Rajib Lochan Hota : Glimpses of his early life

Much prior to India’s independence i.e. on 23rd March 1935 Rajib Lochan Hota was born at Sarangarh of the then Madhya Pradesh, which now comes under the geographical periphery of  Chattisgarh. His father was working in the revenue department of Govt. of Odisha as a Patuary or Amin, whose basic job was to measure the land. It was in the year 1954 he had shifted to Barpali in Odisha which then happened to be a tiny village. A year prior to the constitution of Republic of India that was in the year 1955 Rajiv  took admission in Intermediate at Gangadhar Meher College, Sambalpur. Over there he studied just for a year and even before completion of second year he got the job as a Resettlement Inspector. His basic job was to resettle people who were displaced on the construction of Hirakud Dam. When his father  shifted to Kamgaon of Bheden block of Bargarh district he joined Lower Primary School in Class 1. While wearing a half pant everyday he was walking to school. In fact then people were not alert about the role of education. Habitants of the entire village happen to be illiterates except one or two families. Since his father was a literate person so had realised the value of education that will play in the life of his children. From there they shifted to Lupursinga. On reaching Class 4th at Remunda for the first time he was taught English alphabets. He attended Class 6th at Larambha. In the year 1947 months before India's Independence they shifted to Dhuma of Sambalpur district. Rajiv Hota recalls Celebrating India's Independence in their school on the very day of August 15th, 1947. All the children carried flowers to their school and their teacher stuffed them in a Tiranga the National Flag of India. Rajib and his young school mates seldom knew what their teachers were doing, but were jubilant because they got gaja(dry sweet stuff) when the tricolor  flag was hoisted. 

He recalls an incident of his childhood then when he was just eight years old and was a student of Class 3. One afternoon he had been to Mahanadi river to take a bath that was when there was a whirlwind on the riverbed. That young kid Rajib of short height may be three feet or so got submerged in the sand of the river upto his chest. That kid was fear struck and was helpless. He could not sought, because his mouth and nostrils were choked with the dry sand of the river. In the meanwhile a bull walked that was when Rajib caught hold of the tail of that beast without even fearing a bit. And that giant bull pulled out that kid from the depth of the sand.

It was in 1954 his father shifted to Barpali. From here Rajib went Sambalpur and joined Intermediate in Arts at Gangadhar Meher College, Sambalpur. Then GM College happened to be the premier Institute of higher education in the entire Western Odisha. He attended college while  boarded in the students hostel. On completion of 1st year of Intermediate he got a job with Govt. of Odisha as the Resettlement Inspector of Grade-II rank. He was  working at a handsome salary of 97(yes that was Ninety Seven) INR per month. That means on an average a day he was earning around 3 Rupees.  It is worth noting then 1 naya Paisa, 5 naya Paisa and 10 naya Paisa were in wide circulation. And carrying a One Rupee coin in the pocket happens to be a risky job. Indian Rupee has intrinsic value.

E.Kiran Mohan(The Blogger)

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