Very sad to hear about the sad demise of Sulochana Patnaik (Sanu Mausi). She passed away mid day yesterday in Florida where she moved in the year 2021 after a long stint in Canada, Philadelphia, Maryland.
She has been very close to our family for a long time. In the year 1997, when I was a new comer to the United States she helped me settle down in Philadelphia. Sanu Mausi was the first person who discovered the flair in my writing. She was a School teacher in English subject and would on occasions during my childhood days give me assignments to write essays. She would throw random topics at me - marriage and other social occasions I attended, cricket matches I saw at the Barabati stadium, Cuttack and my annual summer vacation trips to our ancestral village near Puri. During the summer of 1978, I finished an assignment she gave me to translate from Odia to English. She was so impressed that she showed it to her school students as example.
She would tell my father - "Sir, Babloo (my nickname) writes lucid, captivating English. You should nurtur his writing skills". She used to bring me tons of books and magazines to read. I remember in the summer of 1979 as a 10 year old finishing Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar's Autobiography "Sunny Days". She was very impressed and suggested my father to switch me from my Odia medium school to the English medium D.M. School. There was an entrance examination followed by an interview to get admission to the coveted institution, arguably the best English medium school at that time. I made it. She immensely contributed to my knowledge in both English and Odia during my formative years, for which I will forever stay indebted.
Now a days when I as see compliments on my blogs, I remember her contributions in shaping my writing skills. I will still remember for the rest of my life. May she rest n peace. Om 🕉 Shanti !!!
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