Joya Pati - a hero of our times

Her life was dedicated to protecting and promoting her father's legacy during the ongoing massacre and brutal genocide of by the Pakistani regime in 1971. Her mission was daunting. It was to continue the humanitarian work her father Rai Bahadur Ranada Prasad Shaha had envisioned and started through the most remarkable establishments including Kumudini Hospital, Bharateswari Homes at Mirzapur, Kumudini Women's Degree College at Tangail, Devendra College at Manikgonj- all concerns of Kumudini Welfare Trust in the early 20th century (1930's). 

Joya Pati was born on September 12, 1932 in Kolkata (Calcutta). She was the second of four children. Her early education was from a prestigious boarding School in Kalingpong. She graduated from London King's College in 1950 and joined Bharateswari Homes, a boarding School, as Principal in 1954 with a view to producing self reliant, viable in every situation, hard working women with dignity as dreamed by her father. In the 1950s students of Bharateswari Homes were well known for their spectacular calisthenics at Dhaka Stadium. They were not mere displays of perfectly coordinated routines – they were statements by young women as confident, capable and talented citizens of the country. 

1970 was the time period that paved the way to freedom. After a clarion call of our Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on March 7 and the declaration of the independence of Bangladesh on March 26 in 1971, the Liberation War began. Joya Pati came to see her ailing father in 1970 as she was living in London but could not go back because of the war. At that time R.P. Shaha recovered from his illness and resumed his humanitarian work. 

But on May 7, 1971, a black day for the Kumudini family and for the country that had declared its independence from an occupying force, R.P Shaha and his son Bhabani Prasad Shaha were abducted by Pakistan army and their collaborators. The days that followed were agonising for the family members and Joya tried everything she could think of to bring her father and brother back. 

She went door to door of the foreign embassies, Pakistan Army Head Quarters, government offices, the Red Cross, to find something, anything, regarding their whereabouts. Every effort was in vain. This changed Joya's personal life. She was the only member of the founder's family to take on the responsibility of running the huge operations of Kumudini Welfare Trust. She had to protect the Kumudini Hospital, Bharateswari Homes, Kumudini Women's Degree College in Mirzapur and Tangail. On the other hand, she had to look after the Trust's income generating sectors in Narayangonj to carry on the expenses of these institutions. This became a part of her daily work and often involved risking her life. Thus she had to take her father's charge as Managing Director of the Trust. It was her courage, determination and inner strength that saved the lives of hundreds of patients including injured freedom fighters, doctors, nurses and other workers at Kumudini Hospital and students, teachers and staff of the Bharateswari Homes. Without Joya Pati, their Chhot Di, perhaps many of these individuals would have perished or faced inhuman torture. 

After the country gained independence, Joya Pati took Kumudini Welfare Trust to a new level, channeling her inner grief of losing her beloved father and brother into upholding the humanitarian work following her father's dream, philosophy and doctrines. She initiated a new era in founding Kumudini Nursing School in Kumudini Hospital in 1973. In 1983, she founded Kumudini Handicraft by organising the war-affected and needy womenfolk of her country to help them out of their financial hardship. In 1984, she founded a Trade Training School for the underprivileged school dropouts so that they would eventually be skilled, efficient members of the workforce. Both of these institutions are in the Kumudini Narayangonj premises. Far sighted and practical, Joya Pati added Kumudini Pharma and Kumudini Garments to the Trust's income generating sector in Narayangonj to meet the growing needs of Kumudini Welfare Trust. 

Joya Pati was a successful warrior. She was someone who could bring the best from her associates. She was a very successful entrepreneur as well as a great mentor. It was she who looked after the founder's family with all the founder's virtues and values. As she delivered her noble duties, her husband Dr. Bishnu Pada Pati, elder sister, Bijoya Khan, sister-in-law, Srimati Shaha, brother-in-law, Barrister Showkat Ali Khan, language movement veteran Protiva Mutsuddy were always around her to help her with her mission. Her mother, Kiron Bala Shaha was only the core of inspiration, hope and courage in her tiring, hard and risky journey in those days. 

Joya Pati is an icon of inspiration for the men and women of this country. It was she who dedicated her life for the sake of the humanitarian works in the Kumudini family. She went on retirement giving charge of the Managing Director to her nephew Rajiv Prasad Shaha, grandson of R.P Shaha in 2000.

Joya Pati was not only the MD of Kumudini Welfare Trust; she was the legendary guardian of the Kumudini Family. She died on December 9, 2016 in a hospital in London leaving her family, friends, colleagues, employees and all those people who have been touched by her dedication and love for humanity, bereft and in shock. She was the living source of inspiration for the Kumudini family. May the Almighty be with them to shoulder the irreparable loss that they must now bear. May their Chhot Di, as they address her with affection, rest in eternal peace.

The writer is Vice-Principal, Bharateswari Homes,Mirzapur, Tangail.