A TRIBUTE

A TRIBUTE
P K Routray

At the outset I must give an explanation on the title “ A Tribute”
A Tribute is an expression of gratitude and recollection of some eloquent incidents of love ang joy of oneness with everlasting nourishment, provided at our Alma mater which emphatically announce that this part of our life in her lap was the best of our living We all intently long that these five years should come back again and again and never desert us in any of our human births..
At this ripe age I swearin telling a truth of my life that the jovial interpretation and funny narrations with those teen aged observations have given me intense pleasure and in fact served me as balm when I am depressed in life.
We also needed a platform tp pay our gratitude to all in our alma mater who have shaped our life and have given us strength to survive with dignity and excel in the professional field vying shoulder to shoulder with the best in this world. And also hope to continue beyond.
With following pleasant recollections having hidden tone of love and gratitude, massages and teachings, the amateur author has made an attempt to express his heart with tribute to all either on the scenr or off the scene. With expression of each word, the actors of the incidents and episodes along with directors, prompters, producers, the audience along with its stage flash alive in my mind’s eye, with each commanding my love and adoration. You all have made me where and what I am?.
My foolish comments biased then with ego at places may please be interpreted as my gratitude to jada BHARAT a thematic figures in the great Hindu epic “The Bhagawatam”. The incidents which look funny at times when given a ponderous thought have brought out hidden treasure & pleasure for me. In fact I contest the saying “Tragic incidents last longer than pleasant and have more impact.” But for me I can only recollect pleasant and funny like incidents of my REC days. Even with deep recollection I could not remember a single painful incident except Samanta’s failure.
As the following recollections have contributed to make our lives worth living, the jokes enumerated here can never be meant to offend anyone.
I have forgotten all electrical laws and mathematical theorems so carefully taught by my revered teachers and then perhaps painfully mugged up for the examinations. But I have not forgotten the face of the vendor of BHARAT BADAM nor so called BUDU SITARAM nor Proff Singh’s purposeful mistakes in the class.
These are my expression of sincere , sentimental love and gratitude to you all alive and gone & my love for incidents which come often to me over almost last fifty years giving me joy and company when I am depressed and show me the path while I lose my way in the journey of life so far.
To avoid embarrassment I have purposely, erred the names
After a lot of preparation by my parents and with their dreamy expectations of my well-wishers I reached for admission accompanied by my father and uncle at our REC at 10 AM on 1st July 1965 with hrad load of anxieties and apprehensions of uncertain life with unknown devils at an alien place. At the entry portico of the college, to my pleasant surprise I found Gopal Mishra my high school classmate, in fact a tuition mate standing and staring at me. He was alone without his father or uncle and gazing at me, reminding me of my nasty falls from his cycle while coming from tuition. He was an expert in cycling as against I being a non-starter in the art. He came via Stewart college at Cuttack and had two or three friends from Cuttack accompanying him in this journy. 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. Yhe thought that they would study here staying far from their mothers and fathers, aroused compassion in me.
The length and procedure of admission was soon forgotten with vibrant vibration of friends, surroundings of the Alma mater and the thrilling thought of our staying together. Gradually the apprehensions of any hindrance, of language, pronunciation, caste, and creed were forgotten under the force of friendship and harmony in wavelength of thoughts and emotions.
Hostels no 4 was allotted to all our batch mates and rooms were given temporarily with our chosen roommates with advice of expected change after 15 days. Hostel- 4 was under last stage of construction.
In order to see the hostel and the facility I followed the pitched road with father and uncle., Tuis road is usually used by the visitors and the freshers to the college. 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 where I had previous three years education 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 came bombardment of questions to explain one extra law of physics and chemistry over what was taught to me. I thought that I had not read the extra laws at my college at Angul. 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. 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 season a student to stand him in good stead in life. Life is full of ragging thrust upon by the acts of juniors, seniors and colleagues, in work life, in society and even by life-less onjects. We are daily ragged in our life. Raging is required to groom the mental and emotional plains and train 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 in darkness through the cremation ground to my hostel. That was the only way perceived to avoid seniors’ hawk like eyes. So that seniors would not be able to catch me as their prized prey at their final fury of raging for the year, as 15th July is celebrated as welcome day and no further ragging takes place after the date. But to my utter ill luck, when I reached the hostel I had to join ten of my friends. They could not flee away or failed in their tricks to avoid the final phase of fury and were staging ball dances to the innovative directions of the seniors and some were crawling under four cots and I, being the fattest, was asked to go through the windows where glasses were yet to be fitted. This was repeated not once or twice but till God took pity on me.
