Recently I read the news about the famous Tennis player from 1980s and heartthrob of many from our generation, Steffi Graf, accepted the job of Brand Ambassador of the state of Kerala. This will go a long way further promoting Tourism in the state popularly branded as "God's Own Country". Many who have travelled to this southern state of India from here heap paeans of praise the natural beauty of the backwaters, they are impressed by professional customer service. A lady who suffered from chronic Blood Pressure, got the pleasant surprise of her life when her points came down significantly after the mud therapy she went though during her trip to Kerala.
We still have a long way to go. Complacency or laziness is quite prevalent in East Zone. We are rice eating laid back folks who love to chew Paan (betel) and take a siesta (usual disclaimers apply). This entices me to draw another contrast, between the States of Orissa and Kerala. Both have rich coastline, almost same population and number of Lok Sabha seats. Again similarities end there. Though we have much more natural resources than Kerala still we are worlds apart. Kerala is among the top 5 states and Orissa still among the bottom 5 in all kinds of development indices . Kerala has several international Flights toing and froing from multiple airports. Last time I heard Orissa finally got its inaugural flight with lots of fanfare and a fair share of controversies. It was an Air India flight run by the government and no one remembers when was it last time it made profits. Apparently Private players aren't too keen to operate international flights to Odisha.
Reminds me of Aamir Khan from the movie "3 IDITOS". He extolls to his friends "SUCCESS LE PEECHE MAT BHAGO. KAVIL BANO, SUCCESS EK DIN TUMHARE PEECHE BHAGEGA", meaning "don't chase success. Be capable, success with chase you". If the Private Airlines will find running international flights to Bhubaneswar a profitable venture. That will only happen if Odisha is KAVEEL (capable) enough to attract them. They will come on their own, no lobbying would be necessary.
In my "Jagannth's Own Country" of Odisha, we are endowed with more natural beauty, but still have a long way to do catch up with our southern counterpart. I heard this episode from a friend back home. In a meeting of government officials, an Odia officer told delegates from Kerala, " Our beaches are better than your beaches. Your beaches are flat". Needless to say our Odia bro pronounced the word "Beach" in this thick Odia accent, hardly impressing his Kerala counterparts.
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