In the world of big names, curiously, true heroes tend to be anonymous. This substantiates the unrecognised contribution of Late Pandit Narayan Prasad Awasthi, a freedom fighter and philanthropist from Chhattisgarh, who had donated land of his five villages way back in 1949, for shaping up the first Ayurvedic College in Raipur, which was then part of erstwhile Madhya Pradesh. However, for Vimal Shukla and Sunaina Shukla, Awathis’s great-grandson and great-granddaughter-in-law, a true recognition of immortal contribution and sacrifice came to fruition just couple a of days ago. On May 28, 2023, precisely 74 years later, the elderly Shukla couple, got their much-awaited lifetime opportunity of performing the traditional rituals for installing a life-size brass statue of Late Pandit Narayan Prasad Awasthi in the premises of Government Ayurvedic College, in a very plain and low-profile ceremony. A handful of people including those closely associated with the Shukla couple and a few others, who immensely value the contribution of Late Pandit Narayan Prasad Awasthi for Chhattisgarh, attended the ceremony.

Quite strangely, it took nearly one year for the Shukla couple to complete all the formalities in ‘black and white’ for seeking formal permission from the State Administration for the installation of the brass statue at the college premises, even as they alone bore the entire finances over its making. “Somehow I feel a bit hurt at the blind eye turned by successive governments, ever since the state came into being. Even former Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh also happens to be an alumnus of Government Ayurvedic College, but my great grandfather remained a forgotten past and his name was visible only at the top of the college building porch. This clearly casts a dim light on the state’s successive governments who chose to forget a real hero,” said Vimal Shukla, the 55-year-old great-grandson of Awasthi, while talking to The Hitavada.

According to Awasthi, there used to be a time, when the same Ayurvedic College building also hosted its premises to the only Medical College during erstwhile Madhya Pradesh, until it got shifted to new premises in September 1963, which is now known as Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Medical College (Pt JNMMC). “I have no regrets and complaints from anyone, but installing the life-size brass statue of my great grandfather, is an effort to remind the immortal contribution he made to society and people of Chhattisgarh,” said Vimal Shukla. To a query, Shukla informed that it took over two months of meticulous artwork to design and craft the brass statue of hus great grandfather Late Pandit Narayan Prasad Awasthi, which measures 6.15 feet in height and weighs 325 kilograms. “My better half, Sunaina, deserves all the praise and credit, for this, right from initiating the paper formalities of statue installation till its making,” said a proud Shukla. Meanwhile, Suresh Mishra, Kanyakubj Brahman Samaj, Secretary, a close acquaintance of Awasthi’s great grand family, informed that it was Sunaina Vimal Shukla, who had to put in all her efforts for quite a long time for the installation of the statue as a token of respect and public inspiration. “Only after obtaining necessary permissions from the college management and administration, she took help from senior archaeologist Ashok Tiwari, who directed her to Kurud-based sculptor Chirayu Sinha for making of the brass statue, at their own expense. Finally, in a low-profile ceremony, the Shukla performed the traditional rituals of statue installation on May 28, which was attended by a select group of people,” he added.

Now the statue awaits its unveiling by the current college administration, but he has no specific dates to confirm about it. In the near future, the college administration will decide, when the statue of its building founder needs to be unveiled, added Mishra. Earlier on May 28, according to Mishra, the traditional ritual ceremony of statue installation was attended by Virendra Pandey, Arun Shukla, Mamta Shukla, Sudha Shukla, Sunayana Shukla, Dr Shri Shyam Awasthi, Anil Shukla, Girija Shankar Dixit, Ramkumar Shukla, Vinod Dixit, Prakash Awasthi, Rajjan Agnihotri, Sharad Shukla, Srikant Awasthi, Alok Tiwari, Pankaj Shukla, Rajesh Dixit, Saurabh Shukla, Vijay Shukla, Shiv Narayan Tiwari, Chirayu Sinha, B K Shukla, Ritesh Tiwari, and Yogesh Shukla.