# Mini Episode 003 - The Intrepid Life of Biju Patnaik

An episode of [Are You Quizzing Me?](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1663104901), 17 Jul 2023, 7:18.

Audio: https://anchor.fm/s/d7afa960/podcast/play/73289137/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2023-6-11%2F26c1ad81-3896-0de5-6ccf-b278bca24429.mp3

Vineeth delves into the fascinating life story of Biju Patnaik - pilot, hero, dardevil, politician. Listen to our main Episode 017 - Chess, Chairs & Coffee to listen to the question which links to this story. Tune in to find out! You can reach us at Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/areyouquizzingme/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/areyouquizzingme Email: areyouquizzingme@gmail.com

## Transcript

[0:01] Welcome to the third mini episode of Are You Quizzing Me.
[0:05] The subject of today's mini episode is the fascinating life
[0:09] of Biju Patnaik. Vijayananda Patnaik,
[0:12] affectionately called Biju Patnaik, was born in Katak in
[0:16] the state of Orissa, India on March 5th. 1916.
[0:21] He was half Udia and half Bengali.
[0:24] His mother Asha Latha Devi was a Bengali while his father Lakshmi
[0:27] Narayan was in Udhiya. In school, he was described as a
[0:31] terror often gained from mischief.
[0:34] In 1932, at the age of 16, he embarked on an adventurous
[0:38] journey on a bicycle and pedaled all the way from Katak to in
[0:42] Odisha to Peshawar in Pakistan, a distance of 4500 miles.
[0:47] He was accompanied by two of his friends, Amar and Brahmabar on a
[0:51] visit India mission, spreading the message of humanity.
[0:55] He loved sports and was an avid bridge player while starting in
[0:59] Ravenshaw College. At school he was known for his
[1:01] love of games, sport and adventures.
[1:04] He was the key player in his college football team that won
[1:06] the interschool championship for three years.
[1:09] When he was 18, he took to flying at the Delhi Flying Club
[1:13] and was soon grounded for a year after he crashed 6 planes doing
[1:17] low flying stunts on Tiger moths to quote.
[1:20] Show off to the girls. In 1913 he married Gyan with his
[1:24] eighty a Punjabi in a typically flamboyant ceremony.
[1:28] His marriage party arrived with a fleet of Tiger Mouth planes
[1:31] which flew information over the train which carried the young
[1:35] couple to their honeymoon. He flew with private airlines,
[1:38] but at the start of the Second World War he joined the Royal
[1:41] Indian Air Force. During the Second World War he
[1:44] performed some stirring. Feats and was.
[1:46] Shot down twice when Japan entered the war in 19. 41.
[1:51] He evacuated. British families from the
[1:52] advancing invaders in. Rangoon.
[1:55] He also dropped arms and supplies to Chinese troops,
[1:57] finding the Japanese and later to the Soviet army.
[2:01] Struggling against Hitler's onslaught near Stalingrad when
[2:05] he was 13, Biju had met and come under the spell of Mahatma
[2:08] Gandhi in the war. He sought to satisfy both of his
[2:11] strongly held beliefs, the need to defeat the access powers and
[2:15] to give India independence. While flying over Indian
[2:19] soldiers and the British command, he dropped bags of
[2:22] Gandhi's quit India leaflets to them.
[2:24] While on leave, he ferried independence leaders to secret
[2:27] meetings with their supporters. However, this didn't last long
[2:30] and in 1943 he was arrested and jailed until 1946.
[2:35] Meanwhile over in Indonesia. On August 17th, 1945, Indonesia
[2:40] first declared freedom from the Dutch after two centuries of
[2:43] colonization, with Ahmed Sukarno becoming the 1st President of
[2:46] the country and Prime Minister Sutan Sharia reforming its first
[2:50] independent government. The Dutch attempted to
[2:53] recolonize the country after the exit of the Japanese forces that
[2:56] had temporarily occupied Indonesia during World War 2.
[3:00] On October 1st, 1945, the Dutch government announced.
[3:03] That it would not negotiate with Sukarno over Indonesia's
[3:06] independence and the next day the Dutch government deployed
[3:09] its troops. Over the next few months, the
[3:12] Indonesian People's Army declared war against occupying
[3:15] British and Dutch troops. On July 21st 1947, Dutch forces
[3:21] started a police action, imprisoning several leaders in
[3:24] Java and Kalimantan. They retook Jakarta, pushing the
