Partha Sengupta, vice-president (raw materials), Tata Steel, offers floral tribute to PN Bose near Armoury Ground, Bistupur, on Sunday. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Amid the IPL euphoria and frenzy, Ranchi forgot a man whose contributions revolutionised Indian mining. His findings helped lay the foundation stone of Tata Steel in Jamshedpur and his conviction gave a new dimension to the conviction of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.

On geologist Pramatha Nath Bose’s 158th birth anniversary on Sunday, a resident of Shree Maa Apartment, ironically in PN Bose Compound in Lalpur, looked blankly when asked about the legend.

“Is jagah ke malik rahe honge, tabhi to unke naam par yahan ka naam rakha gaya hain. (He must have been the owner of this land. That is why this place has been named after him),” said the resident.

Good logic, wrong answer.

The compound is also home to many students studying in elite institutions like XISS, BIT-Mesra and St Xavier’s College. Around six students from different hostels were quizzed on their knowledge of this eminent geologist.

Their answers were as bizarre as — “He was a zamindar”, “He was a farmer.” The worst of all responses was: “Zaroor Ranchi ka hero raha hoga (He must have been a city hero).”

For all those who are googling after reading this, P.N. Bose was the discoverer of the rich iron-ore deposits around Gorumahisani Hills and he prompted J.N. Tata to set up Tata Iron and Steel Company (Tisco then, Tata Steel now) in Sakchi, Jamshedpur.

Born on May 12, 1855 in Bengal, Bose spent the last two decades of his life in Ranchi.

He settled down in Ranchi in 1908 to farm and write. He purchased 21 bighas in the capital in 1907 to built a large home, which is now popular as KC Roy Memorial Charitable Hospital. Bose breathed his last on April 27, 1934, in Ranchi and his last rites were performed on the banks of Subernarekha.

A few elderly residents, who still remembered the great man, rued people’s indifference towards commemorating the day.

“Uni to Tata-r potho prodorshok. (He showed the path to the Tatas),” said Shakti Choudhary, a resident of Anirvan Apartment of the same compound. “Kichhu loke jaane, moneo rakhe, kintu eta theek-i je onake mone rekhe ekhane kichhui kora hoyena. (Some people know and remember him, but it is true that nothing is done here to commemorate him),” he added.

“My vanity has been tickled by being described as their discoverer (Gorumahishani). Well, to compare small things with feat, I discovered them in the sense that Amerigo Vespucci is said to have discovered the continent, which he called after him. All that Amerigo and Columbus did was to bring it to the notice of the Europeans. The iron ores of Mayurbhanj had long been worked by the smelters of the state before I came upon them. All I did was to make them known to the industrial public,” a modest Bose had said.

Industrial India’s very own Amerigo Vespucci is now a forgotten figure.