The ultimate truth ‘Jatasya hi dhruvo mrutyu’ — anybody born has to die — does not prevent us from being sad. The feeling of the physical absence of someone close to us makes us melancholic. My mother could not have lived long, but I never expected her to die so soon. The void in my life would remain for the rest of my life. Some people find their places in the pages of history because of their pedigree, but some create history. Some people fade into oblivion, whereas some continue to live in others hearts. My mother Nilimarani Samanta belonged to the second category, for she would be there in the hearts of the villagers of Kalarabanka and Manpur panchayat, which entered into the annals of history because of her.
She was the most beautiful woman I ever saw, but her beauty was not her exterior appearance but her beauty was in her heart, which was bleeding for the village and for everyone living there in poverty. She was not rich, but her death made village Kalarabank and the entire Manpur panchayat poor. She never desired for a comfortable life, but she wanted the villagers to have all the comfort. She was not educated, but she wanted schools to be established in her village, so that every child could get education. She remains an enigma for me. I still fail to understand the source of her strength that made her think beyond her family, which was pushed to the brink of poverty due to the untimely death of her husband. Perhaps, she was the sibyl receiving instructions from the God.
Despite being born to wealthy parents, Nilimarani married a relatively poor Anandi Charan Samanta, a small-time steel plant worker. He kept his wife in every possible comfort. Unfortunately, the happiness was cut short by a fatal train accident that killed him. Left with a meagre savings and compensation from the company, Nilimarani was forced to face the world alone. Life could have scared any young window at the age of 40 with seven children, but not Nilimarani. She was a fighter and she decided to do everything possible to help her children succeed. She died in peace seeing all her children well placed in the society. My sister Iti and I have been entrusted with the responsibility to take her legacy forward.
Like every mother, she wanted her children to grow in comfort. She knew her limitations and she fought it out to make ends meet. She dared to step out of her home to be a domestic help without any inhibitions. She was born to fight to give her children a decent life. I was her constant companion. She made me realise the difficulties of life, the struggle of each child in the village in absence of basic needs. I spent most part of my life in the same dilapidated house and today I realise how useful that time was for me to be with my mother, learning from her how to deal with hapless situation with hope and how to dream of a future staying in the darkness of the present. Her teachings instilled the courage in me to realise the dream of establishing KIIT & KISS with just Rs 5,000 in hand.
After KIIT & KISS, my mother urged me to remember my childhood and develop the village. The face of Kalarabanka changed — from school to Wi-Fi connectivity. The governor, late Rameswar Thakur, inaugurated and declared Kalarabanka a model village in 2006. His advice to develop the entire panchayat as a model one had tacit support of my mother. My mother’s blessings made all the five villages of Manpur panchayat proud units of a model panchayat.
Despite being instrumental in changing the face of the entire panchayat, she never asked anything for her own comfort. The same old thatched house is a testimony to her simplicity and her struggle. She never ever wanted another house for her or for any one of us. Anyone in her place could have asked for a better accommodation, but she did not. We had no land of our own and we always bought rice. She faced every adversity in her life, but believed in effective altruism. Her each action was morally right as the consequences of that action were for everyone.
She always lived for others and I am fortunate that she loved me so much. Whatever my mother wanted, I tried to do. But she has left me poor again. I can no longer cling to her, nor I can cry putting my head on her lap and have her hands to comfort me. I lost my father at the age of four and I grew up with my mother. With her demise, I have become an orphan. All I am, I owe to my mother. I attribute my success in my life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her.
I know, there never was a time when God did not exist, Na tv evaham jatu nasam but for me there never was a time when you did not exist.
The author is the Founder of KIIT & KISS
