My times in Orrisa

Vijay (mypajama.com) has written a wonderful article ‘On Being Oriya‘ exploring his identity on being a Oriya (People from the India state – Orrisa)! Oriya is actually pronounced ‘oDiya’

A good read .. written with a humourous as well as satiric tone Great job Vijay.

I happened to spend my formative years in the land of Orrisa. In Cuttack till 1st grade, and till 3rd grade in Bhubaneshwar. (I hope I got the spelling right!)

Just to summarise my thoughts (they are more than two decades old). I loved them and cherished them. I used to spead Oriya sometime then but have lost the tongue due to lack of practice. But can still understand the language 60%. We (my family) have a close friend who are from Orissa. And I also had a roomate in Berkeley who came from Orissa.

I love whatever I remember of! Guess I was very innocent then Their culture is cool. Architecture great. Some cities to see are Lord Jaggannath in Puri and the Sun Temple in Konnark. The Odissi Dance. Yes, I feel sad when the state keeps coming in the news every other time because of either a ‘Drought’ or ‘Flooding’. I hear from my room mate that corruption is rampant.

I plan to go on a photographic tour in the winter this year to Puri and Konark – I hope it materializes! I have lots more to add – but will leave you folks with some pictures from the past … when I was in Orissa