Ramanath Mishra

Born: April 1, 1936. Shares his birthday with Orissa

Age: 75

Father of: Five daughters and a son

The feeling that Orissa was a separate state sunk in only after I turned 11 — the year India became Independent, also when I lost my father. In some ways the state’s destiny and mine ran parallel.

Our struggle to achieve something had just begun. As Orissa tried to progress, I tried to do something in life.

Family problems had forced me to return to my village Biranarasinghpur in Puri district. I still have a nervous feeling when I recall what kind of pain my mother went through to bring me and my two brothers up. It did not end there. I flunked my matriculation examination. It was a shame. I left my village and one of my relatives arranged a job for me in the forest department as a coupe guard. My job was to put stamps on trees labelling them as government ones. But later the post was abolished. Again I struggled to find a job. Sometime later I joined as assistant teacher in the Nuapada primary school near Redhakhol in Sambalpur.

At the age of 21, when the state held its second Assembly elections, I turned a new chapter in my life. I tied the knot with Manorama Mishra of Sri Ramachandrapur of Puri on February 17 of that year. At that time, I used to earn a salary of Rs 22 per month. I used to keep Rs 12 for myself and send Rs 10 to my mother.

Like any other human being, I wanted to earn a little more but honestly. I had switched over to a new job becoming a work sarkar under the civil works division with a posting in Pipili. My monthly salary jumped from Rs 22 to Rs 35. But again, the post was abolished. I moved to Titlagarh in Balangir and was appointed a primary teacher. Here I appeared for the matriculation examination and cleared it.

Later, I was posted as a lower division assistant in a sub-treasury in Bhawanipatna from where I moved to Bhubaneswar in 1963. My association with the new capital city slowly grew and over the years a new bond developed. I had never imagined Bhubaneswar would march ahead at such breakneck speed. In those days, there was only the Capital Hospital and a dispensary in the Old Town area.

It was a small place then fringed by a dense forest beyond the CRPF square. Animals had a safe passage. There was only Unit-I haat and some shops in the Old Town area. Then I moved to the directorate of treasury.

First, I rented a room at Rs 15 per month in Kapil Prasad. Though I had been offered valuable land in a prime locality of the city, I refrained from purchasing a plot. I neither had the money to buy a plot nor any intention to stay here as then I did not visualise Bhubaneswar growing into the kind of city it is today.

Along with the progress of the state, I also slowly progressed in my life. I became an OFS (Orissa Finance Service) officer. My last posting was as the accounts officer in the state Assembly. There I had the opportunity to meet a number of leaders between 1986 and 1994.

Every Utkal Divas on April 1, I used to take my son to watch the celebrations held in front of the state secretariat, the present Indira Gandhi Park. There used to be a lot of fireworks and it was a big event.

What upsets me is corruption in public life. Though I don’t take much interest in politics, I do sometimes wonder whether the contributions of Pandit Nilakantha Das, Acharaya Harihar, Harekrushna Mahatab, Nabakrushan Choudhury and Biju Patnaik have gone in vain.

One thing that I miss today is the kind of administration Biju Patnaik had given to the state and his love and concern for the common man. However, I am really happy the way Naveen Patnaik is taking action against corrupt IAS officers. I really miss the honesty and integrity of the government employees of my era.

The one regret I have is that I have lost much of my eyesight. I can’t enjoy the beauties of modern Bhubaneswar any more. I am living with my son who has built a small house in Bhimatangi.

Otherwise, at the age of 75, I am a self-content man and my state seems to be in the prime of its youth.

1936

George VI becomes monarch of England after his elder brother, King Edward VIII, abdicates the throne on December 11 because he wanted to marry divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson

John Maynard Keynes’ book The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money is published in the UK

Radium E. becomes the first radioactive element to be made synthetically

The first superhero to wear a skin-tight costume and mask, The Phantom, debuts in US newspapers

The 1936 Berlin Olympics opens and showcases the might of Nazi Germany. Marks first live television coverage of a sports event in history

Margaret Mitchell’s novel Gone With the Wind is first published

BBC launches world’s first regular high-definition television service

Province of Orissa carved out from Bihar following demands from Oriya-speaking people

2011

Colin Firth wins the best actor Oscar for his portrayal of King George VI in The King’s Speech, which bags the award for best film

Most parts of the world have recovered from the economic recession of 2008 and employment opportunities are being created

Extremely high levels of radioactivity detected in the seawater around the Fukushima nuclear plant following the Japan earthquake and tsunami

Move over skin-tight costume superheroes and make way for Harry Potter. After the awesome success of the books on the adventures of the boy wizard, the last movie to be made on the books is set for a July release

Over a billion viewers across the cricket-playing nations stay glued to television sets as the World Cup fever grips the subcontinent

Only Time Will Tell, the first part of Jeffrey Archer’s Clifton chronicles, released worldwide

TV goes 24/7 on your mobile handset

75 years on, Orissa remains among the most backward states in spite of its mineral riches and the IT boom in Bhubaneswar