Madhusudan_Das

His Life and Achievements: 85
were that Government was in full sympathy with the Oriya people's
welfare movement and the Commissioner was asked to attend the
conference on behalf of the Government to give support to the
conference. The Commissioner felt his position very keenly and
withdrew the circular.
The great day arrived, great excitement prevailed. Three hundred
college boys were made volunteers by me. I organised this volunteer
movement and grouped them in different sections, we took no help
from Government. Even the duties of the police were undertaken by
these volunteers, who regulated the traffic also.
On the platform sat the Rajas and the Commissioner. In the
middle of the pandal a "durry" was spread and my father sat down
there with the scheduled caste people and the harijans. Everyone who
attended the conference had a special headgear Pink pagri which I
took great pride to make them in our house by the help of tailors.
Stirring speeches were made in Oriya. Everyone was pleased
with the function and a national feeling was developed. So this pandal
became the birthplace of Oriya nationalism, and it was a great success.
Some editors of leading Calcutta newspapers came to the conference
at my father's special invitation. They all paid compliments to my
father at the signal success of the conference. In other places the
speeches they said were all in English, which the masses could not
understand, whereas here even the least educated and the mass could
take a keen interest in the proceedings of the conference as all the
speeches were in Oriya. I moved a resolution on Female Education
which was supported by all. For the girls' school I said that many
of the Ranis and Rajas and other gentlemen of the town have assured
me that they would help me when the school started.
The Calcutta papers called the conference "a one man's show"
and congratulated the 'one man' for its signal success.
M.S.DAS IN LONDON
My father came to England in June 1907. to take me back to
India. He asked me whether I would stay in a hostel or take a house.
I said that I would like to have a house, do housekeeping and invite
my friends. We had a beautiful house at Southerland Avenue, engaged
half a dozen servants and a housekeeper. My father took his
Mohammadan servant with him, who could not talk English. When