Happy birthday Madhusudan Das - 2024

 If he wasn't born in Odisha exactly 176 years ago, in all probability we would be reading and speaking in Bengali today. He is our UTKALA GOURABA (The Pride of Odisha) Madhusudan Das, who along with the intelligent, witty, nationalist Fakir Mohan Senapati and the "Das duo" of Gopabandhu Das and Nilakantha Das saved Odia and Odisha from being completely swallowed by Bengali and Bengal. The undivided state of Bengal at that time extended from the present day Bangladesh to Bihar in the North and Odisha to its South.

Madhusudan Das, also popularly known as Madhu Babu and Madhu Barister (Lawyer) belonged to a well to do family of Cuttack. He was the first Odia to get a BA (Bachelor in Arts) degree, second to receive a degree in Law and probably the first Odia to visit England. The dynamic duo of Madhusudan and Fakir Mohan fought tooth and nail against powerful Bengali lobby which was deadly against the formation of an independent state of Odisha with Odia as its official language. 

Dominating the power corridors of the two major cities of Cuttack and Puri (Bhubaneswar was a conglomerate of villages then) a powerful section of the Bengali elites succintly proclaimed - "ODIA EKTAA SWATANTRA BHASA NAYE" (Odia is not a language on its own), instantly pooh-poohed the idea of a separate state for the Odias. They were still well ensconced with this vague, ill conceived notion of Odia being a race without any language and identity of their own, hence not entitled to a have separate state. Soon a move was made to introduce Bengali syllabus into the school curriculum in Odisha ahead of Odia, the language of the natives.

When Madhu Barister proposed a new state of Odisha carved out of the Greater Bengal at the National Congress Conference held in Murshidabad, the Bengali dominated top brass present at the venue promptly vetoed against it. Disgusted, Madhu babu left Congress and started a front UTKALA SAMMILANI (Odisha Conference) to promote the goal towards a separate statehood for Odias.

He was instrumental in the creation of Odisha, a dream realized two years after his death at the ripe age of 87, a rare longevity those days. In his mission, Madhu Babu was ably assisted by couple of intellectuals from the younger generation - UTKALAMANI (The Jewel of Odisha) Gopabandhu Das and Pandit Nilakantha Das, both liberal, educated Brahmins with a progressive mindset from Suando and Sriramachandapur, the adjoining Sasan Brahmin villages of Puri.

Madhu Babu was the more educated and the dilligent one of the trio who used to address the public in a mode equivalent to today's Power point presentations - sharp and articulate, but lacking a storyteller's ability to arouse passion in the audience. Though a patriot and focused on his mission, being seen as an elitist from a ZAMINDARI (Feudal lord) background and not being a prolific public speaker he could barely connect with the commoners, unable to arouse interest and enthusiasm among the masses whose support he needed most.

That hiatus was bridged by the dynamic "Das duo" of Utkalamani Gopabandhu and Pandit Nilakanta who were young, charismatic with epic sense of humor, who could connect better with the commoners with their amazing oratory skills & convincing capability. With a background closer to the milieu they could feel the pulse of the masses and the masses could feel their voices. The duo successfully carried Madhu Babu's message to them.

Together they complemented each other, forming a formidable proposition and propelling their cause towards their common goal of a unique, separate state of Odisha, now appealing to the public from far flung places like Barhampur, Sambalpur who were now motivated enough to join the movement. Finally his dream was realized two years after his death in 1934 at the age of 87, as Madhu Babu died a happy man, foreseeing the formation of an independent Odisha which saw its birth on April 1, 1936 less than two year after his death. 

Nilakantha Das in his autobiography has given a touching, vivid description of the final hours leading to the death of Utkal Gouraba Madhusudan Das. Couple of days before the Grand Old man's death he queried Braja Sundar Das, an eminent person of Cuttack who was taking care of him - "NILAKANTHA KAHIN" (Where is Nilakantha) ? Braja Babu took a horse driven carriage to manoeuvre fast inside the city of Cuttack (the city wasn't congested yet) and traced Nilakantha Das out of the house of one gentleman named Chandra Sekhar Mishra.

Nilakantha Das rushed to Madhu Babu's house and was saddened by his plight. The Grand Old Man was in his death bed, in a very painful state, unable to have bowel movement in spite of having the urge to do so. But being a man of courage and conviction, he gathered enough strength and uttered - "After my death I am going to pass on the baton to Nilakantha. He is going to be the savior of Odisha. All of you should cooperate with him". (Gopabandhu Das, the other charismatic of the Das duo died 7 years back in 1928).

