MY FRIEND AND CLASSMATE:

MY FRIEND AND CLASS MATE:

                                                                                Monilal Tripathi was his name. We studied together in class VI of MPC school; Baripada. There is a saying, morning shows the day (ତୁଳସୀ  ଦୁଇପତ୍ର ରୁ ବାସେ), how true. I knew he was an IAS material then. A brilliant orator, football player, naughty, very good at studies, a class monitor and an all-rounder. Students coming from the famous guru training school (GTS) of Baripada town and government municipality school were always in loggerheads. Monilal father was the headmaster. He passed out from Municipality school, me from (GTS). Once he called me to play football with him on the playground near to his house. From a close range he hit me in my abdomen, which made me cry with pain. That was the end of football for me but became a cricket player instead. Monilal used to bring a flexible cane for the class teacher to beat-up students who could not answer to his quiz. We parted our ways when my father got transferred to Paralakhemundi.

                                                          Later on I came to know that he has become an IFS officer and posted in different countries. Once he called me from Bangladesh but we never met again during our professional life. In the meanwhile he became a relative of mine through my wife’s family tree. He was a 1970 batch Indian Foreign Service Officer. Few years back he breathed his last at Delhi.

                                                                                          Whatever we may say or envy those students who became IAS, IFS and IPS was class apart from others in those days. There is a hell of a difference between the IAS-IPS-IFS non digital India and present generation .Once I had an IPS malaria patient in the cabin block of IGH.I was nervous, but started talking with my VIP patient in English to which he said can’t understand a thing, speak in Hindi. After the round my staff nurse who accompanied me said—“reservation quota.”

Transferable jobs of parents were good for the overall development of children. But nowadays Wife and children are not willing to move away from their comfort zone to places like Bhadrak,Bhabanipatna and Parlakhemundi. They have not seen the other districts of Odisha, not to speak of the culture. Many of the last generation of famous personalities of Odisha, has spent their school or college or service period in different places of Odisha.That helped them to became famous writers, teachers, singers, actors, players and administrators in later part of their life.

Monilal was exceptionally brilliant.Monilal it gives me lots of pain not to have met you in later part of our life. May your soul rest in peace.

Sanjoy Kumar Satpathy