My father’s intention was to make me a doctor, so he told me to opt for Medical Science after school. I always had a
preference for Arts stream and I explained to him that Arts provided the right background to become a writer.He said, “..Even if you go to medical college, you can become a writer. Kuntala Kumar Sabat is a poet who is also a doctor. You will become the second Kuntala Kumari Sabat; so you should go for medicine.
preference for Arts stream and I explained to him that Arts provided the right background to become a writer.He said, “..Even if you go to medical college, you can become a writer. Kuntala Kumar Sabat is a poet who is also a doctor. You will become the second Kuntala Kumari Sabat; so you should go for medicine.
By that, you will come into contact with people and know their problems, their misery, the reality of life, and you will become a better writer..”. I got a seat, and joined the Cuttack Medical College, but I didn’t like the course or the atmosphere. Dead bodies, diseases, I was becoming increasingly sensitive to all I saw around me; I couldn’t sleep at night, so I left medical college and I did my Honors in Botany at Ravenshaw College. I never knew then that many years later I would rejoin my alma-mater as a member of the teaching fraternity.