Generally ragging is painful and we had developed hatred and revengeful attitude for raggers but it was soon forgotten. It developed closeness and openness and shy, introvert nature gets rectified.

, I remember future CMDs, Professors, Directors, Vice chancellors and many technocrats with successful and prestigious status in latter life in India and abroad innocently doing the odd and funny acts as per the whims of the seniors. I only smile at their past when I remember the scene and current ego. How funny it is to recollect 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 experience of being ragged, 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 renouned ragger.”
As raggers 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 a funny kabadi match of the fresher, leaving Pratap Mohanty on the spot, when the warden, professor Subramaniam came for a 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
Our famous raggers were Mahadeb bhai, Chand bhai and a host of others who became our well-wishers throughout their stay in the college and even beyond. I remember, they were only two to three years senior to us but looked up and respected as much, much elders. Today when we look at a young man of their age, they look as teen agers. Angle of our outlook has changed with age but still they look same as same seniors of 60s and command same respect, Even fifty years could not make any change in our percetion and relation of 65.

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 he pride of being a local boy. Seeing me passing the area, they came running to me and narrated their plight and fresher’s careless behavior.
I took over and succeeded to bring him down to his knees and to the realities of life.
A few days later I saw him with a group of his muscled friends coming towards 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 the 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 full name. You had taught me a lessons of life by your act.
I cannot forget the day when at night at about 1 AM a forceful call seemingly by seniors, ordering us to come ouy of rooms to face a ragging session, terrified us as a dear must be feeling to the roaring of a lion. We jumped through the windows and, 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 a 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 of heart attack. You remained a bachelor and became a saint.
I remembered some of the friends were made fool of because of their serious nature and aloofness. In our four-seated rooms, two beds were near the windows facing to lawn and garden and are most sought after. But two beds near the corridors likely to be disturbed were never preferred. Generally to reach an agreement for the distribution of beds, various approaches and tacts like horoscope matching, promises to share the sessional loads, dinners pictures and lotteries were adopted. Dambaru 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. L.M.Das now a professor of IIT was the culprit.
Narayan, now 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 tinbox. 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 trunk 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 . I nad only read the language of the letters and showed them to a few of our 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 exponenyialy connected and unconnected relatives of fair sex. Seating arrangrmrnts and partners are conveniently chosen for the hidden games of our friends.
After one such vacation and such a game,Gopal enacted the superb acting of a friend stopping Gopal his partner in the game in casting Gopal’s covetous eye in to his territory. Gopal meekly surrendered his lust and greed on the altar of friendship without anger. But later the property ultimately had gone to another third friend. The present analysis by enquiry officers revealed and attributed it to the oscillating greed and vascilating lust of the original actor. However his superb acting on the real scene enacted by Gopal even now gives immense pleasure
Many methods were adopted to know thr probable questions in the examination such as help of astrology, astronomy analysis of examiner’s psychology etc. On one such method Sashi Rath called ghosts through planchets along with sarat and others to know questions so that the lost time with friends are made up. Forecasts are kept secret not for competition or exposition but to avoid embarrassment of its futility.
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 stylish dresses and had a rare auto changeable music system with many musical discs. We never thought that you would leave all material desires and a job in Rourkela steel plant and would become a saint and teach us peace and bliss. You 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.
I fondly remember the logarithmic relationship of Rakesh Tickoo with famous actor Raj kumar, Mr.Kohli being the president of Indian fans for Elvis Priesley. Hiralal claimed to have spent time with Mumtaz and, Vaijantimala in Bombay his home town. We used to enjoy Hirao’s proud moment with Mumtaz and Mumtaz calling him stupid. He became a hero in our eyes for some time. .
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 nas his gravitational constant (g) came as 1500. He broke the instrument out of frustration. I still remember his remarks on Murty who got second-class. As per him, Murty will not get any girl to marry. As per him nobody would marry a second-class student. But Srinivas, you had committed suicide before your degree 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 destination. I had never lost to you in T.T. But finally lost to you a day before your suicide, which did not give 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. 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 outside 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?
