Nadia Bihari Mohanty at his home in Cuttack. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 27: At 82, children’s author Nadia Bihari Mohanty could not have been more pleasantly surprised. Last Friday, the Sahitya Akademi in New Delhi announced that he would be given this year’s Bal Sahitya Puraskar.

Ever since, wishes have been pouring in for the Cuttack-based writer. Though happy with the accolade, Mohanty rues the present situation of children literature.

Fondly known as bada bhai (elder brother) because of his famous All India Radio series Sisu Sansar meant for children, Mohanty believes providence guided him to follow his creative aspirations. Mohanty was born in Kaupada village in Kendrapada.

He later came to Cuttack city as his father, an advocate, had settled at Tala Telanga Bazar there. He showed an inclination for writing and acting right from school days.

“My first tryst with writing was when I was studying in Class VIII of Ravenshaw Collegiate School. I tried writing something and since I personally loved reading and listening to humour, I used to write poems that made my friends laugh and enjoy,” says Mohanty. But since he was also inspired by the folk plays staged in his city, he always wanted to act too. He also acted in a few plays.

“Unfortunately, during the pre-Independence and early post-Independence days, the definition of a good boy was someone who would only focus on studies, get a good job and take care of his parents. Whoever pursued creative aspirations such as writing or drama or music was known as a natua or a good for nothing fellow. So there was no motivation for us to pursue our creative aspirations during childhood,” he said.

However he got his first chance to pursue writing seriously when he entered Ravenshaw College to study science. “I was studying first year when veteran writer Mohapatra Nilamani Sahoo was in the fourth year. I used to follow all his works closely and was his follower since I loved his writing. I also started writing poems,” Mohanty said.

By 1948, radio had reached Odisha. By then a law graduate, Mohanty was just beginning to look for jobs. In 1958, he got the job offer of a programme presenter with All India Radio, Cuttack.

“I was lucky to get a chance to present children’s programmes. I also kept contributing essays and articles as well as poems to magazines such as Mana Pabana or Hare Krushna Mahtab’s Meena Bazar. Mahtab and children’s writer Rama Krushna Nanda encouraged me to write more often. As producer of radio magazine Spoken Word, Kalindi Charan Panigrahi asked me to take up the character of bada bhai in Sisu Sansar along with a wonderful team of Binapani Mohanty, Nihar Nayak and others,” he said.

From essays, short stories and novels to poems, he has tried his hand in all genres of literature for children.

“I am immensely grateful to my child listeners who would call up at AIR and interact with me, share secrets, give me frank feedbacks about the programme. This gave me more matter for my books. Many children tell me they are inspired by me but honestly, I am inspired by children, their innocence and capabilities,” he said.