If he wasn't born in Odisha exactly 176 years ago, in all probability we would be reading and speaking in Bengali today. He is our UTKALA GOURABA (The Pride of Odisha) Madhusudan Das, who along with the intelligent, witty, nationalist Fakir Mohan Senapati and the "Das duo" of Gopabandhu Das and Nilakantha Das saved Odia and Odisha from being completely swallowed by Bengali and Bengal. The undivided state of Bengal at that time extended from the present day Bangladesh to Bihar in the North and Odisha to its South.
Madhusudan Das, also popularly known as Madhu Babu and Madhu Barister (Lawyer) belonged to a well to do family of Cuttack. He was the first Odia to get a BA (Bachelor in Arts) degree, second to receive a degree in Law and probably the first Odia to visit England. The dynamic duo of Madhusudan and Fakir Mohan fought tooth and nail against powerful Bengali lobby which was deadly against the formation of an independent state of Odisha with Odia as its official language.
Dominating the power corridors of the two major cities of Cuttack and Puri (Bhubaneswar was a conglomerate of villages then) a powerful section of the Bengali elites succintly proclaimed - "ODIA EKTAA SWATANTRA BHASA NAYE" (Odia is not a language on its own), instantly pooh-poohed the idea of a separate state for the Odias. They were still well ensconced with this vague, ill conceived notion of Odia being a race without any language and identity of their own, hence not entitled to a have separate state. Soon a move was made to introduce Bengali syllabus into the school curriculum in Odisha ahead of Odia, the language of the natives.
When Madhu Barister proposed a new state of Odisha carved out of the Greater Bengal at the National Congress Conference held in Murshidabad, the Bengali dominated top brass present at the venue promptly vetoed against it. Disgusted, Madhu babu left Congress and started a front UTKALA SAMMILANI (Odisha Conference) to promote the goal towards a separate statehood for Odias.
He was instrumental in the creation of Odisha, a dream realized two years after his death at the ripe age of 87, a rare longevity those days. In his mission, Madhu Babu was ably assisted by couple of intellectuals from the younger generation - UTKALAMANI (The Jewel of Odisha) Gopabandhu Das and Pandit Nilakantha Das, both liberal, educated Brahmins with a progressive mindset from Suando and Sriramachandapur, the adjoining Sasan Brahmin villages of Puri.
Madhu Babu was the more educated and the dilligent one of the trio who used to address the public in a mode equivalent to today's Power point presentations - sharp and articulate, but lacking a storyteller's ability to arouse passion in the audience. Though a patriot and focused on his mission, being seen as an elitist from a ZAMINDARI (Feudal lord) background and not being a prolific public speaker he could barely connect with the commoners, unable to arouse interest and enthusiasm among the masses whose support he needed most.
That hiatus was bridged by the dynamic "Das duo" of Utkalamani Gopabandhu and Pandit Nilakanta who were young, charismatic with epic sense of humor, who could connect better with the commoners with their amazing oratory skills & convincing capability. With a background closer to the milieu they could feel the pulse of the masses and the masses could feel their voices. The duo successfully carried Madhu Babu's message to them.
Together they complemented each other, forming a formidable proposition and propelling their cause towards their common goal of a unique, separate state of Odisha, now appealing to the public from far flung places like Barhampur, Sambalpur who were now motivated enough to join the movement. Finally his dream was realized two years after his death in 1934 at the age of 87, as Madhu Babu died a happy man, foreseeing the formation of an independent Odisha which saw its birth on April 1, 1936 less than two year after his death.
Nilakantha Das in his autobiography has given a touching, vivid description of the final hours leading to the death of Utkal Gouraba Madhusudan Das. Couple of days before the Grand Old man's death he queried Braja Sundar Das, an eminent person of Cuttack who was taking care of him - "NILAKANTHA KAHIN" (Where is Nilakantha) ? Braja Babu took a horse driven carriage to manoeuvre fast inside the city of Cuttack (the city wasn't congested yet) and traced Nilakantha Das out of the house of one gentleman named Chandra Sekhar Mishra.
Nilakantha Das rushed to Madhu Babu's house and was saddened by his plight. The Grand Old Man was in his death bed, in a very painful state, unable to have bowel movement in spite of having the urge to do so. But being a man of courage and conviction, he gathered enough strength and uttered - "After my death I am going to pass on the baton to Nilakantha. He is going to be the savior of Odisha. All of you should cooperate with him". (Gopabandhu Das, the other charismatic of the Das duo died 7 years back in 1928).
"Don't worry. It won't be necessary. You are going to recover soon" - responsed all present inside the room in unison. "No. It is not going to happen. I am a dying man", said Madhu babu, as he could sense his imminent death. He covered his head with blanket and went to sleep. The next day Madhu babu said - "I am so glad Paralakhemundi (part of Gajapati district now) and Jeypur (Koraput) are now part of Odisha" before passing away moments later. To Nilakantha, it was akin to another shining star above the sky of Odisha grounded forever.
A message for the present generation Odias back home who take pride in preferring Hindi over Odia. Rremember - Gangadhar Meher, another Jewel of Odisha famously said -
"UTCHA HEBA PAI JADI KARA ASHA, UCHHA KARA AGE NIJA MATRUBHASA".
Roughly transliterated...
If you wish to rise high where you belong,
Then raise your own mother tongue.
Nothing wrong in learning ten different languages, but not at the cost of our own mother tongue. Madhu Babu who might be considered as an interloper by some was way ahead of his time. Happy 176th Birthday to Madhu Babu, the pride of Odisha.
NB : Though an Odia Nationalist who fought against dominance by Bengal, Madhu babu harbored no ill will towards Bengalis. He had adopted two Bengali girls, Sailabala Das and Sudhansubala Hazra.
Sailabala was an educationist who had trained from England and in whose name the famous Shailabala Women's College of Cuttack was founded. She was a Bengali, and her parents had left her in the care of Madhusudan Das and his wife Soudamini Devi at Calcutta.
Sudhansubala Hazra was also a Bengali and she was the first female lawyer of British India. Madhu babu was the house teacher of Ashutosh Mukherjee the former Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta University and Janakinath Bose, the father of our NETAJI (The Leader) Subash Chandra Bose at Ravenshaw College, Cuttack.
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