"Don't worry. It won't be necessary. You are going to recover soon" - responsed all present inside the room in unison. "No. It is not going to happen. I am a dying man", said Madhu babu, as he could sense his imminent death. He covered his head with blanket and went to sleep. The next day Madhu babu said - "I am so glad Paralakhemundi (part of Gajapati district now) and Jeypur (Koraput) are now part of Odisha" before passing away moments later. To Nilakantha, it was akin to another shining star above the sky of Odisha grounded forever.

A message for the present generation Odias back home who take pride in preferring Hindi over Odia. Rremember - Gangadhar Meher, another Jewel of Odisha famously said -

"UTCHA HEBA PAI JADI KARA ASHA, UCHHA KARA AGE NIJA MATRUBHASA".

Roughly transliterated...

If you wish to rise high where you belong,

Then raise your own mother tongue. 

Nothing wrong in learning ten different languages, but not at the cost of our own mother tongue. Madhu Babu who might be considered as an interloper by some was way ahead of his time. Happy 176th Birthday to Madhu Babu, the pride of Odisha.

NB : Though an Odia Nationalist who fought against dominance by Bengal, Madhu babu harbored no ill will towards Bengalis. He had adopted two Bengali girls, Sailabala Das and Sudhansubala Hazra. 

Sailabala was an educationist who had trained from England and in whose name the famous Shailabala Women's College of Cuttack was founded. She was a Bengali, and her parents had left her in the care of Madhusudan Das and his wife Soudamini Devi at Calcutta. 

Sudhansubala Hazra was also a Bengali and she was the first female lawyer of British India. Madhu babu was the house teacher of Ashutosh Mukherjee the former Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta University and Janakinath Bose, the father of our NETAJI (The Leader) Subash Chandra Bose at Ravenshaw College, Cuttack.

Jhopadpatti Zindabad

Other day I remembered a Hindi song from my childhood where the lead actor dances to the tune of this song :

"JHOPADPATTI ZINDABAD,
MEHNAT WALLE ZINDABAD,
DAULAT WALLE MURDABAD".

meaning...

"Hail to our slums,
Hail to our hardworkers.
Hell to the rich folks."

I have no qualms about praising those who work hard. But there is hardly anything to be proud about living in slums. Also, nothing wrong in getting rich, as long as the wealth is acquired by healthy, honest means. This movie from 1980s depicts an era when it was fashionable to glamorize poverty back home in India as we were stuck in our vainglorious eulogization of socialism.  Politicians, media and many in Indian movie industry survived by selling poverty. When China and other South -East nations were chugging ahead with double digit growth and removing poverty in the process, we got stuck glorifying it, gloating in the reverie of socialism, demonizing the rich. A left leaning Bollywood industry shamelessly promoted the fashion of remaining poor.

Indira Gandhi's slogan "GARIBI HATAO" (remove poverty) gave her a big victory in 1971, but nothing tangible happened in that front until 20 years later in 1991  when the first to liberalize the economy set in to mitigate the imminent national bankruptcy. We could have achieved this much earlier, though thus far we have come a long way from the days of "Jhopadpatti Zindabad". Indira sans any vision for her nation held on to socialism and the Soviet model of centralized planned economy, as India's GDP grew by the classic Hindu rate of growth of 2 to 3%. Her son Rajiv Gandhi, a well travelled man with an Italian wife was expected to possess a progressive mindset. With a historic mandate under his belt which his mother would have dreamt of, he clung to his Mama's failed idea of socialism. Indian electorates had high hopes from him, but he squandered the mandate by dragging down the economy further into an abyss.

It wasn't until the Congress party liberated from the Gandhi family led by P.V. Narasimha Rao liberated the economy, freeing it from the bondage of the ever pervasive License - Permit Raj, an economy still in tatters and in shackles, breeding poverty & inefficiency. Currently Indian economy is galloping ahead with a 8% plus GDP growth. India now cynosure of all eyes, viewed globally as an emerging market. Consumerism has set its footsteps in India. As Deng Xiaoping, one of the architects of Chinese growth famously said, it's fun to get rich". He wasn't far from the truth. We Indians aren't just got rich, are now enjoying getting richer. Ironically it is BJP who is taking all credit for this growth. Yet it was the Congress party under Dr. Manmohan Singh as the Finance Minister and then as Prime Minister who played an important role by jump starting the process of liberalization and then sustaining its growth.

