Nandini Satpathy –the great statesman, leader, literary figure and the first woman chief minister of Orissa left for her heavenly abode on 4th August 2006 at Bhubaneswar.

She was born on 9th June 1931 at Cuttack. Her father Padmabhusan Kalindi Charan Panigrahi was an illustrious literary figure and her mother Ratnamani Devi was an affectionate, religious and pious person.

She had her schooling at Cuttack. Then Cuttack was the centre stage in our struggle for independence. During her childhood she was a student leader. She was daring, fearless, and straight forward.

She was a preacher of equality. She never tolerated indiscipline attitude and corruption. She had respect for elders and love for young ones. She was inclined to social service right from her early childhood. She was an eloquent speaker and motivated other by her firey speech. Simultaneously she had a creative bent of mind which had brought her unparalleled recognition and accolades in the field of literature. After Post Graduation in Oriya from Ravenshaw College her political accomplishments started taking shape. She was very fond of children.

In the year 1951 she tied her nuptial nut with Devendra Satpathy. She was blessed with two sons Nachiketa and Tathagat.  She was a great devotee of Sree Maa and Sri Aurobindo. She was very much liked by Srima and her blessings had always provided guidance in all her activities.

Her sincerity, honesty,  hard working nature and concern for oppressed ones brought her closer to Smt. Indira Gandhi who had tremendous faith on her ability. For the first time she became the member of Rajya Sabha during 1962-68. At the centre she was the Deputy Minister of Information and Broadcasting from 1966 to 1968. Again during her second tenure as Rajya Sabha member during 1968 to 1972 she was the Minister attached to the Prime Minister.

From 1972 onwards she was the torch bearer in Orissa politics. She became the first woman Chief Minister of Orissa in the year 1972 and continued upto 1974. Her land reforms were an epochmaking step. The development in the field of health and education was her prime concern. She was pioneer for spear heading women liberation movement in Orissa. She knew that high female literacy and unconditional freedom were the keys to all-around development of a nation. She was elected as Member of Orissa Legislative Assembly from 1974 to 1990 uninterruptedly.

Her literary accomplishments were equally unique. She has received Central Sahitya Akademi Award in translation. She had translated “Lajja” novel of Taslima Nasrin into Oriya.

I am fortunate that she was my elder grand mother (my grand mother’s elder sister). I had the opportunity to come into her close contact on several occasions. I still remember the warmth of her affection and strength of her blessings. She was always telling us to be fearless, truthful and straight forward. She will be remembered by one and all for times to come. I pay my heartfelt tribute of tears and earnestly seek the ceaseless fountain of her blessings.