By Sambeet Dash
Those days it was common for men to get married during their teens and girls before reaching puberty. Still in School, an educated Nilakantha Das was very much in demand by the prospective groom hunters. His father was approached by one such gentleman with a NAGADA (instant payment) cash offer of Rs.4000, a hefty amount those days – with the additional assurance of the bride’s father bearing any addition cost involving higher studies by the prospective son-in-law.
The young Nilakantha reacted by reciting the following couplet in Sanskrit:
UTTAMMAM SWA ARJITA BITTAM,
MADHYAMAM PITRU ARJITA.
ADHAMAM BHRATRU BITTAM,
STREEE BITTAM MAHAMADHAAM.
Roughly transliterated:
“Excellent is money earned on your own,
Okay is the money received from dad.
Bad is living upon brother’s money,
Worst is to live off on wife’s income.”
His father got the message and did not proceed further on the proposal.
While studying in Puri JILLA (district) School, Pandit Nilakantha Das was fortunate to see the first Odia to join as the Headmaster of the institution. His name was Chandramohan Maharana.
He made history of sort , for the prestigious post of Headmaster of one of the leading schools of Odisha were invariably Bengalis and upper caste. Chandramohan Maharana was neither. So, he was expected to get some brickbats which came soon in the form of a taunt. Someone placed hammer and chisel on his desk, alluding to his caste of MAHARANA or Carpenter – comparatively lower than the usually dominating higher castes. But he wasn’t from BADHEI (carpenter) caste; he was a THATTARI (scheduled caste).
This clearly racist treatment meted out to Sri Maharana did not go unnoticed to young Nilakantha, which he ascribed to lack of enough High schools of stature in Odisha to churn out educated folks. So, along with his erudite friends they planned on opening a school in the lines of the famed English Schools of Ferguson College, Harrow and Eaton.
Their dream came true in the formation of SATYAVADI VANA VIDYALAYA in 1909, the year he passed BA and went to Calcutta to do his MA with a monthly Scholarship of Rs.30. In spite of ill health during the final exams he got his MA Degree in the year 1911.
At Calcutta he had his fill of exotic vegetables like Cauliflower, Cabbage and a dried fruit called Raisin. (Incidentally my grandfather who along with his brothers operated a hotel in Calcutta prior to Independence would bring Cabbages to his native village. The new vegetable won’t be cooked in HANDI SALA or main kitchen, rather at centre of the house under open sky. The spicy smell of Cabbage curry would attract droves of curious onlookers, sniffing at it from a safe distance).
Back to Odisha, with his rare higher qualifications, he did not have to look for jobs. Lucrative jobs were looking for him. But he settled down as a teacher in the SATYAVADI School along with his other friends. The year was 1912.
Though corruption was hardly rampant, it wasn’t entirely unheard of either. A certain person known to him, working in Khurda court wanted to be a teacher at the School, which was now gaining momentum by starting to get name and fame. One fine morning he showed up at school and approached Pandit Nilakantha to join as a teacher. There was no need for any additional teacher at that time, so Sri Das politely declined.
Refusing to relent, the man offered him a bribe of Rupee 1. As it did not have any impact, he then increased it to Rs.2, not a bad amount those days. Bribing would be considered normal today, but a little more than a century ago Pandit Das felt sick to his stomach, astonished with this disgusting behavior of someone he considered a gentleman.
A few days later, Mr. Godabarisha Mishra, a towering figure with a towering name, joined the noble profession of teaching at the school. He had plenty of credentials of his own and didn’t need to bribe anyone. Godabarisha Mishra, Nilakantha Das along with his other friends Gopabandhu Das, Krupasindhu Mishra and Acharya Harihara now formed the Famous “Five Friends” or PANCHA SAKHA.
(This is the 4th in series of recapitulation in the writer’s own words portions of Pandit Nilakantha Das’s Biography in Odia.)
Sambeet Dash is an Odia technocrat living in Georgia US.
