Sukanta Rout

I grew up in a village surrounded by forests, farmlands and rolling hills on all sides. My father was headmaster of village middle school where I studied till seventh class. My mother was a home maker who cared more about our education. I have two younger sisters and a younger brother. We had a large joint family consisting of uncles, aunts, a grandfather, a grandmother. My grandfather was a freedom fighter who had courted jail for sake of our country and who had later declined the offer of pension saying, “Should I take remuneration for whatever I have done for my country?" He always taught us Gandhi’s philosophy. My grandmother had immense wealth of thrilling stories, cautiously tying them in a knot in the hem of her sari that she untied only when we insisted. Bears from forest nearby, came visiting to our back yard at night. We had a great fun in chasing those away with my friends. Spinning with arms out on our yard away in those childhood days was another exciting chore that I pine for, now. Could I replay it! Yes, I replay it in a subtle way, but the look and texture has changed beyond recognition. Yes, indeed, I could have as much thrill from penning and producing plays…a thrill that’s sweet and solemn, that feels like very fulfilling, innocent and pure like the giddiness a child senses while spinning around. I have never left my village for a long time except when I was doing my M.A in English in Ravenshaw College at Cuttack and that was only for two years and that was too punctuated with casual home-comings in Sundays and holidays. I still stay in my tiny little village and watch and enjoy the evening sun sinking down behind the hill sitting in the meadow at the edge of the forest in the evening while listening to a mirthful medley of the chatter of the birds flying to their nests, mooing of the cattle returning to their homes, and blowing of conch and banging of the bell from the shrine of village deity. These days, I ,daily, commute to my college ,a two hours away from my home, split by bus and bike, where I teach English language and literature . All the year round I conduct theatre workshops. Besides, I contribute articles as a freelance scribe to English dailies and journals and sub-edit a quarterly tabloid named "The Indus Valley Times". Whatever time I’m left with, after all these chores, I devote in writing my novel which I expect to come out soon.