Discover Dr Harekrushna Mahtab’s inspiring childhood from Sadhanara Pathe — tracing his humble origins, discipline, and values that shaped a leader
Sumitra Mishra
Book Name: Sadhanara Pathe (A Diligent Journey)
Author: Dr. Harekrushna Mahtab
Translation: Sumitra Mishra
Publisher: Authors Press
Location: New Delhi
Childhood
I was born on 21st November 1899 A.D., Tuesday. As per the Hindu Calendar it was the sixth day of Scorpio of the Hindu year 1307. A village named Agarapada in the district of Balasore is my native place. I heard in my childhood that there was a confluence of seven stars on that day; so astrologically I was born under a strong star cast.
My father Krushna Charan Das was a poor man. But he was very intelligent and handsome. He did not have the opportunity to attend any formal school and get education. My mother, Tohfa Biwi was the daughter of Late Jagannath Mahatab. He was a landlord in Agarapada and his family had a glorious history.
During Akabar’s reign when his Maghul soldiers made expeditions unto Bengal, Bihar, and Odisha, at that time some merchants travelled with them to supply their food and ration. The Khetri Caste people of North-West India had monopolised this business. It is a known fact that some of the Khetris preferred to reside in Odisha with their families. Thus, the landlord families of Agarapada were originally from Amritsar. Though the Khetris were not Sikh in religion, yet they worshipped Guru Nanak, who also belonged to the Khetri clan. So, there was Gurudwara in Agarapada established long back. It was renowned as “Bhaijji Badi”. The property of this Grurudwara has been auctioned before some years and now nothing is left.
The Khetri families in Agarpada had “Singh” as their title. They were six brothers. So, their families grew in number and strength. At that time people ruled by the strength of their numbers. Taking advantage of this situation, some members of the Singh family forcibly occupied some land in Keonjhar and established themselves as the king of that place. Since those days the landlords of Agarapada are ruling as if they are the kings. People respect them as kings. After the Britishers occupied Odisha, the kings of Agarapada were demoted to the status of landlords. Due to division and distribution of property among the brothers, big trenches of land were sold. One of the landlords of Agarapada royalty, named Ramachandra Singh died childless. According to his will his nephew Jagannath Mahatab inherited his property and land lordship.
The Khetri families from Punjab were limited in numbers. As they married within their clan, their numbers became limited, and they lived like a fringe community. They had to select their bride or bridegroom from among the limited number of youths in their own community. Now the Khetri families are less than two hundred in number. This is certainly a very limited circle for considering marital relations.
Jagannath Mahatab chose Krushna Charan Das of village Asureshwar in the district of Cuttack as bridegroom for his eldest daughter Tohfa Biwi. Then he shifted his daughter’s family to Agarapada and looked after the maintenance of her family. Krushna Charan resided in his father-in-law’s house as an adopted son. He was given a lot of responsibilities in managing the estate. He performed these duties satisfactorily using his intelligence and practical knowledge. In this circumstance, Jagannath Mahatab fell sick before he had a son as heir to his property. At that time, I, who was my mother’s second child, was only seven months old.
My maternal grandfather adapted me as his son and left this mortal world after a short period of illness. Then I became a member of the Mahatab family instead of the Das family. After the sad demise of Jagannath Mahatab, Krushna Charan Das became the head of the family and managed everything. As per law, I became the owner of the estate. As I was a minor, my adapted mother Dhwani Biwi became my guardian and Sri Krushna Charan Das became my authorised manager. Practically, he managed everything as the head of the family.
Though my biological father did not have any opportunity to get modern education, he was a broadminded person. So, he started expanding education and popularised modern ideas in Agarapada. In our village there was a traditional Chatsali. Sadei Das was the guru in charge of the Village Chatsali. He was a very old man. I attended his chatsali for a few days. He was above ninety years old. Most of the villagers had been taught by him. So, he was highly respected by all. He could teach only up to the mathematical tables. I have heard that he used to write poetry. A man named Jagabandhu Mohanty became the teacher of this chatsali after Sadei Das. I was also taught by him.
When a lower Primary School was established in Agarapada, he became the second teacher. Sri Bishnu Charan Panigrahi was the Headmaster. After some time, Middle school was also started due to the enterprise of Krushna Charan Das. I still remember his sincere efforts to convert the Higher Primary School to a Middle Vernacular School. He had invited Sri Radha Charan Das, the Vice Chairman of the then District Board and entertained him exuberantly. Then only our school became a Middle Vernacular School. Due to his initiative, a Post Office was also established in Agarapada.
