Sujeet Kishore Mohanty
             May 21, 1950 – January 22, 2017

By Vivek Pattanayak in Bhubaneswar, February 9, 2017 : Sujeet Kishore Mohanty – a bright Prabasi Oriya (NRO), passed away in sleep on January 22 last at New Jersey in USA. He was 66. Sujeet started his studies in the Stewart School, Cuttack and after his school he did Master’s Degree in the English language, and taught the subject in Ravenshaw College (now University) in the late seventies and early eighties. As a lecturer he was extremely popular with his students as he took extra-time to coach them subtle nuances of the literature and he was highly respected for his integrity and devotion to duty. His colleagues admired him for his versatility.

When he was a student he represented the college, university and the State in cricket. He was the sheet anchor of his team in Ranji Trophy tournament, and once badly injured while negotiating a bouncer from the Bengal fast bowler. He took to song and music from his student days. When in the late seventies and early eighties, “melody” became popular in Cuttack, he was a star attraction. He enthralled the Puja crowd with his excellent voice. The legendary Akshaya Mohanty had showered praises on him for his musical talent. Both of them jointly performed to the delight of the music lovers.

At the peak of his popularity in Cuttack, he decided to move to USA. He took to law. In no time he established himself as a lawyer of great eminence in the State of New Jersey. He was ranked very high among the lawyers of the Indian origin in the State. He acquired enviable reputation in the domain of constitutional, commercial, revenue, civil and criminal law.

While practicing law, he also pursued his interest in song and music. He was a very popular singer among the South Asians residing in the New Jersey region.

In addition to his professional and cultural attainments, he had made a name for himself as Non-Resident Indian willing to assist in promotion of the cause of India in America. He was closely associated with social activities in the neighbourhood. It is a pity that he did not come to attend the congregation of the non- residents Indians of Odisha origin, recently organized by the Odisha Forum in New Delhi where possibilities of participation of Prabasi Odias abroad in the resurgent Odisha, a land of opportunity, was being feverishly debated in presence of high dignitaries and possible investors.

I had known Sujeet since his school days and recognized his multifarious talent. I thought that it was a clear case of brain-drain when he opted to go to USA leaving his bright academic career endowed with talent to sing and play cricket. When I saw him in America as a prominent lawyer, I realized that a loss to India was a positive gain to USA, once the land of hope and aspiration, which has grown in stature as a great society with immigrants from different parts of the world from the rank of doctors, engineers, scientists to academicians, businessmen and lawyers.

Interestingly, he was the one who had taken me to the coastal tourism resort, Atlantic City during one of my visits to New Jersey to show me Taj Mahal, a realization of a novel idea of having a gambling den with the architecture of the famous Taj. Then, it was considered as a very successful venture of international tourism with all types of entertainment. It was set up by Donald Trump, described by him as an unusual and unpredictable maverick. Who knew then that Trump would be the President of America!

Sujeet was known for his great understanding of international relations and US diplomacy. I was with him when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. What would be the consequence of this we discussed. He was sure that USA would not allow Saddam to have dominance of the Middle East, the source of oil of America. Everybody thought that Saudi Arabia would be next target. His prediction was Bush, the senior would organize a coalition to protect Saudi Arabia. I saw in him as a future statesman of New Jersey of the Indian origin.

His spirit of adventure emanated from his father who had made a valiant attempt to set up a modern textile mill in Odisha. His elder brother Ranjit was an officer of the Indian Police Service and retired as DG level officer in West Bengal. He inspired him to take to new venture. His sister Ashoka is a recognized exponent of the Indian theosophy among the people of the Indian origin in Montreal.

His other brothers Muna and Nina were also cricketers and took up business as their profession. He is survived by his wife popularly known as Kitty, the eldest daughter of late Binod Mahapatra who was the Inspector General of Vigilance during the government led by late Nilamani Routray. She was a great cricket fan and always encouraged him to outshine others in every field he took. His daughters are lawyers and his son Rohan is a budding entrepreneur.

His untimely exit from the mundane world would leave a void among his close-knit family members, a wide circle of friends and well-wishers in India and America and a big number of clients. His passing away is a great loss to Odisha and India. May his noble soul rest in peace in Heaven.