Biju Patnaik was a great Indian and a prodigious Odia too. He dedicated his entire life to build an egalitarian and democratic India. His life was a saga of sacrifice and adventure. His ability to create confidence among the people of Odisha and inspire them was phenomenal. He had a remarkable capacity to transmit his cheerful strength to others. For that Julian Huxley, the great Zoologist of international fame and the brother of eminent world philosopher Aldous Huxley, speaking about Biju Patnaik, rightly said, A memorable Indian whose adventures will surly fill a book."   Bijubabu along with Dr Ram Manohor Lohia, Jaya Prakash Narayan, Aruna Asaf Ali and Achut Patwardhan kept the flag of 1942 Quit India movement flying after Gandhis arrest. Bijubabu was a young pilot then. He was courageous enough to make the supreme sacrifice by actively responding to the clarion call of Do or Die of Gandhi. He was arrested and put behind the bars along with other leaders.                          Bijubabu was born in Cuttack on March 5, 1916 in the lap of Ashalata Devi and Laxminarayan Pattnaik. Although his father Laxminarayan was in judicial service but he was a great nationalist and also a prominent leader of the Oriya movement. Bijubabu inherited the qualities of fearlessness, strongness and love of Odisha right from his parents. He had two brothers and one sister. He had his early education in Mission Primary School and Christ Collegiate School at Cuttack. In 1927 he was admitted in the famous Revenshaw Collegiate School where Netaji once was a student. He passed matriculation with first division and got admitted in science class of the famous Revenshaw College, Cuttack. In his student career, he was an accomplished sportsman and led the university teams to be champion in football, cricket, hockey and athletics for three consecutive years. He discontinued studies for a BSc degree to undergo training as a pilot at the Aeronautic Training Institute of India and Delhi Flying Club. In fact, as a child he was fascinated by aeroplanes and from his school days, he had decided to make his career in flying. He married Gyan in 1939.   He showed his penchant for the extraordinary at a very young age. Like his role model Napoleon, he seemed to have deleted the word impossible from his dictionary. When Japan entered the war in 1941, Bijubabu evacuated British families from the advancing invaders. He pioneered risky operations across the Himalayas to help the Chinese revolutionaries in Chiang Kai Sheks China. He once flew all the way to Stalingrad on yet another mission. The British Government particularly appreciated his efforts to evacuate British families from Rangoon when the Japanese invaded Myanmar during the World War-II.     In 1971 Bijubabu formed a State party in Odisha named Utkal Congress. He then did not look back and never joined the Congress till the end of his life. After the victory in Bangladesh war in 1971, Indira Gandhi was very ruthless in dealing with those in opposition parties. But in this crucial time,  Bijubabu and Rabi Ray agreed for the formation of a national alternative of all opposition parties at the Centre to save the country from the impending authoritarian rule of Indira. Bijubabu got active cooperation of two former Chief Ministers Harekrushna Mahatab and RN Singdeo in this regard. The net result of the effort was formation of Pragati Dal in Odisha consisting of Swatantra Party (RN Singdeo), Utkal Congress (Biju Patnaik) and Sanjukta Socialist Party (Rabi Ray). The lunching of the Dal was bound to catch the imagination of the people in the State.   Bijubabu is considered as a pioneer of the industrial growth of Odisha and established a string of industries on mission mode. He set up the Kalinga Tubes, the first modern textile mill at Choudwar, the first refrigerator factory at Jobra, Cuttack and a low shaft furnance at Barbil. He started his own airline, the Kaling Airways and in 1947 carried soldiers in to Kashmir, when he was threatened from across the newly created border sky. At great risk, he landed the first platoon of troops in Srinagar. In 1951 he established the Kaling Prize for the popularization of Science and entrusted the responsibility to the UNESCO. In the year 1946 when he was elected to the State Assembly, Biju strode Orissas political arena like a colossus for more than four decades. Whether in power or in the opposition, he was one of the most influential politicians of the country.   The resounding success in 1961 midterm poll established him as a superb party organiser and the brief period of his administrative stewardship built his image as a dynamic man who could electrify the people of the State with a sense of urgency and keep bureaucrats on their toes. Within that little span of time Bijubabu laid the blue print for Odishas development and the State was on the threshold of a new industrial revolution. He not only accelerated the process of development, but was able to locate a number of new industries in the State- the MIG factory at Sunabeda, Balimela Dam, Public Corporations, Panchayat Industries, Express Highway and a lot many. His ambitious projects, which he named as Decade of Destiny was meant to elevate the State to a new height.   Biju could not tolerate red-tapism. He would have a thing done immediately and not suffer any delay. The period between 1961 and 1967 is aptly described as the golden era in the history of education of the State. At Bijubabus initiative the Regional College of Education was set up at Bhubaneswar. The Regional Engineering College at Rourkela was established in 1961; the Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology was set up during the Chief Ministership of Biren Mitra when Bijubabu was the Chairman of the State Planning Board. Universities were established in Brahmapur and Sambalpur.    A long illustrious career came to an end on the April 17, 1997 when Bijubabu passed away in Delhi. In his death Odisha lost a greatest figure.   (Columnist & Editor, Margadarshi; (M) 6370675562)

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