The inmates of Mahanadi, Sutlej and Narmada house from 1990 onwards would definitely understand and relate themselves to Maathiya. Well I am not so naïve to point towards the Odia meaning of an earthen pot but I am going to shed light on a very legendary man who was termed as Maathiya.
I do not know how he was referred by a literary namesake for an earthen pot but few from the 1989-1996 batch of SSB would refer him by his real name, R C Mohapatra.
He was a National Volleyball Champion. And he joined that fateful year of 1990 to become the superintendent of 3 hostels namely Mahanadi, Sutlej and Narmada.
He was 5 feet 8 inches tall and resembled a hassled clerk.His consistent efforts to speak English and to study our minds had made him a laughing stock of the entire SSB fraternity. He stayed in Sutlej house with his wife and two children, a son and a daughter.
His constant policing also irritated us a lot and we were praying God to give us a chance to teach him a lesson. His counterpart of Gomati and Bramhaputra House named A Mishra was also under our radar but Maathiya had to be tackled quickly and swiftly. “A Mishra” or Haandi, yet another version of an earthen pot, was ignored for a while. Haandi will require a separate story dedicated to him and Haandi was overshadowed by Maathiya’s misdemeanours.
We were in class XIIth and he took a great deal of interest in knowing about our personal lives and went that extra mile in undermining our adventures and misadventures. We also had to bear his scathing remarks against us and his humourless sarcasms. The exams were knocking on our doors and the decibel level of Maathiya’s tantrums were rising to the hilt.
“Bahut ho gaya” said one of my friends ,K S Thakur. Kamlesh Singh Thakur was in a wrong place i,e SSB. He should have been in Politics or Underworld. God had given him those gifted looks that sent shivers down the spine of his contemporaries. Maathiya was also aware of Thakur’s charisma and his contacts in Bhubaneswar Politics. Maathiya was frightened of Thakur’s presence and often avoided him to play safe. But who could stop Thakur, the Captain of Bramhaputra house to plan an attack on Maathiya.
Initially we had thought that it would be a battle of words between them but Thakur despised such intelligent gestures and rather opted for the difficult ones i,e physical assaults. Well it was young blood in action with all it’s underlying josh and passion.
“Sau sunar kee to ek Lauhaar kee”, he would say. We never understood how he can silence Maathiya with just one blow. After all Maathiya also had good physique, after years of sweating it out in the volleyball courts. But Maathiya lacked Thakur’s zeal and enthusiasm as he was shouldered with responsibilities and Thakur didn’t have any or he thought he didn’t have any.
So on one night after the lights-out signal, Thakur got his chance. Four people had masterminded the operation. M R Rath, S Mohapatra, Thakur and Panigrahi. It was 02:00 am when even the nocturnal creatures had gone off to deep sleep that these 4 stalwarts were ready with at least hundred stones each. So more than 400 stones were waiting to be hit on the metal door of Maathiya at the back of his house.
So the big day had come and no one was worried of the consequences. The aftermath was not as horrific as the cause of the aftermath. The sound that was created by the simultaneous pelting of stones on a metal door was beyond anyone’s comprehension. The housemates of Mahanadi and Sutlej houses were horrified by the decibel levels and at first they thought that the school was bombed.
The activity went on for 15 minutes during which the door had become a shooting range. It was not identifiable and was shredded to pieces. Such was the force of the angry mob. But the happiness that was derived by the class XIIth guys from the activity was more close to beatitude.
Maathiya was no where to be seen. At 04 O’ clock he came out wearing a helmet and along his side was his protégé and his trusted lieutenant, Haandi. Both were on a searching spree. They targeted our rooms and found nothing. After all who could catch the seasoned professionals like Thakur and Rath. But the school took it very seriously and decided to punish all the class XIIth guys of Mahanadi, Bramhaputra and Narmada. However the move was withdrawn keeping in mind the exams and the effects of punishment on the results of the students which ultimately may hamper the name, fame and glory of the school.
But the damage had been done and Maathiya was silenced to a great extent. I still remember him bowing down his head in front of the class XIIth guys when he had to pass through our gatherings which he avoided thoroughly.
4 people turned into heroes overnight. Amongst all gossips and discussions, Stoning of Maathiya’s house was the core topic. The metal door was also changed swiftly to a more secured wooden door and a grill structure to protect it. The boundary of Maathiya was barricaded and guards were asked to patrol this part of the school.
Maathiya never bothered us after that .So the stoning of Maathiya’s house was...
....Music to the ears of the victimised lot.
I do not know how he was referred by a literary namesake for an earthen pot but few from the 1989-1996 batch of SSB would refer him by his real name, R C Mohapatra.