When the Post office opened there, he spent his own money to purchase postcards and envelopes and distributed them among the villagers. Even he got some letters written by others and posted them to prove that the Post office established there won’t incur loss due to lack of business. Besides, the authorities of the postal department were lavishly and courteously treated. It was very difficult to bring any change or development to the villages during those times. I feel startled when I think of those days now. But he was able to socialise with the Government officials and influence them. The then Collector Izton Sahib proposed to give him the post of an honorary Magistrate, but Krushna Charan Das knew his limits well, so he politely refused this proposal.
My own elder brother Sri Narasingh Charan and I both started going to school. But during our time there was no facility for learning English at school; so, our father hired a tutor to teach us English privately at home. Sri Krupasindhu Mohanty became our English teacher. Sri Bhagaban Charan Mohapatra was the Headmaster of our school. Both were very inspiring and noble-minded teachers. They used to inspire us a lot. By telling the stories of great men, they tried to instill some good qualities and moral values in us. They always inspired us to try to become achievers instead of rotting as ordinary.
When I was a student at this school, I wrote the story of the Ramayan in poetic lines. In our home, every month there used to be some festivals and rituals. Each festival was followed by either a theatrical performance by travelling troupes or singing choirs. When I knew that the singers in the choir (Pala) were composing poetic lines spontaneously on the spot, I challenged myself to do so. Of course, the poems I composed had nothing much besides rhyming lines.
Eventually we went to study at Bhadrakh High School after passing out of the village school. During those times people of that locality were not interested in learning English, besides a few. The arrangements for our education at Bhadrakh and for our living, as planned by our father, appeared very boring to us at that time. But looking back, I can feel the utility of that arrangement now.
To ensure that we must have the company of only good friends, my father bore the expenses of the education of two other students from our village, who also stayed with us. He engaged Sri Bishnu Charan Panigrahi, the Headmaster of our school as our local guardian. He arranged everything in such a manner that not a single pie touched our hands. Our guardians spent money for our living as determined by our father.
Both our father and guardian managed the expenses in such a manner that we did not get any opportunity to spend money on any sort of amusement. Besides the school and the living quarters, we were not allowed to go outside without being escorted by either our father or guardian. As per the instruction of our father, we lived like poor urchins. I have found out that the borders of the hostel now-a-days lead a much better life than we used to do as school students.
Our possessions consisted of only four dhotis and two shirts each, nothing besides those. We ate only rice, dal, and vegetable curry. We did not have any scope to entertain ourselves with any kind of luxury. Of course, at that time, this arrangement appeared to be very boring and irritating. While comparing our lifestyle with some students of our class who lived luxuriously, we felt agitated and frustrated. Our despondency reached such a stage that we secretly destroyed the accounts notebook maintained by our guardian.
Then we complained to our father that our guardian was embezzling our money. Later we told our biological mother and adopted mother that we would die of starvation at Bhadrakh. They requested our father to give us some money for our pocket expenses; but my father could understand our plans. He explained to our mother that if the children get money in the tender teenage years, they would be spoilt. They would spend the money on drinking and visiting brothels. At a later stage they would live extravagantly and squander the property of our estate. Hence all our plans failed.
We had to spend five years in Bhadrakh desperately, without a pie in our hands to spend at will. This habit of frugality in childhood and during my teenage years became a compulsion which benefited me a lot later in life. The desire for luxurious living was nipped in the bud. I never felt the desire for affluent living later in life. This also had an adverse effect on my personality. I failed to socialise freely with strangers. I am still trying to get over this flaw in my character, but I am unable to root this out of my personality completely. However, I think the disadvantages of the frugal living of my formative years have benefited me more than causing harm.
From my own experience, I can vouch that parents and guardians should keep control over the expenditure of their children and never give more than the amount necessary for bare living and educational expenses. No student should be given financial liberty. Besides, guardians should thoroughly check the statement of expenses incurred by their children/wards to create frugal habits to benefit them in their future life.
(Excerpts from the book A Diligent Journey (Sadhanara Pathe). Tr. by Prof Sumitra Mishra. With permission from the Publisher Authors Press/ New Delhi. Views Expressed are Personal.)
