Harihar Mahapatra was born in 1904,he is a poet and a member of the Sabuja Sahitya Samiti, was educated at Ravenshaw College and studied English for his M.A. He also studied Law, started his career as a lawyer and later became a Justice of the Patna High Court. He is now President of the Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi. His poems, ‘Ya yatri’ (Proceed, Oh traveller), ‘Bhagna bina’ (The broken lyre), ‘Aji go’ (Today, my dear),‘Mu’ (Myself), ‘Paichi’ (I have got it), ‘Phula sakhi’ (Flower darling) ‘Bhara nai kule’ (By the flooded river), noted for their simplicity and romantic sentiments, were placed in the anthology of Sabuja Kabita.
He was Chairman of the Sabuja Samiti and edited their hand-written magazines Abakasha and Sadhana(subsequently, Saktisadhana). He was a co-writer of the novel Basanti. He edited Yugabina (1933), the sole periodical of the Sabuja writers. This periodical brought a new epoch in Oriya short stories and essays. Harihara is a great organiser and is associated with the Prajatantra Prachara Samiti, the Kalabikasha Kendra and the Utkal Sahitya Samaja – three outstanding cultural institutions of odisha.
Odia Books By Harihar Mahapatra
Basanti
Yugabina
Poems
Ya Yatri
Bhagna Bina’
Aji Go
Mu
Paichi
Phula Sakhi
Bhara Nai Kule
Magazines
Abakasha
Sadhana
As an old man of 80+ I usually brood over past and search for my childhood memories. I leave outside Odisha – in Mysore/Bangalore and New York USA. But I am a proud ODIA.
Innumerable childhood memories come to mind. Suddenly Justice Harihar Mohapatra came to mind. In early childhood, we were living in Chandinichouk. My father Dr. Ramakant Misra, 2 maternal uncles Dr. Kamala Kanta Misra & Judge Barada Kanta Misra. Justice Harihar Mohapatra was my father’s contemporary and his home was in same locality. I as very young, before starting school, enjoyed his daughter’s wedding ceremony. His daughter married to Justice Ranganath Misra, who became the chief justice of Supreme Court of India. My eldest brother, who also reached higher position in judiciary, was a friend of Sri Harihar babu’s daughter. We very much enjoyed the wedding ceremony, as if part of that family. Our main attraction was the tasty food.
Nowadays, when some time in Cuttack and passing by Chandinichouk in auto rickshaw, Harihar babu’s home comes to mind and old thoughts dash through memories.