Happy Diwali 2025

 It is interesting to note that Halloween in the United States and Diwali, the Festival of Lights in India come around the same time in year. This year it's unique, for both Diwali and Halloween happen to be 10 days apart but there have been occasions they fall on the same day. Both occasions involve respecting the dead in their respective ways. However, there is a difference. Diwali indicates the culmination of the festival season in India, whereas Halloween is the harbinger of the festive season in America, with Thanksgiving, Christmas holidays to follow towards the end of November and December. Halloween is nvariably on October 31 every year as Westerners follow the Gregorian Calendar. The date of Diwali which follows the Hindu Lunar Calendar falls on a New Moon Day, comes very close its American counterpart of Halloween every year.

In Odisha we call it DEEPABALI, but the genX in the state has already switched to the more fancied, eye catching "Diwaali". Traditionally earthen lamps are lit and KAUNRI KATHI (a thin, white capillary stick which is empty inside) is burnt to wish salvation to the departed souls. The culture of incessant bursting of loud, noisy crackers (fireworks) is an outside import along with the fireworks manufactured in Sivalakshi, Tamil Nadu or imported from China these days. This cultural deviation commenced as an urban phenomenon in Odisha, now well permeated into its villages.

Though an important festival in Odisha, unlike Diwali which is arguably the major festival in India, especially in the North and West, Deepabali is more like just another festival, because the preceding Durga Puja and Raja festival during the early monsoon steal more limelight. But invasion of North Indian culture along with Hindi when sister now a days is preferred to be addressed as a "Didi" rather than a "Naani or Apaa", thanks to the all pervading Ekta Kapoor's TV serials, Deepabali is slowly paving it's way to Diwaali in Odisha.

Not sure if many remember the traditional Odia way of celebrating Deepabali is to invite the deceased forefathers with shouting at their top of their voice - 

"ବଡ଼ ବଡ଼ୁଆ ହୋ ! ଅନ୍ଧାରରେ ଆସି ଆଲୁଅରେ ଯାଅ । ଗଙ୍ଗା ଯାଅ, ଗୟା ଯାଅ, କାଶୀ ଯାଅ, ପୁରୁଷୋତ୍ତମରେ ମହାପ୍ରସାଦ ଖାଇ ବାଇଶି ପାହାଚେ ଗଡ଼ଗଡ଼ଉ ଥାଅ ।" 

Roughly transliterated...
O' our beloved departed Souls, 
Come in the dark but depart in light.
Travel to Ganga, Gaya and Kashi,
After eating the sacred offerings in Puri,
Roll over the 22 steps of Lord's abode).

The new moon night symbolizes arrival of the departed souls in darkness. By lighting lamps we invite them to lighten up with festivities and leave the pervading darkness behind. Our Odia legends Fakir Mohan Senapati, Madhu Babu, Gourishankar Ray, the Pandit duo Gopabandhu and Nilakantha Das et all who worked tirelessly to secure the Odia language must be groping in the dark, shedding tears to see their mother tongue getting ravaged by cultural onslaught from the North. Let's light a few lamps to the salvation of our forgotten heroes and enlighten the GenX.

On the other hand Halloween is a custom of the Western world, much prevalent in America who succinctly protect this tradition from dilution by drivels in any form of outside influence. Homes and front yards are decorated for Ghosts and Ghouls. Kids and adults alike wear fancy and funny outfits, especially the former roam outdoor from door to door asking for "Trick or Treat".

More often the "Treat" of candies is provided to the kids, rather than any "Trick" by the homeowners. Once I tried my own trick to impress a bunch of kids doing a Ghost dance, shaking my 6 packs of fat, which ultimately made the kids flee for their lives. That was the best ghoulish trick they probably ever got.
Since then I have stuck to treating them with Candies. An estimated $10 billion worth of candy is consumed in America during the Halloween. A lot of it wasted, going down the drain, eaten by teeth bacteria and ending up benefiting the Dentists.

Happy "ଦିପାବଳୀ ଶୁଭେଚ୍ଛା, Dipabali, Diwaali" to my friends and family. Stay safe and enjoy the occasion.

