He is arguably the one and the only one icon from a state which lacks notable personalities of stature at national level. A strapping 6 feeter with a towering figure, a well known personality from a lesser known state inhabited by mostly short height folks and a rare visionary from a state filled with short sighted leaders, he was unique of his kind.
Many legends associated with this man Bijayananda Patnaik, popularly known as Biju Patnaik, who was born exactly 108 years ago are quite well known. Some of them are true, some are exaggerated folk lores, more like devotional lies attributed to celebrities. Some deliberately created for political purposes to add an aura of enigma around his personality.
But his achievements were unheard of and unparalleled by any Odia of the time, i.e., flying airlines, both military and commercial, participating in bold air rescue missions and long bicycle rides for more than thousand miles on fair weather roads meandering through dense forests infested with wild animals on unfavorable terrains.
What is not known, that our legendary, maverick son of Odisha is half Odia. His mother was Bengali. He was fascinated by the famous Emperor Kharavela, another legend from Kalinga (as Odisha was known then) from 1st century AD who conquered the powerful Kingdom of Magadha (now in modern Bihar). A few months before his death, when the well known writer Manoj Das mentioned to Biju that Kharavela became a reclusive and spent his last days in a cave, he responded - "Is that so ? I never knew about that". Biju profusely thanked Sri Manoj Das for this piece of trivia about the famous Emperor whom he idolized (mentioned by Manoj Das in one of his columns).
An industrialist himself and a staunch believer in modern education, science and technology he hated the established superstitions and religious dogmas. Truly secular, he died he refused to partner with BJP, a party he felt uncomfortable with for its religious views. He is credited for establishing the Rourkela Steel plant, Paradip Port, and both my Alma Maters D M School and REC (now NIT), Rourkela during his first tenure as CM. I thank him for these two institutes which immensely shaped my thoughts, life and career.
A maverick figure and a straight shooter, his frequent utterances laced with dry humor often landed him in trouble, but suited him, enhancing his image as the aggressive KALINGA SANDHA (The Bull of Odisha). He never belied that image, often behaving as a reckless Bull in the China Shop with matching reckless oratory. In 1992 about half a dozen devotees died during a stampede in the Puri's Jagannath temple. As the Chief Minister of the state he said - "Whoever died inside the temple went to Heaven. If I were one of the victims, I would have gone to heaven too". (It is believed that whoever dies inside the Puri Jagannath temple gets a straight ticket to heaven. Many considered his statement as tasteless. But his popularity never ever ebbed.
His height added to the aura and myth surrounding him in a state where short height is the norm, being a 6 feeter is an exception. Biju Patnaik had a huge fan following among Puri PANDAS (Priests) who were awed by his height and straight walk. I once heard one of them saying - "AMA 5 HATHIA BIJU PATNAIK 22 PAHANCHA GOTE NISWASA RE CHADHI GALAA" - "Biju Patnaik, our 5 hands long guy climbed the 22 steps of the famous Jagannath temple in Puri in one breath, (PANCHA HATHA or 5 hands is equivalent to 6 feet. One Hand is the length from the elbow to the finger tips is little more than a feet. So a five hands = 6 feet Approximately).
But in spite of all his efforts by our Bull the state of Odisha stayed poor as ever, its economy hardly Bullish, even during his highly forgettable second coming as Chief Minister in the 1990s. He was married to a Punjabi lady who mostly lived in Delhi and preferred to come to Odisha only during the state's salubrious weather in winter. Biju referred to her as my "Winter Wife".
When a stampede in the famous Puri Jagannath temple killed as many as half a dozen in 1993 during his second tenure as CM, he was dismissive of the incident - "Those who died went to Heaven, if I had died inside the temple I could have ascended heaven too" (Dying inside the famous Jagannath temple is considered as a blessing, a sure shot one way ticket to heaven). Many found his remarks tasteless, though it hardly ever dented his image.
No wonder when he passed away in 1997, more than a million congregated in Puri to bid him adieu, including the Who's and Who's of the contemporary political spectrum, from as wide as Communists on the left to BJP on the right. Many were amazed by the spontaneous grief and respect shown to the tall leader, an apt farewell to the man who carved his niche, and unparalleled feat in the history of Odisha.
The sight of the thronging crowd probably prompted his son Naveen Patnaik to carry his father's baton in a state he rarely visited before and now rarely leaves. Khushwant Singh who once described Biju as a dashing married man eligible for extra marital affairs (per him Biju flew the wife of his friend named Sheela who was living next door in Sardar's flat in London for a weekend in Paris). The ebullient Sardar ascribed the legend's son as the effete looking Patnaik - hard to believe he is Biju Patnaik's son. They say the Bullish Biju had the vision to take the Odias to the next level, his son has brought himself to the level of Odias.
When a stampede in the famous Puri Jagannath temple killed as many as half a dozen in 1993 during his second tenure as CM, he was dismissive of the incident - "Those who died went to Heaven, if I had died inside the temple I could have ascended heaven too" (Dying inside the famous Jagannath temple is considered as a blessing, a sure shot one way ticket to heaven). Many found his remarks tasteless, though it hardly ever dented his image.
No wonder when he passed away in 1997, more than a million congregated in Puri to bid him adieu, including the Who's and Who's of the contemporary political spectrum, from as wide as Communists on the left to BJP on the right. Many were amazed by the spontaneous grief and respect shown to the tall leader, an apt farewell to the man who carved his niche, and unparalleled feat in the history of Odisha.
The sight of the thronging crowd probably prompted his son Naveen Patnaik to carry his father's baton in a state he rarely visited before and now rarely leaves. Khushwant Singh who once described Biju as a dashing married man eligible for extra marital affairs (per him Biju flew the wife of his friend named Sheela who was living next door in Sardar's flat in London for a weekend in Paris). The ebullient Sardar ascribed the legend's son as the effete looking Patnaik - hard to believe he is Biju Patnaik's son. They say the Bullish Biju had the vision to take the Odias to the next level, his son has brought himself to the level of Odias.
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