MILAN BORA: A TRIBUTE

Everything about him was larger than life. Firm strides on pavements in Shillong, that smile on his face very much his alone, a child-like warm smile that made you smile in return. Shoulders forward, arms swinging in arcs that belong to people who are kings in their own right. And that greeting of his, a hail-fellow-well-mate tone, followed by a chuckle that added to his persona. A persona known as Milan Bora.

Born to Sadananda Bora and Nilima Bora in 1952 in Lakhimpur, Milan was my schoolmate, senior by five years, at St. Edmund's. I did not know him well then. It was only after he married my sister Shobha (aka Minu) in 1984 that I came to know him as a god-fearing, hardworking civil engineer who had graduated from Assam Engineering College and then joined the State Electricity Board.

From his more-than-a-decade-long stint as Executive Engineer of the Phase-3 Dam construction in Kyrdemkukai, Umiam to his postings as Principal Chief Engineer and later as Director, MSEB to that of Chief Technical Advisor, Energy to the Govt of Meghalaya, Milan proved his brilliance in whatever he did. He was honest, uncompromising, blunt.

Despite his commitment to his official works, Milan was a wonderful father to Tridib and Pooja. And, to Shobha a doting husband, a source of immense strength. Gifted with an innate sense of humour, he had the ability to connect easily with almost anyone he came across. Strangers who met him for the first time felt at home with him and relatives and friends sought out his company for the sheer bon homie that he instinctively shared. 300-plus words on a printed page cannot do justice by way of paying tribute to one like him on his addhyashraddha. But then he would probably have laughed it off. Each moment lived by him was his tribute to life, a praise conveyed perhaps without his own knowing, a homage paid to existence for the sheer wonderment it offered to him. They vied with one another: the man named Milan Bora and Life. Rest in peace, Milan. Your kind is rare.

Dhruba Hazarika

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