Swatchh Bharat mission

 Long overdue, long time ago during the beginning of Indian Prime minister Modi Jee's first tenure, his campaign for cleanliness touched a chord in me. I was so glad that he put some emphasis into something close to my heart. It's another matter like most of his promises made, his endeavor for cleanliness mostly remained in photo ups and optics for public consumption for political purpose than anything substantial came out of his "Swatchha Bharat" (Clean India) movement.

No offence, our metros and other major cities have become giant toilets. Years ago, on a Diwali morning I was on bank of Bindusagar, a shallow pond of historic importance in the vicinity of Lingaraj temple in my city back home Bhubaneswar. It was in the early 1990s when the arteries of Odisha's capital city weren't clogged and no bypass was needed around Bindusagar. The occasion was the SHRADDHA (a ritual for the departed souls) of my grandmother.

No sooner than I entered into ankle deep water of the cesspool I was petrified by a putrid stench emanating from close by. Floating a few feet away I noticed a bloated carcass of a dog. An urchin threw a stone which went straight inside the corpse sending out further ripples of stench which disturbed the flies swarming over it, diverting them towards me. I was on the verge of throwing up feeling the tingling, bitter taste of vomit erupting inside mouth, frantically swatting away the murmuring flies off, ran upwards, jumping through the steps of the haphazardly arranged sedimentary rocks.

Most of us would have encountered similar situations in their lives. We (including me) have a tendency to blame the government on anything and everything but here is a classic example where commoners are responsible for their own actions. Back home on the street across our home in Old Town area of Bhubaneswar, the local authorities have built a nice, slightly slanted PUCCA (metallic) road designed for the drainage of the storm water into the nearby drain which gets chocked on regular basis. The water maint to be drained gets spilled over surrounding street creating stinky, dirty cesspools serving as a great hatchery for mosquitoes. Atop our balcony I could see a guy wearing BMC (Bhubaneswar Municipality Corporation in charge of sanitation) jacket scooping out trash from the clogged drain. Out of curiosity I took a closer look to find grain sacks, plastics (locally called polythene) bags, used sanitary napkins and all kinds of stuff which are not bio-degradable. There is only so much government can do unless folks from our upper middle class locality don't develop civic sense.

A while back it was reported that an Air India flight to Frankfurt had to return to Delhi after few hours of flying because of clogged toilets. Reason cited, the passengers flushing things down like blankets and other stuff which they should not. Perhaps some passengers mistook the toilet for washing machine. Or may be it's time to force passengers to use LOTA (mug) instead of toilet papers. Air India has its own lacunae but teaching passengers civic sense is not its job. Can't blame the poor for messing things around when our passengers travelling in airlines behave this way.

Years ago I traveled extensively inside several Caribbean island countries. Though there were visible signs of poverty, but the neighborhoods were maintained squicky clean. I didn't see a single person urinating or squatting by roadside. No betel stained corners or romantic graffiti on walls -"Harry loves Sally". No nostril raising stench. Jamaica may not be Japan, but was neat, clean and orderly. Years back in 1969 in US there were reports of Cuyahoga River catching fire for people to take notice of a major problem in pollution in their waterways. This incident prompted Clean Water Act and now the American rivers, lakes and streams are far better. For us this had been something long overdue. If we can do a Mangalayan and be the 4th largest GDP on earth, why can't benefit earth by keeping our neighborhoods clean ? No rocket science, it's high time to send all our dirty past into dustbins of history.

Taliban foreign minister in India

Though I am quite  progressive in nature and philosophy, one thing I don't like about the liberals about their lack of understanding of common sense and pragmatism. No wonder it is said that the thing about common sense is it isn't so common. Same goes with the extreme left or woke section of the liberals who are champions at shooting on their own feet.

The most recent example is a section of media in India whining about India hosting the foreign minister of Taliban led Afghanistan and the fact that no women journalist were invited at press conference of the Afghan foreign minister. Their complaint - as Taliban is anti woman, the Indian establishment didn't want to hurt their guest's sentiments by allowing a woman at the press conference.

