Banchhanidhi Kar Library
Banchhanidhi was fifth among five brothers born to Bidyadhar Kar and Kamala Kar in the year 1894. His parents were witness to the Great Orissa Famine of 1866 and lived all their life in poverty and misery. During the later part of the 19th century, Utkal, then a part of Bengal province was reeling under the after effects of famine. The peasantry in this part of the country was under deep distress. The mainland Orissa, comprising mostly of the Eastern region of the State was under direct rule of the British and the gadhjats under princely rule. Famine hit the Eastern part very badly, mostly due to the blockade in supply of foodgrains from other parts of the country. People were either dying, or migrating to other parts of the country. Banki in the present Cuttack district of Orissa also fell in the Eastern region and was directly hit by famine conditions. Although the major famine of 1866 is still remembered in various parts of Orissa as nankha durbhika, smaller famines continued in the later part of the 1800s entering into the early decades of the 20th century as well. The famed stories of good samaritans Gopabandhu Das, Fakirmohan Senapati are almost synonymous with the harbingers of social change in Orissa, and part of it is attributed to their efforts at bringing out information on Orissa famine deaths to the limelight.
It was during these testing times that Banchhanidhi Kar was born in a family of five brothers and two sisters to a peasant family in Banki (then a nondescript village) in Cuttack, Orissa.
Being poverty stricken, the family was barely making ends meet, and since Banchhanidhi was the youngest amongst seven siblings, was very reasonably the less looked after. He contributed to his family income by being the village cowherd. The little boy was barely four years old, when he started tending to the village cattle to support his elder brothers and father in running the family. Banchha had a desire to learn and study and do something meaningful in life. However, poor that the family was, he did not get the opportunity to enter formal schooling. And so, he continued to be the village cowherd.
By age 14, Banchha's family had found some ground in their village and economic conditions seemed to stabilise if not improve. It was during this time that Banchha expressed interest in studies to his eldest brother. His brother seeing his younger brother's suppressed desire for education immediately enrolled him into a government school.
Thus, Banchha enrolled into primary schooling at age 14. Such was his desire to learn and excel in studies, that within one year of his enrollment, the boy had educated himself to the extent of being promoted to class 3. By age 18, Banchhanidhi Kar turned into a matriculate. His elder brother could not believe the boy's success in education. So, he decided to let the boy study further. But there were no colleges in Banki back then. He took the decision of sending him to the nearest town, Cuttack. The famed Ravenshaw College stood mighty in all its glory and the family decided on sending Banchhanidhi to the college. However, the deal was that Banchhanidhi had to be up by 5 in the morning, and get into the bullock cart of vegetable vendors going towards Cuttack every morning, and after his return from Cuttack every evening, he has to educate the children of the vendors. The deal was struck and Banchhanidhi was admitted into college. The boy studied very hard, had one square meal a day and saved the rest of the money for higher education.
The cowherd boy cleared his graduate exams in the year 1920. His undying enthusiasm for higher studies, encouraged him to take up Law as an area of study. And thus, started his career in Law. The cowherd boy turned into an advocate in four years time. Another achievement during this time was his marriage to a young and illiterate Uttama Devi from neighbouring village.
For large part of the 1920s and 1930s, Banchhanidhi plunged into fighting cases for the downtrodden and deprived, participated in the struggle for freedom, and gave intellectual support to his friend Radhanath Ray, who by then had already made waves with Samaj, the Oriya newspaper. Banchhanidhi went on to practice in the Orissa High Court and continued fighting cases for his clients with a nominal fee at both the Orissa High Court and the Supreme Court of India.
Banchhanidhi was now a famous figure in not just Banki, but the whole of Orissa. Having gradually moved from being a cowherd to a famous lawyer in Orissa, Shri. Banchhanidhi Kar actively participated in furthering higher education for young people in Banki. He was actively involved in the establishment of Banki College, in Cuttack in the year 1961. For providing a helping hand in the establishment of the Institution, Banchhanidhi Kar, donated all his books, along with Rs 30 thousand, which he had saved from his meagre income from his profession, for the establishment of a library at the college. Later, the library came to be known as the Banchhanidhi Kar library. Banki College of Cuttack is today known as one of the fastest developing centres of learning. Banchhanidhi Kar library still functions from the college.
