PARK MEMORIES
One of my earliest memories about Gandhi Park dates back to probably summer of 1965. By then, I had just appeared upper primary fifth class annual examination. Those days we had to appear some sort of combined school examination for fifth and seventh class in which the answer papers were evaluated out of school teachers and some students used to fail in the examination to reappear again. Thus, it was a great relief after crossing the first huddle in the early life. The summer holiday was pretty long and on one of the evenings I visited Gandhi Park along with some of my street folks.
I remember the park was crowded, many other children from different streets were playing around. Radio broadcast was amplified in a public address system in the first floor of the structure in the middle of the park. I amidst street mates chased one another for a while in the specious varanda surrounding the radio house.
In our childhood we seldom visited other places to play as there was ample space in Bhimarao Peta. The locality was developed during 1930 adjacent to police quarters, military lines and vetenary hospital. It adopted perfect urban planning. An open space measuring a standard foot ball ground was surrounded by two rows of houses with inter connected roads. The children played in the open space in the evenings. There was a functional municipal reading room in the ground.
Tarachand Badjatia’s ‘Dosti’ was screened at S.S.V.T neighboring Gandhi Park during summer of 1965. I visited the movie alone collecting ticket money from my father. My first experience of solo movie going was Raj Kappor’s ‘Sangam’ during 1964 Dasahara at Utkal Cinema. One has to pass through the Gandhi Park to go to Utkal Cinema. Thus the road to the park became familiar to me before turning 11 years old.
Pradeep Mahapatra (25th August 2020)
To my knowledge I was in First Military lines till 1963. In 1964 we left 1st Military lines and settled in Khalasi street. From rented house to home. I read in City High School. However I happen to visit park only 1964/65 only. Toddlers with parents used to take little steps in and around the centre. Accompanying parents used to shout at children above 5years in the concrete area, we were driven to play in grass lands. Hide and seek was a perfect play I remember to have played.
ReplyDeleteEver since I enrolled in K.C.Town High School for my secondary education, I had been in touch with Gandhi Park and adjoining areas from 1982. Gandhi Park is located on an area ofabout half an acre open land, consists 190 feet long and 143 feet wide. At the time, the area was more open for us to sit in the park and relax in the open air. While our high school is 160 meters from the park, and the distance from the school to my home would be about a kilometer.
ReplyDeleteI remember spending most of our college age evenings on the bench on the banks of the Ramlingham tank in front of Gandhi Park, while the noon of adolescent age has have been spent in the park during high school.
Earlier to that, I have been seen the park side views while we were riding to the Old Thakurani temple sitting on the back carriage of my father's bicycle. Other than that, during regular vaccinations of my second younger sister while I along with my mother attend at the municipal dispensary of Park Street which is just behind the Gandhi Park.
Overall, I have been familiar with Gandhi Park and the adjoining areas since I was five years old. Park Sahi Road is the main road to our regular commute while in high school.
On my way to the High School, as soon as I saw the red plaster of the Communist Office building on Park Street, the 1980s political scene of the city, which my parents said, and had been direct stroked to my mind. When we were living in Phulbani, Berhampur's main rival was the two political party, which was under the then ruling party. Among them was the so-called City ‘Don’ Pratap Swain, which was being opposed by intellectuals involved in the active lawyer profession.
Continuously two or three weeks next a stranger's body is found floating in the Ramlingam Tank. At noon in the recesses period of the school, we would visit the crowds on the bank site and hurry to catch the spot sight of the corpse. And before started the remaining class, we used to come back and talk about it with classmates.
The 'Hippie' sub-culture, popular in the 1960s in the United States, spread across the Nepal border to the hinterland of India and remained in the streets of our Berhampur city until the ninth decade. Mind refreshing is seen to be a force to be reckoned with teenager. It was only during high school that I became acquainted with the ingredients of mind refreshment in the company of friends. I think this Gandhi Park has become a laboratory for us that could be functional with friends during lunch breaks in high school in the absence of family and street neighbors. When the television set was set up inside the park, I slowly realized that we had gone out of the park and sat on the benches on the edge of the Ramlingam tank and spent the evening.