I am all for women's rights and don't condone the brutal atrocities shown to the fairer sex in Afghanistan. America went into their country, foolishly tried to establish democracy and failed miserably in its mission. Teaching democracy in that part of the world is akin to our Odia saying - "SANDHA KU BHAGAVAT PADHAIBA" (teaching Bible to a Bull could be counterproductive). We are now seeing the results.

But with an unfriendly and volatile neighborhood with most gunning against it, India has no option but to befriend the land Afghanistan purely due to strategic reasons. Nothing wrong with that. We say in Odia - "SRI KRISHNA DINE GADHA PADA DHARI THILE", "Even Lord Krishna bent to touch a donkey's feet, humiliating himself in order to get his work done". Similarly India desperately needs Afghanistan on its side as the land locked nation which practices an extreme brand of Islam is located at a very sensitive region where all major global powers are pitted against each other.

It needs to be noted that in geopolitics there is no permanent friend or enemy where permanent interest thrives. Every country worth its salt practises the same to protect its self interest. Examples are aplenty. Historically Americans preach democracy but have no qualms about dealing with sundry dictators from Shah of Iran, Marcos of Philippines, Several military dictators Zia, Musharaf et all of Pakistan. For India its nothing new either. It has a history of dealing with Saudi Arab, Iran, China and the military junta of Myanmar, all champion human rights violators.

Countries practice their foreign policy taking the cultural and religious sensitivity of the other party into consideration. Indian deligates who are mostly Hindu aren't served any beef dish. The ones from Islamic nations aren't served pork or wine. The Americans in Saudi Arabia celebrate Christmas, considered unislamic in a ship off the coast of the Kingdom. Examples galore.

In this context nothing wrong with India hosting the Taliban foreign minister from Afghanistan if its suits the former's national interest. In this context, if not having a woman journalist in a press conference serves long term national goal, it's fine. It may be hypocrisy, but worldly wise. 

Happy birthday JP

 Jayaprakash Narayan is amongst the numerous great persons born in the month of October (incidentally he died in the same month also) and one of our much forgotten heroes. For me, he is synonymous with his opposition to the historic, draconian  Emergency imposed in June, 1975 and his role in the Lok Sabha (Parliament) elections that followed in March 1977, when Indira Gandhi who had imposed emergency called it off and announced fresh election only to be drowned by the Janata (Party) Tsunami.

As a 8 year old, I have little memory of the Emergency, but still remembering the headlines on newspaper The Times of India "JP WAVE UNABATED" (used to be delivered in Bhubaneswar by flights from Delhi in the evening). Jayaprakash Narayan fondly addressed as JP and LOK NAYAK (Leader Of The People) was creating waves across North India which wiped away the entire Congress from the cow belt. His slogan "SINGHASAN KHALI KARO, KI JANATA A RAHI HAI (Relinquish power, as Janata Juggernaut is on its way) caught the imagination of the masses in North India where the Congress Party was literally wiped out. (Though North India punished Indira Gandhi for Emergency, South India solidly stood behind her as she swept the Southern states).

I remember my father and uncle clinging to the radio to get the latest election results from BBC whom the public those days trusted it more for authentic news as AIR (All India radio) was the government's propaganda mouthpiece (Have things changed much these days) ? Late in the night came the news of Indira Gandhi and her son Sanjay's defeat followed by spontaneous celebrations on streets.

Indira Gandhi was defeated by Raj Narain, a political buffoon of the time and her son Sanjay by a local duffer goon. I remember fireworks going up lighting the sky and celebrations near SOOCHANA BHAWAN (Information center) in Bhubaneswar, only source of latest news those days, when internet, social media and for the most TV was strictly fantasy.

Delhi also didn't sleep that night when its denizens went on a frenzied celebration spree. I still remember the pictures next day of folks in bell bottom pants and long sideburns dancing on streets of our capital city flashed on Newspapers.

The man who sowed the seeds of the first anti-Congress government at the center with his concept of "Total Revolution" and united different political factions from socialist left to Right Wing under a single umbrella called Janata Party, is now India's a much forgotten and neglected hero. Khushwant Singh who interacted with many Who's & Who's during his long life span, mentioned JP as the top 5 personalities he admired -  "this man was so powerful and charismatic, yet so down to earth that though an extremely busy person he would give an audience and a patient hearing to everyone, big or small who visited him". 