Socialism instead of sharing prosperity, shared poverty. Rich became poorer, so also poor became poorer. During my formative years in India we were constantly fed with utopia of socialism, though the ground reality was stark different. A common sight during our school days would be the huge pictures and billboards across Bhubaneswar of the "Hammer and Sickle" - iconic symbol of Communist Party of India (Marxist) extolling to join meetings addressed by Comrade Shivaji Patnaik (a Leftist MP) in then Parade Field of Bhubaneswar (now IG Park). Soviet Union and Cuba were  paradises on earth where every one had Bread to eat, Vodka to drink and Havana Cigar to smoke. America was the land Capitalist pigs. A staunch Communist whom I came across foresaw in his dreams Capitalism crumbling like a pack of cards. The Russian model of centralized planning would wipe out poverty from the face of the earth, he forecasted. The Soviet Union crumbled and our "Mausa" (Uncle) had no answer why close to 50 years since our independence poverty stubbornly persisted in India !

He wasn't alone. Many from that generation shared his socialist reverie. But I, a born skeptic, was one of the few who was far from being convinced or brainwashed. Somehow I was distrustful of these propaganda. Since childhood I used to listen religiously to BBC and the Voice of America and was impressed by the quality of their news compared to the drab broadcasts from our government owned All India Radio. Every evening I would drag the 3 feet long antenna of our "MURPHY" brand Radio and slowly scroll my thumb over the circular tuner carefully adjusting the bar slowly to my left and right, struggling to adjust the vertical bar to the exact location with intermittent bursts of stuttering farts from it, CHRRRRD... PRRRRRTT.., before I could finally manage to tune in to these foreign stations. Gradually I started trusting their news more than those from our All India Radio. (No wonder Rajiv Gandhi who was in Bengal when he heard the news of his mother being shot tuned into BBC to confirm it). 

In one such socialist summer in 1979, legendary Odia singer Akshay Mohanty who just back from America was quoted in the popular vernacular newspaper SAMAJA that even cats and dogs were better off in America. He also composed a song based on his American experience,

AMERICA RE PREMA HUE BEECH ROAD UPARE,
AAU CUTTACK RE PREMA HUE RASTHA PACHHARE".

(In America love happens in middle of the road, 
in Cuttack love happens behind Rickshaw) 
and so on...

India has come a long way since 1979, now a $4 trillion economy chugging ahead in full speed. Visiting America is no big deal to get publicized in local newspapers. But those were the days of Socialism when getting rich was a poor choice. Living in a socialist India where anything foreign was cursed as "Haraam" (forbidden). In order to quench our curiosity we sneaked away to watch Hollywood movies during noon shows in SHRIYA talkies of Bhubaneswar. Later in my teens we prefered NISHAMANI, a movie hall in Cuttack which showed varieties of Hollywood movies, enough for me to get a crush on Brooke Shields. I used to read over and over the letters written to my father by his friends and students from USA on glossy paper, far cry from the "Utkala Lipi" paper I was accustomed to. I made sure to tear off the American stamps from top of the letters to show off to my school friends. 

Some of our guests from England and America would land up at our home in summer with Foreign brand Chocolates in semi-melting state due to local heat and humidity. I would wrap around my lips on them as soon as I get a chance,  rolling my tongue over and over again on the wrapper till the last trace of its melting residue was left. As we did not have a refrigerator (still a luxury then), my mother would carefully cover the chocolates with wet cloth and keep in an over head compartment above a bowl of water. This preferential treatment to Western chocolates was her creative way of keeping those cherished stuff cool and safe from ants. I would keep the chocolate wrappers as souvenirs to show it to my jealous friends. They would gape at it with eyes wide open, frantically trying to prevent their saliva drooling over lips, wiping it off using tongue and taking a couple of gulps to get it inside. Now all "Phoein" brands are available across India, thanks for Mr. Rao's opening of India's economy.