Banchhanidhi Kar. I feel proud to have traced the life and times of my great grandfather from the narratives of my grandparents. Banchhanidhi Kar was my great grandfather. May his memory live on.
P.S. The facts and figures are an approximate description from the narratives of my grandparents and parents. This is an attempt to begin research about an unsung hero during the period of freedom struggle in Orissa. This is just a beginning.
© honestlyours., all rights reserved
It was during these testing times that Banchhanidhi Kar was born in a family of five brothers and two sisters to a peasant family in Banki (then a nondescript village) in Cuttack, Orissa.
Being poverty stricken, the family was barely making ends meet, and since Banchhanidhi was the youngest amongst seven siblings, was very reasonably the less looked after. He contributed to his family income by being the village cowherd. The little boy was barely four years old, when he started tending to the village cattle to support his elder brothers and father in running the family. Banchha had a desire to learn and study and do something meaningful in life. However, poor that the family was, he did not get the opportunity to enter formal schooling. And so, he continued to be the village cowherd.
By age 14, Banchha's family had found some ground in their village and economic conditions seemed to stabilise if not improve. It was during this time that Banchha expressed interest in studies to his eldest brother. His brother seeing his younger brother's suppressed desire for education immediately enrolled him into a government school.
Thus, Banchha enrolled into primary schooling at age 14. Such was his desire to learn and excel in studies, that within one year of his enrollment, the boy had educated himself to the extent of being promoted to class 3. By age 18, Banchhanidhi Kar turned into a matriculate. His elder brother could not believe the boy's success in education. So, he decided to let the boy study further. But there were no colleges in Banki back then. He took the decision of sending him to the nearest town, Cuttack. The famed Ravenshaw College stood mighty in all its glory and the family decided on sending Banchhanidhi to the college. However, the deal was that Banchhanidhi had to be up by 5 in the morning, and get into the bullock cart of vegetable vendors going towards Cuttack every morning, and after his return from Cuttack every evening, he has to educate the children of the vendors. The deal was struck and Banchhanidhi was admitted into college. The boy studied very hard, had one square meal a day and saved the rest of the money for higher education.
The cowherd boy cleared his graduate exams in the year 1920. His undying enthusiasm for higher studies, encouraged him to take up Law as an area of study. And thus, started his career in Law. The cowherd boy turned into an advocate in four years time. Another achievement during this time was his marriage to a young and illiterate Uttama Devi from neighbouring village.
For large part of the 1920s and 1930s, Banchhanidhi plunged into fighting cases for the downtrodden and deprived, participated in the struggle for freedom, and gave intellectual support to his friend Radhanath Ray, who by then had already made waves with Samaj, the Oriya newspaper. Banchhanidhi went on to practice in the Orissa High Court and continued fighting cases for his clients with a nominal fee at both the Orissa High Court and the Supreme Court of India.
Banchhanidhi was now a famous figure in not just Banki, but the whole of Orissa. Having gradually moved from being a cowherd to a famous lawyer in Orissa, Shri. Banchhanidhi Kar actively participated in furthering higher education for young people in Banki. He was actively involved in the establishment of Banki College, in Cuttack in the year 1961. For providing a helping hand in the establishment of the Institution, Banchhanidhi Kar, donated all his books, along with Rs 30 thousand, which he had saved from his meagre income from his profession, for the establishment of a library at the college. Later, the library came to be known as the Banchhanidhi Kar library. Banki College of Cuttack is today known as one of the fastest developing centres of learning. Banchhanidhi Kar library still functions from the college.
Banchhanidhi Kar. I feel proud to have traced the life and times of my great grandfather from the narratives of my grandparents. Banchhanidhi Kar was my great grandfather. May his memory live on.
P.S. The facts and figures are an approximate description from the narratives of my grandparents and parents. This is an attempt to begin research about an unsung hero during the period of freedom struggle in Orissa. This is just a beginning.
© honestlyours., all rights reserved
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