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.
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 seven 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 Saroj 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 fool 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 a 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
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 grandchild with our batch mates in our college campus, preferably in hostel no 2. (of course with permission).
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.
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.
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, friends fought, quarreled, envied but had and have one thing in common i.e love for Alma matter and all its constituents irrespective of the achievements in life. At this fag end of life we continue to draw inspiration and consolation that we were not lost.
There were and are two vintage points in the college. they are back post and check post.The position of check post has changed with new permanent entry gate but back post remain the same. The check post was generally dominated by teachers and staff. The back post was dominated by students. But some of us travel to check post for many other reasons like catching the attention of teachers, to probe the happenings in the campus so the will be proud author of some gossips and rumors. No activity nor murmuring discussion by teachers do not escape their hungry keen ears and Both backpost and check posts had grocery shops,barbers’ shop,restaurants cycle shops,and stariobary shops nand other shops as per requirements of both sectors.
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 There were some friends who usually visit check post inspite of the danger of wrath from professors Their honnies were to spread grapevines among us This help us to take revenge on the professors who have hurt our ego and spices were added to gossip to enjoy idle time.
On the check post there was Sharma canteen.his business trick is worth mentioning. That time a meal means unlimited service of all items served within a defined rate. To limit the items Sharma seve each time with a separate plate and indicating the no of timrs asked for. Hence out of shame the requirement gets limited to his advantage. But Sharma’s canteen was hygienic with well-behaved staff. Sharma knew nus personally with food habit.
The Homeopath doctor served us and developed our faith that Homeopathy can cure.
At the back post we were conversant with each shopkeeper. Back posts vibrate throughout the day .During college hours the dropouts late risers enjoy thei happy hours there.. Chain of cigarettes and umpteen cups of teas lighten much of their tension. But the forbidden stimulants used to day by present generations were never known.. With prayers of welwishes and love of all in the campus they have their own life of dignity and they all have intense regards for the campus and our feared apprehension of their uncertain and doomed future have proved wrong.
Mahapatra and Mahanty had bi cycle stores. Apart from repair they used to lend us cycles on rent at the rate of 20 paisa per hour. They give cycles with faith and had never complained of theft or damage. The cycles available with them could have told our off campus stories. An autobiography of Mahapatra’s cycle would have brrn a most interesting epilogue of our youth and off campus activities abd achievements.
Sitharam’s canteen deserves my gratitude. He was from Bihar. A paratha was costing 20 paisa with unlimited curry but a meal mixed with rice and paratha cost Rs 1.20p. Hence after ten delicious parathas, if you take rice, the cost gets limited to a meal. He was funned at as a fool. But with a little contemplation, the fool was found to be the wisest. He deserved commanded our life long respect and gratitude. Seetharam, where ever you may be, we bow at you. You served as our mother. We foolishly mis understood you.
Gupta’s book stall provides every thing required to study in engineering such as books of all authers and required equipments and stationaries. I have never seen him denying the availability. With money or no money he gives the books. The payments are done when we had money Instances were there that he was paid after a student got a job. What a faith?
I am personally grateful to him when he gave his only over coat to me for my winter visit to Ranchi.
In the struggle for selfish existence I have lost track of him and pray for a pardon..
An old man used to sell ground nuts in the hostel calling it as Bharat badam instead of chinabadam because of our strained relationship with China.
In later life we missed such love such unity. The college was a total Bharat. Proff Nagbhushan’s around India within two hours was an example I
have again seen. The culture of each state was played by the students on the stage. Real unity in diversity. Salute to all you sir.
The trolly salers in the afternoon with Kulfi has a special contribution. Most delicious and times with Gods’ intoxicant were most enjoyable not only imagining and arranging before theservice and during the service but also fter service. Sureswar got traped with kulfi with bhang.His room mates in hostel1 saw ghost dances and a strange innovative way of covering disturbed light with verbal abuses to light and with throw of only cloth on thr body. Of corse sureswar had a part of his school education at Puri.
.
