School tribute to British citizen in love with rural Odisha

KENDRAPADA: Close friends and relatives of a British citizen recently established a school at Nanpur village in his memory after he was cremated in the village last year according to his last wish. Prafulla Mohanty, a native of the village and close friend of Derrick Moore, inaugurated an art and culture school on Derrick's first death anniversary this month.
"We built a school in the memory of the man who loved rural Odisha and dedicated his life for the uplift of the villagers of Nanpur.My village was his second home," said Mohanty.
Derrick, an ex-army man, was stationed in India during World War II. He worked as a lawyer in London and used to divide his time between his country and the Odisha village, 30 km from the district headquarter town. Derrick befriended Mohanty in London in 1964 and started visiting the village since, his love affair with Odisha growing by the year.
Mohanty went to England in 1960 with an architecture degree from Bombay. In 1964 he earned a diploma in town planning at Leeds. He held his first solo exhibition of paintings In London the same year, which is when he met Derrick, leading to a close friendship between the two.
"Derrick told me that he wished to die in Odisha and so I brought him to the village last year after he started to keep unwell. He died at a private nursing home in Bhubaneswar on February 15 at the age of 84. His body was cremated near our house in Nanpur where he used to spend his time," Mohanty said.
Mohanty came from London recently to open the school. "Children will learn arts, paintings and dances in this school. I also provided four computers to the school as many children are interested in learning computers. We spent about Rs 10 lakh to build the school," he said.
"Derrick was interested in promoting the art and culture of Odisha. The school is a great tribute to him," said Santosh Mohanty, a Nanpur resident.