"Remembering Prof Rabindra Nath Ojha": A Tribute on 7th Death Anniversary Special

"Remembering Prof Rabindra Nath Ojha": 

 A Tribute on 7th Death Anniversary (13th May 2017)

Remembering Prof R.N.Ojha

                             -Prof B.N.Chaubey

In July, 1964 I was admitted into 1st Year I.A., in the M.J.K. College Bettiah. When the new session started, I saw Prof. R.N.Ojha in the very first class of English. Previously I was carrying the impression that a college teacher must be dressed in suit and tie but when I saw Prof Ojha in traditional Indian dress, in Khadi Dhoti-Kurta, I felt instantaneous closeness to him as this kind of dress is most popular in our society, in our locality. In fact I saw the image of my father in him as my father is also clad in Dhoti-Kurta.

Image (C) Dr Ajay Kumar Ojha

When Prof Ojha started teaching in the classroom, I was not a little surprised to hear his voice in English as his Indian dress was, in no way, matching the foreign language he was speaking. Barring this sole anomaly or say discordance, his way of teaching impressed me very much because we felt no difficulty in understanding his lecture. what he was speaking was fully expressed through his facial and body language. His face and body while teaching was most expressive. What we could not understand through his words, we could understand through his body movements, through his gestures and postures. in a way his body and language complemented and supplemented each other to make his teaching thoroughly communicative to the students. His pronunciation was so clear that the spelling of the words become clearly known to us, letter by letter. One more specialty of Prof Ojha's  method of teaching was that he taught the lower classes with lower standard and the higher classes with higher standard. This I can safely vouch for on the basis of my own personal experiences.

Gradually I came closer and closer to him by his enchanting personality and inherent nobility. He has Gandhi-like vision and approach to the problems that come his way and has a native knack of solving them exactly in the Gandhian way.

When I was a student of M.J.K. College from 1964 to 1968, the number of students was hardly 500. So the student-teacher relation was quite intimate and cordial. We felt like members of one family, quite unlike today when the number of students has gone up to over two thousand.

Prof Ojha was very much popular among students due to his Indian dress, his smiling and energetic face, his method of teaching and also  his Bhojpurian temperament. He hails from  Bhojpur district of Bihar and normally speaks Bhojpuri in a typical Bhojpurian accent.

Prof. Ojha's personality attracted all the students of the college. His sweet voice, oceanic heart, blessing eyes, English punctuality and occasional volcanic protest against any kind of harassment or unfair treatment meted out to teachers or students by the college management made his personality quite special. He zealously and scrupulously guarded the interest of both teachers and students. There was hardly any lapse or relaxation on his part in this role. 

After getting my M.A. degree I became a teacher in Rajendra College Chapra in 1973. I used to come to Bettiah and meet Prof. R.N.Ojha. I came to know more about his character when Mrs. Indira Gandhi imposed Emergency, Prof. Ojhaopposed it vehemently. His views were clear here as elsewhere. The District Administration, sensing trouble put all kinds of pressure on him, gave him allurements, even threats but he stood his ground, resolutely stuck to his views - which ultimately resulted into his arrest under MISA  Act. Later, when he was released by the High Court, he was put under suspension. It was only after the Emergency that he was reinstated. This shows the metal of which he is made.

Later I was transferred to M.J.K. College where I had studied for four years and graduated. In the beginning I felt some difficulty as all the seniors were my teachers. I was junior most amongst  them. I also felt proud and pleased that I became a colleague of my own teachers. Here I became more close to my teachers. Prof. Ojha was one of my teachers from whom I learnt many things during my student days, particularly his innate simplicity. As a colleague I learnt that Prof. Ojha had gone Fast unto Death for teachers' cause. Endowed with the qualities of selfless, genuine leadership as he is, he did a lot for the betterment of college teachers in his capacity as  Secretary of College Teachers' Association. He also did a lot for the betterment of the institution he served so zealously.

Prof. Ojha's is a multi-dimensional personality. He is a powerful and quite well-known speaker and he composes poems in English, Hindi and Bhojpuri with equal ease and skill.

He is one of the most honoured and sought-after invitees to all sammelans and seminars organized at Bettiah. No literary, cultural programme is considered complete without his inspiring presence.

Considering his love for and contribution to Hindi, Prof. Ojha was nominated a member of Hindi Advisory Committee attached to the Ministry of Railways and then again to the Ministry of Law and Justice, Govt. of India.

Prof. Ojha is really a man who can be an ideal role-model for many young persons like me, and his unusual vision and missionary zeal will continue to guide and inspire younger generations for many-many years to come.

[Courtesy  "Viprah Bahudha Vadanti" Book]