My father was a Government Servant. My father has been transferred from one place to another. He was last posted in Sambalpur and later he got transferred to Bhubaneswar in 1954.Thus we all could able to come to Bhubaneswar. I was born in 1949 and my father got a job in Secretariat which was located in Cuttack then. I was born in Cuttack and later we all shifted to Bhubaneswar. My father was having two other brothers while I was the only son of my father. I have two daughters and one Son. While my eldest Daughter is in India, other son and daughter are placed in Europe and USA.I got retired from my service in 2008 and since then I am into social service and other activities.
When we arrived in 1954 in Bhubaneswar, the city was only comprised of Units. There was no private residential colony. The foundation Stone of Bapuji Nagar was laid by the Then Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Neheru as first residential colony of the nation. We started to stay in Unit 6 in a type five quarter which was behind the present day Bhubaneswar Club. Even though most of the quarters lied vacant, yet, there existed a long working relationship and harmony among neighbors and people used to share a lot among them.
I started my academic career in unit-4. But by 1958, I completed Std-3. Then I shifted to Bapuji Nagar and continued my education in Unit-1. I completed class 8th from there and then I joined DM school and completed my schooling in 1968. Then I joined BJB college to complete my Pre-Professional Degree College. I wanted to do MBBS then but because of some reason, I couldn’t get enrolled. Hence, I opted to do my degree in engineering. I joined Burla Engineering College. But I could not gel well with the people and find it difficult to adjust to the localities. Hence, I left the course just after 6 months of joining and came back to Bhubaneswar to join College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology. It was having a tie up with American Farms. I completed my agricultural engineering in 1974 and then soon joined Govt depts..
In 1958,Bapuji Nagar was having only 5 houses. There was huge distance between houses. Till 1960, there was no electricity. The cost of land of Acre in Bapuji Nagar was 10,000/- . The size of the plot allotted to people was 1.5 Gunth which cost around 700 rupees. But this also appeared costly to many people in those times. People wanted to go back to their villages after completion of their career. But Mahatabji, the then Chief Minster of Odisha was very annoyed with this as Mr. Mahatab wanted to develop Bapujinagar, as the first residential colony of the country. Hence, he gave upto 50% discount to the people who wanted to leasehold the plot. With this declaration, many people came forward to buy the property in Bapuji Nagar and later settled. The land pieces to them were provided under 90 years lease agreement.
Housing Corporation used to provide home loan to people in those days. People used to take loan and complete the house in 4 phases. We were also offered a plot within Rs 500 in Sahid Nagar but my father denied to purchase, as it was close to the burial ground. The cost of Rs 500 in those days was not less than Rs. 50 lakhs now. People used to buy their entire household grocery and other items within Rs 100. Salary of the most of the people were limited to Rs 200 to Rs 300 rupees.
The areas around Bapuji Nagar in those times were critical during even. People don’t go out in evening alone and burglary happened regularly. Local people Snatched watches and money etc from community members. It was known as Golam Nagari because most of the people in Bhubaneswar belonged to Secretariat only.
Badgad was famous for Handa and Gunda at those times. Good quality large size Vessels were available at that period of times in Badgada. Cateering services were still not available and some people of Badagad were so rowdy that they used to create panic among people for apparently no good reason. Even women of that village were also tyrants.
Fellow feeling was very much present in Bhubaneswar. People were largely linked with each other and loved to share their feelings. But now IT jobs have ruined the relationships between people. Those who are earning lakhs of rupees per month due to IT jobs, are not giving respect and value to others’ around them. Everyone takes credit in earnings of their family members maintains distance from their community members.
From 1964 onwards Bhubaneswar started changing quickly. AICC congress conference was held in Bhubaneswar. Raj Mahal was earlier known as Capital Cabin.
Lingaraj temple was only centre of attraction. People used to visit Lingaraj even on foot. There was no other option. People used to travel from one place to another such as Bus stand to Secretariate by rickshaw. Austin car was available in Bhubaneswar. Raju Sahu the owner of the car no ORB-66 and this spoke wheeled Austin Martin car was used to take the soiled dishes for washing purpose. At that time also Harekrushna Mahatab who later retired from active politics by being the Governor of Bombay got a Mercedes car as gift from Mumbai govt. It was considered as a huge gift at that time. Mahatab used to drive this red colour car from Old town to Prajatantra Office daily. The other Mercedes at that times belonged to Rajendra Narayan SInghdeo of Bolangir district. Before the arrival of Amabssador, there was one land master car. Possession of car is also considered as huge achievements. The land master cost Rs 10000/- which is considered as a very hefty amount. The cost of one litre petrol was Rs 1.12 rupees.
Dr. Gadadhar Mohapatra was very soft spoken and very popular among people of Bhubaneswar. He used to come to visit patient by his black fiat car and charges Rs 5 rupees. He was very soft spoken. And often did not charge even the poorpeople. The present day BMC hospital was named as Gadadhar Hospital. He was very soft spoken and kept himself busy with patients till late evening.
Prawn cultivation was considered as a very affuluent business in those days. Few people from Bhubaneswar were engaged in prawn cultivation in Paradip and used to earn good amount of money. The cost of public transportation was very cheap. Even with Rs 1.25/- we could able to travel from Bhubaneswar to Cuttack in shared taxi. Bus used to take Rs. 0.50 paisa for covering same distance. A standard meal cost 1.25 paisa and Dosa Cost Rs0.30 paisa. Mutton cost Rs 5.00/- . The taste of the food was great. Within 1 anna people can have” Seo and Bundi” and that too from Capital Canteen. Rasagolla cost 2 Anna. People used to take a lot of pride when they go out side for lunch. Mango, Coconut, Brinjals were brought from villages whenever people visited the place.
We used to go to movie together with family. Roopa Mandira was very much a local movie hall. Kalpana and Rabi Talkies developed later on. We used to watch movies like Aan, Mera naam joker, Kashmir ki Kali, Anandi, Shree420 and many Shammi Kapoor starrer movies. Movies were not shown every day. But on certain days before than announcement was made. Many Bengali families were into many type of business. They used to buy houses in tourist places and thus earn from rents.
Bhubaneswar has grown like any thing in last few years. The city is fast growing but there is large scale detoriation of human value in the city. Fathers of the Son’s who are employed in IT sector are now taking a lot of pride in the children’s earning. They are not having good relationship with the community members and that is costing them dearly at times.