The collections by the friends at the check post , campus and by various acts of spying created many funny spicy stories on our beloved, fearsome professors. They have been collected and thouroughly analysed then by their naughtu students and had been stored in their hard disc. They are plenty. But with due apology I must cite a very few of them because uf limitation of space.
Mumtaz and Shamila of that era were the heartthrob of some of the professors who were terrors to the students. Our wicked friends have seen them gazing at their figures in Filmfara and Star and style instead of gazing at magnetiv\c theory by Karus as advisrd to us by them.
A famous incident is worth narrating. Once a revered professor of Electrical Engineering left his wife at Ambagon market and came back discussing with his pillion driver on the way to campus. But after reaching csmpus he and could not find his madam at the back. He had to be advised where she must be. His pet students helped in the discovery but must have witnessed his plight.
After a picture was over, an internationally reputed 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 or the orher. 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.
Proff Mishra was found commenting on Proff Nayak as Proff Nayak’s binocular streaches from eight to eighty as far as fair sex is concerned. Both professors were terrors and this piece of information were so thrilling and created many imaginary scene in their classes and off the
Daily analysis are done on their purchases to settle our score with our enemy professors proving them as miser or discussing the imaginary activities related to the items purchased by them.
Once in a morning class a young lecturer who was a brilliant student came red faced and started putting big crosses in all our copies murmuring inaudible slangs.
Later on our usual probe it was revealed that he had got a banging from his H O D for coming late .the reply fury was thrashed on us.
It was somehow collected from campus probers that the wife of our Proff Jena who was from a remote village of Orissa newly married speaking to her neighbor Madam Agrawala of Rajstan in her own invented hindi i.e speaking in Oriya and adding HAI, HUM at her own will. But at times such conversion gave salt in the tea instead of sugar.Later we forgot to note “who taught hindi to whom”.
When I joined as a teaching staff my doubt on the requirement of refreshers course to teachers got cleared. Proff Patel of English had remarked that after valuation of papers, he has o reread grammar and relearn the spelling as his fundamentals get shaken with the theories and innovations in the answer sheet.
While committing mistakes on thr blackboard, during work out on chemical thermodynamics Proffessor singh would commit mistakes and later pardon himself under the plea that it was a deliberate mistake to test the students. Proff Das laments and blames the unknown as to why he forgets at a particular point in a subject while teaching, every year. On verification feom seniors it is confirmed as those were their usual face saving tricks.
Some of us vie with one another in the art what is known as flattery (As per our raw language it wae lubrication). Some professors must be getting elated and the students benefited. I remember an incident when our friend Uma anticipated a future noble prize for Proff Das, The reaction was a complacent smilr on the face of Prof Das with a comment that no noble prize exists for applied science. This indicates the aspiration and real quality of our brilliant Professors.
we notice the competition of families of our professors for seats at central places. on those allotted audiovisual days. we feel gratified as we felt that our celebrated professors are also comparable human beings like us even though we do not understand their hi fi learnings. .
An incident which had given me extreme painful apprehensions and disturbances must be narrated. After a sessional class where I could manage to bluff prof. Das with borrowed copy and avoided penalty, I was loudly boasting my achievement in fooling Proff Das after the class only to see a tap on my shoulder from back and to my horrors of horrors I found the professor who has changed his usual path of return. Much sleepless night followed in apprehending poor marks in the subject. But at the end it proved wrong. His magnanimity pardoned me.
Once In the reading room, I found Mr. Sathpathy a freshly recruited lecturer of mechanical department solving the problems in structural engineering, which is under the discipline of scivil engineering. On friendly enquiry his answer was that he had not completed the same during his under graduation days, so he was completing the same then. It was a real love for the study.
Today when I am too old and passed through most part of my life I can proudly boast that all of my professors were brilliant and did their yeoman’s service in shaping us. I express my heartfelt gratitude to them.
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 used this art by purposely committing a wrong spelling to highlight and to catch attention used this art.
We had Proff Nagbhusan with attached degree from A to Z.His degreesw used to amuse us and inspire us.

.
Our founder Principal Prof Behera was a father figure; we have seen him crying like a child at the funeral of our friend. Right from entry to our Alma mater to this age, we are sure that our love and regards for him are on par with our parents. He has helped us during our student days and even beyond. The nostalgic memory needs another volume on him. He is real Guru. Let God give everybody a mentor like him.

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.