One of the most fascinating experiences was us siblings glued to the first hand narration of American life by someone visiting India in the summer of 1980, followed by a photographic session using a Polaroid camera. We would wait till mid morning until we had enough sunlight. Then our guest would take our pictures in front of our flat and deliver them to us almost instantly in front of the numerous prying eyes from the surrounding buildings peeing thorough iron railings. A few vegetable and fish vendors on bicycles passing by would stop to take a peek, their legs and baggage tilted to one side of the bicycle, head tilted towards us with mouth wide open.

It was an exhilarating experience for someone whose experience in photography until then was snaps taken at social functions or family portraits taken in a studio at RAJ MAHAL CHOWK (the best one in the city at that time). I always wondered if Soviet Union was such a paradise, why I never saw anyone from Moscow with similar stuff and getting similar attention. Now I still wonder what communism has ever achieved except producing international pariahs and poverty stricken nations like North Korea. The myth of socialism was debunked beyond redemption, limited to four walls of the left leaning academics.

In this context, hats off to the duo of PVN Rao and Dr. Manmohan Singh for reforming India's economy by freeing it from the clutch of socialism and poverty. Other leaders who followed the duo had no other option but to follow the trend of liberalization which is irreversible. It has produced a new breed of entrepreneurs generating wealth and employment, boosting consumer confidence, putting money in public's pocket to fuel more consumerism. Stagnantion leads to less spending and more unsold inventory, which is a businessman's worst nightmare. No wonder our ancient Sanskrit scholars aptly named money as CHANCHALAA (The moving one), which should circulate around, never stay static. If the Congressmen duo didn't liberalize Indian economy in 1991, we still would be dancing to the tune of "Jhopadpatti Zindabad", stuck forever building world class Bullock carts in the era of Bullet Trains.

Tyger Tyger Burning Bright

"Tyger Tyger Burning bright;

In the Forests of the Night..." 

Those are the immortal lines of the well known English poet William Blake. 

Tiger and its cousin domestic cat have 86% of their traits in common. They share their similar canine teeth, same way of stretching, crouching posture while they stalk, followed by their galloping style of chasing their pray. Their jaws are similar and powerful. A tiger can drag a full grown Buffalo easily for more than 100 yard. The paws of both animals are strong, incisive enough to rip off the skin of an animal in seconds. 

The other day I saw a cat in my backyard catching a squirrel with its jaws and peeling off its skin in an effortless manner. A tiger's powerful claw can tear apart the thick skin of a Buffalo like we humans tear apart the skin of a ripe jackfruit using our bare hands. Both tiger and cat can climb trees, thanks to their claws powerful enough to give them a firm grip on the tree trunks and push their weights upward. No wonder Shivaji killed his burly adversary Afzal Khan using his famous pair of "BAGHNAKH" (Tiger Claws), ripping apart his enemy's stomach who tried to embrace him with the intention of killing the Maratha warrior. 

Similarities apart, there are few notable differences between a tiger and a domestic cat. Apart from not eating fish and not meowing like a common feline, unlike cats, tigers love to take a dip in water and known to be excellent swimmers. The Royal Bengal Tiger loves to swim through the myriad distributaries and rivulets crisscrossing the Sundarban Delta of Bengal. The house cat hates water and get flustered under shower. If you have seen a cat in rain, you can figure out how uncomfortable it gets. 

Lion may be the King of the jungle, but Tiger commands respect. The tiger is a passive, shy animal but can be at its ferocious best when cornered. Hence we have the term "Cornered Tiger", not cornered lion, or a cornered panther. Similarly we have "Caged Tiger", not "Caged Lion" to denote someone with a potential yet to be unleashed. Though lion is the King of Jungle, it doesn't have the potential of a Tiger. 

Not to forget, we have this phrase "Tigress in Bed" for a reason. Not Lion or Elephant in bed.

Hitler's birthday

 Today, April 20, is Adolph Hitler's 135rd Birthday. Love him or hate him, you cannot deny his place in history. No doubt he was a monster who caused death to millions. His role in the Jewish Holocaust was ghastly. He too was solely responsible for World War II - which was no doubt was Hitler's War, something he desired, something he could have avoided. Hindu God Sri Krishna famously said to a recalcitrant Duryodhan in the epic MAHABHARAT teleseries by B.R. Chopra shown on TV during our childhood days - "SHANTI KA KOI BIKALP NAHI HAI (There is no alternative to peace). But like Duryodhan, Hitler didn't choose peace as an option and went for an all out war.

