heart-felt gratitude.