Without him, Indira Gandhi could have defeated the fragmented opposition (she in fact swept the South and portions of Gujarat and Maharashtra who stood solidly with her despite the Emergeny) and possibly christened herself as the Queen of India and her son Sanjay as the Crown Prince. Thanks mostly to JP,  it didn't happen and democracy survived in India. Indira was to be taught a lesson. Otherwise she could might have made India her dictatorship. Emergency was probably her testing ground for that.

Soon after his death, the Janata Party splintered. Many likes Laloo Yadav who grew under JP's shadow promising to help the poor, ended up making himself and his family rich by indulging in rampant corruption. His followers forgot him and his ideology. Lot of things currently across the country echoes the times of Emergency days, yet vindicating history repeats itself and those who forget history are condemned to repeat it. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan, last but the least one more of our forgotten heroes.

The Cuttack riots of October 2025

 The recent riots in Cuttack (Kataka in Odia) is extremely exasperating, especially Odisha is not known as a communal state by any yardstick. Odias in general are peace loving folks who being perennially afraid of police prefer to stay away from trouble (KALE POLICE CASE HEI JIBA - for they are mortally scared of facing police cases). Not any more as modern day Odias can't stay away from trouble these days, attracted to violence like moth to fire.

I love the city of Cuttack though have been a frugal visitor to the Silver city. Never seen the two iconic educational institutes for which the city is better known - Ravenshaw College and the SCB Medical College in my life due to lack of opportunity to visit them. Forgotten when was the last time I visited Cuttack. It was probably quarter of a century ago.

Cuttack and Bhubaneswar form a Twin city, separated by distributaries of river Mahanadi. A la twins, me a Pukka Bhubaneswariya (hard-core Bhubaneswar guy) and my friends from the city of Cuttack fight a lot among ourselves like siblings do. During my growing up days, Cuttack was the big brother, a happening city and Bhubaneswar its poorer twin. The later was regarded as a city of immigrants lacking a coherent culture of its own, termed by many as GOLAM NAGARI (The City of Slaves) ascribing to the salaried class slavish people serving their SARKAR (government) masters vis a vis DILADAAR and BOBAAL (Broad hearted and fun loving) KATAKIAs (denizens of Cuttack). We used to poke fun at our KATAKI friends for their squalor like SAHI (localities) consisting of unplanned houses entwined by narrow lanes filled with stinky, squalid drains compared to us housed in swanky, planned quarters in the squicky clean city of Bhonsar (Bhubaneswar in pronounced locally).

The city-zens from Cuttack boast to be fun loving, considering the 5 or 6 Talkies (local parlance for movie theatres) they had, a decent by the standard of those days and far more than any other city in Odisha at that time. Prominent of them were Grand Cinema, Durga and Nishamani Talkies - the later which played only Hollywood movies. From the quality of mosquitoes (the famous KATAKI MASA is capable of lifting you for miles) to the movies the city sandwiched between the bank of giant Mahanadi river and its tributary Kathajodi river always had an edge over its newly built adjoining capital city. Though critical of Cuttack's fledgling infrastructure, its dirty drains, whenever the latest Hollywood blockbuster hits the Nishamani theatre in Cuttack, especially a movie of my teenage crush Brooke Shields, I lose no time to visit Cuttack to watch her movies.

In this context, widespread riots which followed stone pelting on a "BHASANI" (immersion) procession of Maa Durga look out of place. Such things common in the Hindi cow belt states were rarely heard in the state of Odisha. But as us, also alluded as "DEKHA SIKHA" (Copycat) Odias who readily love to ape North Indian culture, this is another feather added to our cap. It was sad to see swanky departmental stores and a KFC outlet being ransacked and vandalized. Those involved in violence and pilfering aren't ideology mongers, but plain thugs and scums taking advantage of the grim situation.