Yet there is always something to learn from history and we cannot deny the place of German's Fuehrer in it. The other day I saw one of Hitler's speeches on the History channel. He was a powerful orator and popular demagogue, from the way he was driving his German audience crazy and berserk, responding hysterically to his histrionics and forming a set of blind Nazi Bhakts (devotees)

Unfortunately that's the go of the world. When one speaks sensible stuff a few listen, but one can drive people crazy by talking illogical and outrightly insane stuff. Hitler and demagogues like him (some very much exist in today's society) are known to be able to cast enchanting spells on humans who are inherently gullible and prone to be influenced by those who can promise to turn their aspirations and inferiority complex into reality by creating an illusion of progress and successfully picking up a minority community as the bete noire whipping boys.

The British, co-towed by France sowed the seeds of the Second World War by humiliating the Germans with their absurd terms in the "Treaty of Versailles" at the end of World War I. America who until then kept aloof from global events, warned about the consequences of humiliating a proud German race, but the arrogant, cunning and conniving British had their way.

In the World War I which ended little more than a century ago, a diminutive German soldier who was poked fun at his funny moustache and short height by his strapping 6 feeter military mates sleeping inside his camp, had this strange urge to go outside. He duly followed his instinct and moments later a bomb wiped out the all the German soldiers sleeping inside where he was sleeping moments ago. The rest is history - as this tiny man was no other than Adolf Hitler who survived that day to rewrite history by adding an important chapter to it.

World War II was Hitler's war. He started it and was on a roll with his blitzkrieg pulverizing his opponents in mainland Europe as he attacked one nation after another. Eventually he got carried away, attacking all, going for a multi front war and lost it. Had he not made the cardinal miscalculation of attacking Russia and America didn't interfere in World War II because of Japanese mistake of awaking a sleeping giant, today in all probability we would be speaking German and forced to buy their product.

It also reminds me the role destiny plays altering the courses of history. In 1556 during the 2nd battle of Panipat, Bairam Khan's hapless Mogul army were about to be slaughtered by the rampaging elephants and undefeated Army of the Hindu King Hemu when a stray arrow hit him in the eye, rendering him unconscious and causing his army to flee. Hemu was captured and beheaded.  India's history could have been different with Hemu as the next Hindu King after Prithviraj Chauhan (in fact Hemu ruled Delhi for only 40 days before the fateful 2nd battle of Panipat ended his short tenure on Delhi throne).

Around 1750, Robert Clive, a frustrated Clerk in the British East India Company who pretty much failed in his life just recovered from a bout of Malaria in hot and muggy Madras faraway from his home of salubrious English weather. Dejected, he tried to commit suicide by pressing his gun to his head and clicked the trigger only to be surprised that he failed again. After this incident he never looked back, had a meteoric rise,went on to establish the British empire in India.

History has its own turning points determining the destiny of the mankind and the time to follow. America was most benefited by the two world wars -catapulting it into Superpower status. Not only the War helped US economy boom at that time and recover from the Great Recession, it also benefited by the arrival of Jewish immigrants from Europe who played a constructive role shaping the nation. One of them was Albert Einstein and the grandfather of Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerberg.

After Russia and Britain, Hitler's next target towards his desire for world conquest was US, though destiny had it's way. It would have been a tough call for the German  Fuehrer given America's technological and military prowess. But the man was devilish and capable enough for all kinds of misadventures. 

Yet Hitler carved his niche as the Second Anti-Christ famously foreseen by the French Clairvoyant Nostradamus. The Seer also supposedly predicted the arrival of 3rd Anti-Christ and the 3rd World War. Not sure if that will happen in these turbulent times.

But one thing we have learnt from Hitler and his dream of Third Reich is that fanaticism leads to fascism and fascism leads to total destruction - as Hitler led Germany towards Gotterdammerung. Ww wish the man was never born this day 135 years ago.

Memories of Elections in India

Election campaign in India is getting hotter and hotter in lock and step with its rising temperature plaguing its weather. The battle of ballots in a multi party Parliamentary system will be held under the umbrella of scorching Subcontinent heat starting from tomorrow, April 19 and held in multiple phases extending over three months until the declaration of results in early June. It is going be a long, tiring journey for many - from the candidates to the government officials working hard, toiling under an unforgiving burning sun, striving to successfully stage the longest electoral exercise.

