Keonjhar

I was the first child to be born in the house that my father built in Keonjhar though I was the fourth child in a family of ten children! Thus the special attachment that I have with the house and the place cannot be explained in words. 

But I remember.... whenever I start changing the gears to third and then second as we climb up slowly on the ghats towards this house and town, my heartbeats a little faster and I breathe more deeply. I enter the almost pollution free zones of the mountains and experience an indescribable emotion. I left home long ago more than sixty years back but it is my resting place, I go back there like a child goes back to his mother’s arms at the end of the day.


Keonjhar is a land locked district with an area of 8240 Sq. Km. It is situated in the northern part of Orissa. The whole district of Keonjhar was a princely state before its merger with Orissa. As a sequel to the integration of the feudatory states with Orissa on 1st January, 1948, the erstwhile princely state of Keonjhar emerged as one of its districts with its head-quarters at Keonjhargarh.


As you approach the small dusty town you go through winding ghat roads. The tall teak forests that line these roads are awe inspiring. You can hear the sound of crickets, birds and occasional roars of some animals. If you stop for a bit at the side you can actually hear the sound of silence! It is just fantastic the feeling that you are all alone in this huge world! In the rainy season the huge leaves glisten in the rain and swish in the soft wind. If you peer over the edge of the road, the small streams that flow by remind you of the peace and tranquility that once encompassed this place.


This beautiful place used to be very cold when we were children. Now mining and deforestation has taken its toll and it is hot in summer. The green mountains; the teak forests; the numerous waterfalls are what I remember it with. This place forms the backdrop of my memories and has played an important role in shaping my personality. All the ten brothers and sisters are tall like the teak trees. Our parents were of average height what made all of us so tall? Along with the genes something of this place must have influenced our growth!