Few years ago another place impacted by similar imbroglio was Bhadrak, a place associated with my childhood memories. I spent solid 5 years in that small town before migrating permanently to Bhubaneswar in the year 1976 and after finishing Class III at BANKA lower primary school in that city. Still remember living close to dusty embarkment of river Shalandi, high enough to protect the neighborhood from being marooned during monsoon floods, snaking its way through the sleepy city.

One of my first memories is my father, a huge fan of drama, cinema and theaters taking me to watch "Mogal Tamasha", a local theater  which best depicted the assimilation of Hindu and Muslim cultures. Still imprinted in my mind are images of our rental home in a predominantly Bengali neighborhood with multiple Muslim households scattered around, forming a sizable part of community and my friend circle in school. Still remember my school friends from class III with nick names SAIBA (A local variation of Sahib who sadly passed away recently), KRESTO (Krishnendu Guha), PATHANA (Rezamuddin Khan), PECHA (Owl), CHHELI (the Goat) who was a fast climber of KARAMANGA (Star fruit) trees and so on. All these thoughts came floating by when I heard the news of riots, same as an old song over radio waves wafting in, bringing in the memories associated with that time.

What is the commonality between the cities of Cuttack and Bhadrak which has turned communal in recent past ? Both stood as symbol of communal harmony. As usual, the blame game has well begun, before anything is even half done. Political parties are now accusing each other of complicity. In this murky world of alternate truth and fake news, the truth is the main casualty. Like Nero fiddled as Rome burned - the inept and corrupt administration is caught napping while taking its summer siesta post an afternoon bout of PAKHALA as Cuttack burnt.

An official statement of "the situation is tense but under control" has been issued - a standard bureaucratic practice from the Doordarshan (the solitary government controlled TV channel) days since 40 years ago. More than any official or administrative magic, let's keep faith in time as time is the best healer, keeping our fingers crossed and hoping for the best - for unlike many other Indian states communal violence is not the forte of Odisha. Let's keep it that way.

Kumar Purnima 2025

The festival of KUMAR PURNIMA (The Full Moon day of Youth) is celebrated in Odisha on the auspicious day of SHARAT PURNIMA, also known as the "Hunters Moon", the Full Moon immediately following the DASAHARA festival. This year Kumar Purnima is being celebrated today.

Unlike the more prominent national festivals of DASAHARA and DIWALI, sandwiched between these two major festivals, KUMAR PURNIMA is very specific to the state of Odisha. The occasion is perfect when the prickly heat and slushy ground post the monsoon season gives way to a balmy, salubrious weather under a clear blue sky, culminating in full blown "Hunters moon" smiling on top of the sky, playing hide and seek with floating fleecy white cloud.

The young, nubile Odia girl prays this day aspiring for a handsome groom, her Knight-in-Shining-Armor dream man to lift her in his strong, loving, caring arms to the distant full moon smiling up above the sky. Boys and girls alike attire themselves in their brand new sets of clothes. Varieties of PITHA (rice based cakes) are cooked at home from the thinner variety called CHAKULI to the baked variety of slightly larger than Golf ball size "ENDURI PITHA", which are no doubt healthy and tasty, but BIRI or lentil component in it produces a lot of gas. My favorite is the rice based MANDA PITHA which is stuffed with grated coconut laced with jaggery.

During our childhood days, we used to have an extended Puja vacation in our village near Puri, with the much awaited Kumar Purnima a fitting finale to the extended Puja holidays. My first memory goes back to 1976, exactly 49 years ago under a sparkling silver moon, we kids would moon around the tall coconut trees, creating clouds of dust in the surrounding, still struggling to digest the sumptuous lunch of NADIA KHECHADI (ghee laced yellow rice with sprinkled grated coconut), Sweet Dal and an array of other delicacies, singing together...

JANHI PHOOLA THO THA,
KAKUDI PHOOLA THO THA.
GUNDUCHI MUSA KAHI JAUCHI CHAULA MUTHE THOI THA.

roughly transliterated...

Ridge Gourd flowers go burst, 
Cucumber flowers go burst.
The Squirrel has spread message,
Keep a handful of Rice for forage.

