In a rare moment in his 18 years in power, Odisha chief minister addressed a gathering of eminent people, mostly Odia’s, in Mumbai on Friday as part of a event organised to popularize the book “The Tall Man”, a tribute to his legendary father Biju Patnaik.

The book had been released earlier last week at Bhubaneswar by Mr Pranab Mukherjee, H D Deve Gowda, L K Advani and Sitram Yechury. on Friday the Biju Patnaik Birth Centenary committee organized a similar event at Mumbai with the likes of Hariprasad Chaourasia, Aroop Patnaik , Dr Ramakanta Panda, Subrat Bagchi and a host of others.

Addressing the gathering, CM Naveen Patnaik iterated that the proceeds of the book will be used for humanitarian causes. “Cutting across regions, ideologies and age groups, what brings us together this evening is the love and respect we have for Biju Babu” said the CM. “In my view Biju Babu is an idea in continuity, an idea of realizing the breadth of human aspirations, an idea of Odia self esteem, selfless service and empowerment,” he said.

An idea that was much ahead of his times – that will live forever and continue to inspire generations to come. Biju Babu transcends the ordinary boundaries of definition.” Director, Global HR & CEO, Carbon Black Business at Aditya Birla Group Dr. Santrupt B Misra in his speech briefly defined Biju Patnaik in six words as Swapna (Dream), Sahasa (Courage), Sankalpa (Determination), Sanjoga (Coincidence), Srusti (Creation) and Sarthaka (Success).

Recalling that Biju Babu was the classmate of his father, former Mumbai Police Commissioner Arup Patnaik said “In my college days when I was studying in Rajasthan, many people were not aware about Odisha. But when we took the name of Biju Patnaik, they recognized. He was a big name and synonymous with the identity of the state”.

Eminent Cardiovascular Thoracic Surgeon and MD of Asian Heart Institute Padma Bhusan Dr. Ramakanta Panda mentioned that “Biju Babu was a hero for us when we were in school and college days. He will continue to be a hero for the future generations”.

A nostalgic Indian classical flautist Padma Vibhusan Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia remembered his first encounter with Biju Patnaik when he was invited to perform at Biju Babu’s Kalinga Tubes Company. He opined that Biju was a great music lover and was an inspiration for many artists like him.