In India an entire family's vote mostly goes towards the same political party, unlike in America where it is quite common for spouses to support different parties. Example of Republican husband and a Democrat wife are plenty. The couples live in peaceful coexistence after casting their separate ballots. But when it comes to voting in India often the head of the household decides the vote on behalf of the entire family. My mother who is apathetic to politics would always vote for whomever my father tells her to do so, she caring least about the candidate's profile. The sole exception was in 1984 when she cast her sympathy vote for Congress party on the aftermath of Indira Gandhi's tragic assassination. My father never voted for Congress, nor I. I have voted twice in India, in 1989 to Janata Dal inspired by V.P. Singh who seemed like a messiah but later belied my hope and in 1995 for the same party again as the legendary Biju Patnaik was contesting from my home constituency Bhubaneswar (there was no Biju Janata Dal yet). 

Do you remember your first ever election in India ? For me it was the Lok Sabha election held in March 1977 when Indira Gandhi suddenly called off Emergency she earlier imposed and announced fresh election only to be drowned by the Janata Tsunami. The popular, punchy anti Congress and Indira campaign slogan of the time was - "SINGHASAN KHALI KARO, KI JANATA A RAHI HAI" (Vacate the throne, because the Public is on its way) caught everybody's imagination. As a 8 year old I retain faint memories of it, though still remember the fillowing headline on Newspaper "Times of India" (used to be delivered in evening fetched earlier by the flight from Delhi) "JP WAVE UNABATED". Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan, fondly called as JP, was creating waves across North India which wiped away the Congress from the entire cow belt. I remember my Uncle and his friend with hippie hair and check Shirts clinging to the radio at our home to get the latest election results from BBC whom the public depended for authentic news those days as they didn't trust the government owned AIR (All India radio). 

Late in the night came the news of Indira Gandhi and her son and designated heir Sanjay's defeat. Indira was defeated by Raj Narain, a political buffoon of the time and her son Sanjay Gandhi a local goon. I remember fireworks going up lighting the sky and celebrations near SOOCHANA BHAWAN (Information center) in Bhubaneswar where the election results were displayed for public consumption. Delhi didn't sleep that night and Delhites went on a frenzy of celebration. Next day the picture of folks in bell bottom pants and long sideburns dancing on streets of our capital flashed on Newspapers. But Janata wave stayed north of Vindya, never could percolate southwards. In spite of the excesses of emergency, South India stayed solidly behind Indira and Congress and its ally AIADMK swept the South ending with a decent total of 140 plus. 

Lot of speculations, debates will go in a nation of 1.4 billion people and nearly 1 billion voters until June 4, the day the results will be declared. The current Prime Minister Modi led BJP is expected to get a comfortable majority for a 3rd term, though there can be many a slip between the cup and the lip. So tighten your seat belt for a long roller coaster fun filled ride while following the battle of ballots in India. Game on folks.

Happy birthday Bhubaneswar - 2024

 A new capital city for the state of Odisha was founded on 13th April in the year 1948. I grew up with the city ever since I migrated to it in the year 1976 on a mid monsoon rainy August day, and saw the city grew leaps and bound like a hydra headed monter. As a 7 year old then I was perplexed by the larger than life city little knowing that it would leave an indelible mark in my psyche for the rest of my life, for coming from Bhadrakh, a nondescript city, the 3 storeyed BJB Flats seemed like Empire State Building. So much water has flown through river Daya since. I left the city for good for more than a quarter of century now, the city has never left me.

The Bhubaneswar of those days was better known for its salubrious weather. Summers were warm but breezy, the winters mild. The cool wafts of Southerly wind used to gently caress the whole city in the evening (now the gentle caress has been replaced by slapping hot lava like winds meandering through concrete jungle). What used to be a sleepy township of salaried people has developed into a city of the nouveau riche, an extended village of DALAALs (middlemen) and sundry parasites milking on the riches of Odisha.

Those days in the 1970s and 80s on the Lewis Road leading to Puri close to BJB Flats where my father was housed in a government quarter, a handful of Lambretta and Vespa scooters would be plying, an odd Ambassador or Fiat would pass by. This is unimaginable on a road which is extremely busy these days with chaotic traffic. Modern Urban planning originally present was absent and at its primitive stage when socialism was the fashion and any constructive, free market oriented development was seen as a luxury. A stable (government) job came with its benefits of free housing and other perks. Bhubaneswar being the capital of Odisha was no different.