Today 49 years later, I stand in my backyard under a spotted blue sky due to partly cloudy on a cool, windy evening deriving vicarious pleasure of another time looking at the full moon rising behind a starry sky through the pine trees - the virtual substitute for the coconut trees back home, as the swaying, chirping little birdies crisscross the crimson sky of the twilight. The plumpy, brown feral cat in my backyard chases away a squirrel, reminding me of the lanky kitty cat "Tipu" staring at us kids in our village from a safe distance as we went frolicking around the coconut and betel nut trees. Tips is long dead, but still alive in memory.

The slowly rising full moon goes hiding behind the pine trees, as the leaves swaying to the wind gusts try to wipe the dirt off its surface like a wiper cleaning a car windshield, giving me a clear view of the rabbit on the moon. An array of  Pelicans pass by cawing PAAON PAAON. The brightly moonlit yellow dandelion flowers leaves look brighter, smiling at me, reminding my good old childhood days and the nostalgic memories of a bygone era to cherish forever. HAPPY KUMAR PURNIMA TO ALL.

Singapore

 A decade ago I visited the city-state of Singapore. I was impressed by the place, professionalism and discipline displayed by its citi-zens and enforced by the government. Singapore's success as a nation is exemplary, we all know about that.

The country don't meddle in international affairs and mind their own business. Being a business friendly country it has earned the respect of the whole world. So much so that, US President Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Un Jung agreed to meet at Singapore for their summit. Singapore did something rare - making the two agree to Singapore to host the summit. One has to point a gun at both the heads of Trump and Kim Jung Un to make them agree on something.

But a tiny thing about a tiny animal did not go unnoticed to me - the conspicuous absence of mosquitoes over there. One would expect Singapore being a tropical country to have lots of mosquitoes. In reality, it is other way round. Though tropical and an ideal ground for breeding of these blood sucking parasites, it is mostly free of them, thanks to the cleanliness and civic sense of the citizens duly backed by the authorities.

One of the reasons one doesn't get a scratch from mosquito bite can be alluded to a man called Lee Kuan Yew, who built the country from scratch. A diverse nation of quality people, in a short span 50 years, he led its transformation from a struggling nondescript war ravaged port city, to a giant hub of business. It also arguably has the best Healthcare facilities in Asia. Singapore has turned out to be a model state in Asia, least corrupt and the most entrepreneur friendly in Asia.

One example elucidates this culture of civic sense and effective imposition of directives which every country should learn. In the early 1990s once Lee Kuan saw LUNGIs (a loincloth popular with Indians) and underwears visibly hung on the balconies of apartments dotting the city. He immediately ordered a clamp down and soon these obnoxious items soon vanished from the view and stopped dotting the Singapore skyline.

Once Arvind Kejriwal, then the Chief Minister of Delhi made a fake allegation against Delhi. When questioned, the ambassador of Singapore to India just laughed it off. The diminutive Mr. Kejriwal should know that
Singapore is not India. They are formidable and can teach you an unforgettable lesson. They didn't even bother US President Bill Clinton's appeal in 1990s to be lenient to an American citizen who broke the law in the city-state. They will care a hoot about a Delhi CM. 

A la America, Singapore is also the greatest example of diversity. Over the years it has attracted the best talents from across the globe to become the epicenter of trade and commerce. Many who contributed to its growth, originated from another nation. It frequently invites our legendary Odia writer Manoj Das as a cultural consultant, using the expertise of a real expert in the field of culture, who is pretty much ignored in his own nation. That tells part of the story. Singapore which lacked human resource, nurtured human resource in a short span of time to touch the zenith of success.

Experts say Japan stagnated into a lost decade due to its stubborn refusal to diversify. Diversity is not a dirty word, it is dear word. It creates a conducive environment, a confluence of knowledge and ideas for the betterment of the society. Embrace it to leap forward. Desist it to risk going back to the stone age at a fast rate in a faster changing world.

Lee Kuan Yew, the founding father of modern Singapore could envision this. He once famously said " China can draw on a talent pool of 1.4 billion people, but US can draw on the World's 7 billion. " He wasn't far from truth. His death marked end of an era, but the city state of Singapore continued as a modern state. Probably Singapore would not have been where it is today. Singapore today stands an example to its Asian counterparts.