Bhubaneswar: In an extremely tragic turn of events, Ajay Ketan Mohanty, editor of well-known Odia literary magazine Digbalaya, died after feeling unwell during a train journey.
He was 76.
Mohanty, who used to oversee the editing and publication of Digbalaya from his base in Bengaluru, had travelled to Shirdi two days ago with a couple of friends, short-story writer Kartik Swain and literary critic Khirod Behera.
While returning to Bengaluru by train, Mohanty experienced chest pain at around 10.30 am near Ballari railway station in Karnataka. He was rushed to a local hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
His mortal remains arrived in Bengaluru on Monday evening.
Mohanty had lost his wife Jayshree Mohanty five years ago. Since then, he had been living in Bengaluru with his son and daughter.
Besides editing Digbalaya since 2009, Mohanty was a prominent lyricist and poet. His collection of lyrical poems, titled ‘Bhinna Prema’ (Different Love), received considerable appreciation.
An album featuring his poetry was released at Bhubaneswar’s Jayadev Bhavan recently.
Mohanty had served as a senior executive at IMFA and Paradeep Phosphates Limited before retiring from active service. He also worked for a number of years as Director of Human Resources at Odisha Power Generation Corporation.
He was extremely sympathetic towards Odia newspapers and magazines, and consistently wished for their growth and development.
A gentle, humble and unassuming person, he won the affection and admiration of everyone who knew him.
With his demise, the world of Odia literature has lost a dedicated literary personality who devoted himself to the promotion and enrichment of literature.