He was a National Volleyball Champion. And he joined that fateful year of 1990 to become the superintendent of 3 hostels namely Mahanadi, Sutlej and Narmada.
He was 5 feet 8 inches tall and resembled a hassled clerk.His consistent efforts to speak English and to study our minds had made him a laughing stock of the entire SSB fraternity. He stayed in Sutlej house with his wife and two children, a son and a daughter.
His constant policing also irritated us a lot and we were praying God to give us a chance to teach him a lesson. His counterpart of Gomati and Bramhaputra House named A Mishra was also under our radar but Maathiya had to be tackled quickly and swiftly. “A Mishra” or Haandi, yet another version of an earthen pot, was ignored for a while. Haandi will require a separate story dedicated to him and Haandi was overshadowed by Maathiya’s misdemeanours.
We were in class XIIth and he took a great deal of interest in knowing about our personal lives and went that extra mile in undermining our adventures and misadventures. We also had to bear his scathing remarks against us and his humourless sarcasms. The exams were knocking on our doors and the decibel level of Maathiya’s tantrums were rising to the hilt.
“Bahut ho gaya” said one of my friends ,K S Thakur. Kamlesh Singh Thakur was in a wrong place i,e SSB. He should have been in Politics or Underworld. God had given him those gifted looks that sent shivers down the spine of his contemporaries. Maathiya was also aware of Thakur’s charisma and his contacts in Bhubaneswar Politics. Maathiya was frightened of Thakur’s presence and often avoided him to play safe. But who could stop Thakur, the Captain of Bramhaputra house to plan an attack on Maathiya.
Initially we had thought that it would be a battle of words between them but Thakur despised such intelligent gestures and rather opted for the difficult ones i,e physical assaults. Well it was young blood in action with all it’s underlying josh and passion.
“Sau sunar kee to ek Lauhaar kee”, he would say. We never understood how he can silence Maathiya with just one blow. After all Maathiya also had good physique, after years of sweating it out in the volleyball courts. But Maathiya lacked Thakur’s zeal and enthusiasm as he was shouldered with responsibilities and Thakur didn’t have any or he thought he didn’t have any.
So on one night after the lights-out signal, Thakur got his chance. Four people had masterminded the operation. M R Rath, S Mohapatra, Thakur and Panigrahi. It was 02:00 am when even the nocturnal creatures had gone off to deep sleep that these 4 stalwarts were ready with at least hundred stones each. So more than 400 stones were waiting to be hit on the metal door of Maathiya at the back of his house.
So the big day had come and no one was worried of the consequences. The aftermath was not as horrific as the cause of the aftermath. The sound that was created by the simultaneous pelting of stones on a metal door was beyond anyone’s comprehension. The housemates of Mahanadi and Sutlej houses were horrified by the decibel levels and at first they thought that the school was bombed.
The activity went on for 15 minutes during which the door had become a shooting range. It was not identifiable and was shredded to pieces. Such was the force of the angry mob. But the happiness that was derived by the class XIIth guys from the activity was more close to beatitude.
Maathiya was no where to be seen. At 04 O’ clock he came out wearing a helmet and along his side was his protégé and his trusted lieutenant, Haandi. Both were on a searching spree. They targeted our rooms and found nothing. After all who could catch the seasoned professionals like Thakur and Rath. But the school took it very seriously and decided to punish all the class XIIth guys of Mahanadi, Bramhaputra and Narmada. However the move was withdrawn keeping in mind the exams and the effects of punishment on the results of the students which ultimately may hamper the name, fame and glory of the school.
But the damage had been done and Maathiya was silenced to a great extent. I still remember him bowing down his head in front of the class XIIth guys when he had to pass through our gatherings which he avoided thoroughly.
4 people turned into heroes overnight. Amongst all gossips and discussions, Stoning of Maathiya’s house was the core topic. The metal door was also changed swiftly to a more secured wooden door and a grill structure to protect it. The boundary of Maathiya was barricaded and guards were asked to patrol this part of the school.
Maathiya never bothered us after that .So the stoning of Maathiya’s house was...
....Music to the ears of the victimised lot.
He he that's something like real boarding school.Makes me nostalgic.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened to Handi?
Know what, find their whereabouts and send them this link . They will cry laughing.
Thanks dude, I got a clean chit here. I guess, I wasn't a part here. I can't recall the day perfectly, all that i remember is aahhhh, uhhhhh, unnnnn, aauu... I guess you know what i am talking about. lol....
ReplyDeleteI remember an incident with Mathiya.One fine night he was taking rollcall in our house.Few idiots were missing.So mathiya shouted..."where is they,u have any idea,where is they".
ReplyDeleteThere was a student named Dey,who came out & said,"sir,i am here."
Mathiya replied,"no.I am not talikng about you.All i am asking is where is they.."