The romantic tale of Biju and Gyan Patnaik

March 4, 2016

Flora

STATE

Not every time do we come across a romantic story as flamboyant as this one. Biju Patnaik, a charmer and his affectionate lady Gyan Patnaik have left behind a story of their lives which is incredible and classic.

Pic: www.orissalinks.com

It has been reported that Biju babu first noticed Gyanwati Sethi of Lahore, while she was playing a game of tennis. Thereafter, in a series of subsequent meetings, they drew closer to each other in the course of time. They eventually got married in 1939. The catch of their special event is the fact that their marriage party arrived with a fleet of Tiger Moth planes which flew in formation over the train that carried the young couple to their honeymoon.

Biju, an avid pilot with his wife-cum-co-pilot, Gyan battled through various challenges together and they were quite adventurous in their endeavors. It is reported that they left their 14-day old baby Naveen and flew to Indonesia together to rescue the Indonesian leaders in distress. Biju's concern was so strong that he kept Gyan quite away from all political ups and downs of Odisha and she was mostly found staying in their Aurangzeb Road residence in Delhi. Her visits to Odisha was mostly during winters and Biju often used to jest around by quoting Gyan as his 'winter wife'.