Deogarh: He is a police officer, a writer, an actor, an anchor, a director and a social activist – all rolled into one. Meet Tapan Kumar Nayak, the multi-talented personality who has donned all the hats successfully.
Born at Para village under Riamal block in Deogarh district, Tapan is presently posted at CID, Crime Branch office in Cuttack as sub-inspector.
He says his acting skills were first noticed when he was a student of Shendha High School. Thereafter, he kept on honing his acting, dancing and mimicry skills. The desire to do better in the entertainment field led him to join the Biju Patnaik Film and Television Institute in Cuttack. He did a diploma in ‘Acting’ from there.
Before joining the Police department, Tapan used to be a teacher at the Khirod Basini Kanyashram at Katada village in Angul district. After completing his Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed) from the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) in Angul, he started his career as a teacher. During this period, he also performed at many stage programmes as a mimicry artiste. For his extraordinary imitating skills of Odia and Hindi film actors, he became a ‘go-to’ person for guaranteed entertainment.
Besides performing in many operas, Tapan has also written plays and directed many of them. And watching him playing ‘Khanjani’ (a traditional percussion instrument found in Odisha and West Bengal) is a delight indeed. He plays it as if he was born to play the role.
Tapan has also lent his name to many social activities. Besides being the president of Angul-based human rights organisation ‘Think’, he is associated with National Human Rights and Anti-Corruption Bureau, Help India, Anti-Corruption Foundation of India, Bhagat Singh Yuvasena, Odisha and ‘Dukhasukha Ra Sathi’. This apart he has been appointed as an officer of National Crime Research Intelligence Bureau.
Tapan said he is happy for as he is able to divide his time between profession and passion, which proves to be a hard task for many.
PNN
