Rare are the people who resign from a cushy civil service job in government at a young age to start a life of their own, living by their wits. Rarer still are those who take publishing as a passion. Mahendra Misra of Bhubaneswar is one such rarity. Having crossed the 81st milestone of life today, he is still beaming with creative ideas, new avenues to explore and old gems of Odia heritage to retrieve and conserve for posterity. In a chequered life of four score and one so far, he has done remarkable work in the fields of not only literature, but also music, dance and films. His latest publication KONARKA, as much a treatise on the Sun Temple as a coffee table book, is being released on Saturday, June 13, at the Mahabodhi Society, Bhubaneswar by Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan — a tribute to one man who started the work exactly 100 years ago, Pt Krupasindhu Mishra of Pancha Sakha fame. Here are excerpts from an interview by Hariharan Balakrishnan.
How and why did you get into publishingIJ
I resigned from the OAS in 1965 after serving eight years since I thought an honest Government job was not enough to sustain my family. I did it without knowing exactly what I would do next. After many ideas, I decided to publish books and continue to do so.
When did you publish your first bookIJ What was itIJ
Almost 50 years ago. To be precise, it was in 1966. It was The law of Zamindari Abolition, a compendium of all Government circulars, rules and regulations as well as judgements of different courts on Record of Rights and other matters relating to that subject. It was written by Ramakanta Rath (now a famous poet, retired administrator and past President of the Odisha Sahitya Academy).
Who all bought that bookIJ
I think most of the practising lawyers bought it since it was the only authoritative reference book on the subject in Odisha of those days.
What was nextIJ
From then on, it was poetry, poetry and poetry.
WhyIJ
All leading publishers of the day published only textbooks. Eminent authors too concentrated on textbooks for students. Please remember that all the eminent leaders and litterateurs of Odisha were basically teachers. Teaching was one of the most respected professions then, and they also needed money besides respect. leading publishers published creative work only to oblige a few, but not as serious business. Poetry was hardly published. So, I decided to do something for Creative Odisha.
Have you not published any textbooksIJ
No, not even one (smiles). I am not a textbook publisher.
What spurs your decision to publish a bookIJ
I am choosy about the subject and the author. I am not a marketing man but value merit. So, in one particular year, I decided to publish four books every month and told people. And yes, I did publish 48 books. That was sometime in the 1990s.
What is your contribution to the heritage of OdishaIJ
Maybe negligible (smiles). But in 1972, I decided to reprint as many works of our predecessors as I can in my lifetime. Utkal Sahitya (1897) and Karmajogi Gourishankar by Mrutyunjay Rath are the ones that come to mind. I still have a few copies of those publications.
Who are the important writers whom you publishedIJ
Surendra Mohanty, Gurupasad Mohanty, Bhanuji Rao, Manoranjan Das and Ramakanta Rath are the names that come to mind foremost. Besides, there are many authors whose first publisher was my lark Books, and they made their name and got fame later.
Any important lesson learnt as a publisherIJ
Sometime in the 1970s, I went to the Frankfurt Book Fair. That’s when I learnt that copyrights are bought and sold. It is held on the first Wednesday of October every year. I urge every Indian book-publisher and booklover to visit it someday. A very satisfying experience for me was getting rights for publishing educational books designed by the UNICEF for the age group 6-14. The original publishers in English were McGraw Hill. I published the Basic Science Series of 16 booklets in Odia, Bengali and Tamil. These were printed in Singapore in 1981. I still have a few copies of these sets which teach children on subjects from air to atom.
Please tell us about the book KONARKA.
I retrieved the original of Pt Krupasindhu Mishra from his son in 1972. He had a copy of the 2nd Edition. Pt Krupasindhu started work on this book in 1915 and completed it in 1917. He was afflicted with filaria on one foot and yet travelled by foot, bicycle and bullock cart on hot sand. The Odia version was published in 1919 with finance from the Raja of Bamanda. I reprinted it, faithful to the text, immediately. Since then, four editions have come out, thanks to the interest of Odia readers.
But this book is very modern and contemporarily relevant! Please talk about the English version.
The translator is Sudhanshu Sekhar Rath, grandson of Pt Krupasindhu. He worked for six years in Hollywood as a sound technician and came back sometime in the late 1970s. He brought with him the latest equipment of the time and started the first private film studio in Odisha in 1980. But times have changed, the digital world took over; and he decided to devote his time to the heritage of our State. Besides translating his grandfather’s book into English, he and I went to every place mentioned in the original book, spoke to people and lived the life of those days a hundred years ago. The English version was vetted by Ramakanta Rath, who is the editor.
Any memorable recollections during the travels for the bookIJ
I was thrilled to see the native foundry where the gigantic iron beams were cast 800 years ago. What was the technology our ancestors usedIJ Some of those beams were stacked by the British after the fall of the main structure and can be seen even today. Not even one has rusted!
Any other experience or thrillIJ
I marvel at the enterprise and ingenuity of our ancestors of Odisha who could transport huge rocks weighing 20 tonnes through waterways. Many of these rocks which never reached Konark can still be found in villages en route those ways. And then, how did they lift the carved rocks to such heightsIJ Modern technologyIJ Engineers and architectsIJ (smiles)
Any remnant of the time when the Konarka Sun Temple was built that touched your heartIJ
I found a mound named after the Chief Engineer/Supervisor of the Project appointed by the King. His name is Sibai Samantray. Villagers around that mound claim to be members of the same “Parivar”. I don’t know. History happens. It is not written, or told.