Manas Ranjan Mahapatra, Puri, 25th September 2022
Sitakant Mahapatra got Sahitya Akademi award for his book “Sabdara Akasha” when I was in my secondary classes. In my small town, there were only two bookshops – Bharati Bhawan and Vidya Bhawan, which used to keep library books that time. I rushed on my bicycle to those shops but the book was not available.
A few days later, my teacher, Lokanath Saha (who is no more now), got a copy of the book from Cuttack.
My uncle, Sarat Chandra Mahapatra was in the state civil services. He was the first highly educated person in our family, and our village in those days. He once discovered the poetry book of Sitakant Mahapatra with me. He had strong literary interest and asked me for the book. I was so engrossed in reading “Sabdara Akasha” then that it was painful for me to part with the book. Sitakant Mahapatra was a top bureaucrat at that time in Odisha and such IAS officers liked their sub-ordinate officers to read their works!
Sumant Mishra, son of publisher Mahendra Mishra, was my classmate those days. He was the nephew of poet Ramakanta Rath and I used to listen from him about the literary figures of that time. He gave me two poetry books of Ramakanta Rath for reading. Soon, Ramakanta Rath also got Sahitya Akademi award for his book “Saptama Rutu”.
I met Sitakant Mahapatra in 1980 for the first time in Odisha Secretariat when I was a student of BA final year at SCS College, Puri.There was a students agitation throughout the state for raising MIL Odia marks from 100 to 200. Being a student leader, I went in a delegation to meet the Education Secretary, Sitakant Mahapatra.
More than a decade passed in between. Sitakant Mahapatra got his doctorate in the late 1970s and I joined the National Book Trust (NBT), India at Delhi as its Odia Language Editor in 1990 after my brief stints with the Odisha government and NCERT. The Advisory Panel for Odia had not been reconstituted for two decades. I got it reconstituted with Dr. Sitakant Mahapatra as one of the members. By that time, he was at Delhi as a Secretary. Ten years passed. In between Sitakant Mahapatra became Secretary, Ministry of Culture, Government of India. In between Ramakanta Rath became a member of the policy making Board of Trustees (BoT) of NBT.
One day, Dr Sitakant Mahapatra visited our book shop. NBT was at Green Park those days. I was informed by the shop assistant and I went to the Book Shop to meet him.
“It’s good that Ramakanta Babu has become a member of the Board of Trustees of NBT. Next time you can recommend my name”, he said.
“BoT member position is very small for you sir. You are eminently suitable to be the Chairman of NBT. Moreover, Prof. Joshi was your colleague at Allahabad University as I know”, I said. Prof. Murli Manohar Joshi was the Human Resources Development (HRD) Minister those days. Dr. Sitakant Mahapatra did his MA from Allahabad University and taught there before joining the IAS. Prof. Murli Manohar Joshi was in the faculty of Allahabad University those days.
It was in the year 2000, perhaps in July, when Dr. Sumatheendra Nadig, the then Chairman, NBT gave me the good news that his friend Dr. Sitakant Mahapatra has been nominated to become the next Chairman. I was elated, for he was an accomplished poet in the language in which I write.
After a few months, Dr. Sitakant Mahapatra took over. I had just shifted to my house at Shalimar Garden, Ghaziabad. One day he called me to his room in the office.
“I have a bag of good quality rice which I can’t carry by air to my home at Bhubaneswar. Since you are going to Bhubaneswar soon by train, as I just approved your tour programme, will you please carry it and give to my wife at my Satyanagar House? My car will drop you at New Delhi Railway Station.”
I was happy that my Chairman had given me a responsibility. “As you please, sir”, I said. I took the bagful of rice in the train and gave it to Mrs Mahapatra at their Satyanagar house in Bhubaneswar.
After a few months, I got a book with a note from the Director that he had gone through the book containing translations of poems for children by Dr. Sitakant Mahapatra and I should examine it for publication in Odia and translation into other Indian languages. Title of the book was “Asaranti Piladina” and the publisher was Friends Publishers, Cuttack. It had been received a few years ago for consideration but had not been approved as I wanted to see the original poems from which the translations had been done.
I went to Dr. Sitakant Mahapatra and said, “Sir, as I remember, I saw this proposal a few years ago and had made two observations. I wanted to see the original text from which you have done the translations. Secondly, out of the 42 poems included in the book, only 15 are for children.That opinion of mine still continues. If you consider my opinion to be good, you can show me the original text and add at least another 15 poems. But, if you insist on publication of this book as it is, you can order me as Chairman, NBT to process it for publication so that I don’t have to examine.”
“Meet me at Bhubaneswar”, he replied.
Next time when I was at Bhubaneswar, I met him at his Satynagar house. He showed me a boxful of books from which the translations were made. He then showed me a few more books from which he was proposing to include another 15. “I respect the advice of the editor”, he said.
Then he asked me as Chairman, NBT, to carry the boxful of books to New Delhi for the NBT Library!