[3:27] Indonesian leaders like Prime Minister Sutan Sariyar and Vice
[3:31] President Mohammed Hatta to the Yoga Kartya region of Central
[3:34] Java. Shortly thereafter, Viju Patnaik
[3:37] receives. A phone.
[3:38] Call at the other end of the line is Jawar Lal Nehru, who in
[3:42] the month would become the 1st Prime Minister of Independent
[3:45] India, but at the time was putting the final touches to the
[3:48] transfer of power from the. British he.
[3:50] Had an extraordinary request to ask of Patnaik.
[3:54] Vyas Patnaik, who had in the past been involved in rescue
[3:56] operations in Dragoon to evacuate Indonesian Prime
[3:59] Minister Sutan Shariar and Vice President Mohammed Hatta from
[4:02] Jakarta. He acquiesced and soon leaving
[4:06] their infant son at home, Biju Patnaik and his wife Gyanvati.
[4:11] Yes, she was also a pilot. In fact, she was the first
[4:14] Indian woman to hold a pilot's license.
[4:17] They flew to Java, dodging the Dutch guns, entered Indonesian
[4:20] airspace and landed on an improvised airstrip near Jakarta
[4:24] using leftover fuel from abandoned Japanese military
[4:27] dumps. Patnaik took off with Sharia and
[4:29] Hata for a secret meeting with Nehru at Delhi, reaching India
[4:32] via Singapore on 24th July 1947. For this act of bravery, Patnaik
[4:37] was given honorary citizenship in Indonesia and awarded the
[4:40] Bhumiputra, the highest Indonesian award rarely granted
[4:43] to a foreigner. In 1995, when Indonesia was
[4:46] celebrating its 50th Independence Day, Biju Patnaik
[4:49] was awarded the highest national award, the Bintang Jassa Uttama.
[4:53] Going back to our stories soon afterwards, Patnaik took to the
[4:57] skies once again, flying Indian troops into Kashmir to fight
[5:00] Pathan guerrilla fighters from Pakistan's Northwest Frontier
[5:04] Province, who traded Kashmir and forcibly occupied 1/3 of the
[5:08] principality. He also carried out scores of
[5:11] civilians from Kashmir summer capital Srinagar, penniless
[5:15] after independence but not except about establishing an
[5:18] industrial empire which eventually comprised iron ore
[5:22] and manganese mines, steel and textile mills and an airline.
[5:27] He flourished and then one day sold it all and joined politics
[5:31] to become the chief minister of Orissa.
[5:33] In 1961, two years after becoming the chief minister, he
[5:36] resigned in response to the Kamraj plan.
[5:39] Which called for. Voluntary resignations.
[5:40] Of high. Level national and state
[5:42] officials in order. To devote their.
[5:43] Efforts to rebuilding the Congress Party at the.
[5:45] Grassroots Level Following. India's defeat, the border war
[5:49] with China, his unconventional ways and disdain for red tape
[5:53] had already led to a spate of corruption allegations and this
[5:56] resulted in this party getting wiped out in the 1967 elections.
[6:00] Six months later, however, he won the Rajnagar by election
[6:03] trouble continued to dog him. The General Congress Swathantra
[6:07] Party coalition set up an inquiry Commission against him.
[6:10] He was largely cleared, being indicted merely for some
[6:13] administrative improprieties. His honeymoon with the Congress,
[6:16] however, ended in 1969 and was inevitably provoked by a
[6:19] controversy. When Indira Gandhi?
[6:22] Whom? Biju called.
[6:23] Indu objected to his giving a Rajya Sabha ticket to his tribal
[6:26] minister T Sangma. He typically ignored her and
[6:30] quit the party. He then formed the Utkal
[6:32] Congress, which merged the Injanta Party in 1977.
[6:36] After enjoying a stint of power in Orissa jointly with the
[6:39] Swatantra Party during the Emergency, he joined hands with
[6:42] the Socialist and was jailed. Later, when the Janta Party came
[6:46] to power, he became the Union Steel and Mines minister, but
[6:50] the maverick and him remained alive.
[6:51] He openly supported Sanjay Gandhi's Maruti project.
[6:56] Later, when the Janta Party split, he went along with Charan
[6:58] Singh, joined forces with Karpuri Thakur and finally with
[7:01] the Janta Delta return in 1990 as Chief minister, a post he
[7:05] served until 1995. When he died, his coffin was
[7:09] wrapped in the national flags of three countries, India, Russia
[7:13] and Indonesia. A very unique honor for a very
[7:17] unique man.

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