The ubiquitous spring cum summer breeze of Bhubaneswar would come blowing in from the Bay of Bengal in mid afternoon. The sun was hot, but air was cool, but is not so common or cool these days. The arteries of the roads were not yet clogged, so no bypass was needed. On the popular Puja (festive) days, it was perfectly safe for us to bicycle all the way from BJB flats to Saheed Nagar amidst funnel shaped loudspeakers from Pendals blaring out the contemporary hits. One of them was "MEIN HOON DON" (I am don) from the Amitabh's hit movie Don. Another popular number by the virtuoso Odia singer cum song writer Akshay Mohanty, aptlt depicting the New Capital city. The song goes like this...

"AAGE THILA BAGHA BHALU
BHARA E JANGALA,
TU DEKHLO SUKUTA BOU
GHAIN GHAIN BULE BINCHNA NALA.
BAH BAH RE CAPITOL"

Roughly transliterated

'A jungle filled with Tigers and Bears,
Now see, O SUKUTA's mother.
The hand fan rotates faster
hail to Our New Capital Bhubaneswar."

Not sure about tigers and bears but when we moved to the newly built BJB Flats in 1976, howling of jackals were quite common coming out of some of the today's poshest neighborhoods of the city. I was warned by my parents not to venture into those areas after twilight, lest being attacked by an wild animal or bitten by venomous snakes, for Cobras and Russell's vipers (locally known as BODA SAPA) roamed rampant. A boy of my age, part of our cricket team died of venomous snake bite in 1979 near BJB College. Now the snakes no more dare to come out due to the encroaching human habitat. These days one has to be careful of wild traffic, or bitten by stray wild dogs whose numbers have grown leaps and bound in the city, causing vehicular accidents and making the streets unsafe for pedestrians.

SUKUTA which in colloquial Odia means "the lanky lad" is referred here as the typical slow witted, down to earth Odia guy from a village or small city, lost in the din and bustle of Bhubaneswar, a city most part of the year needs AC these days. BINCHANA (hand fans) are now restricted only to the villages. The song goes on further " -

MATHAA RU ODHANA TEKI
DEKHE LO TIKIYE,
NUA JAJADHANI KHALI
HUKU HUKU DIYE,
DEKH KETE BADA BADA SARKARI GHARA

"O mother of SUKUTA,
lift your head cover and get outta.
Our new capital totally rocks,
Look at those huge govt bungalows".

Bhubaneswar housed its lummox sized salaried employees in a string of Government Quarters in its Units of settlement, there were 9 Units. Unlike now, there were not a whole lot of fancy, private houses those days. The unique numbers of each quarter was enough for the Post office to deliver letters on time. The city those days was far from today's concrete jungle. BELA (Stone Apple), JAMUN (Indian Black berry) and KRUSHNA CHUDA (Marygold bearing crimson red flowers in spring) trees adorned its street as far as eyes can see.

An interesting feature about the Government quarters was most of them had at least one Jack fruit, Mango, Papaya, SAJNA (Drumstic) or BARAKOLI (small sweet & sour berries) tree or some combinations of those. The trunks of most of which were surrounded by mounds of termite molehills which occasionally become free quarters for snakes. While playing in the yards my friends who like me lived in Government quart were soundly advised to stay away from those, lest get bitten by vipers.

The city originally planned for 50,000 people, now a million plus population has come a long way. A la cricket has taken the limelight away from other sports, no other plants survive close to a Banyan tree, Bhubaneswar had slowly pushed other cities of Odisha into oblivion. The other two major cities of Odisha, Cuttack and Rourkela are no where close to Bhubaneswar in terms of facilities and infrastructure.

So much so that, many I know from Sambalpur, Barhampur or Balasore region for whom leaving their native areas was once unthinkable, now have sold off their huge ancestral properties to buy a non descript flat on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. For many NROs (Non Resident Odias) buying a property in Bhubaneswar has become a status symbol. Many get a surprise that I neither own a plot or a Flat (appartment) in the city, making me a perfect PENA (nincompoop), DHAEEN (Literally means a person with respiratory ailments gasping for breath, As a local slang it means a worthless guy, an abject failure in life). I consider myself as one such Pena and Dhaeen.

BAH BAH RE CAPITOL (Hail the capital), BAH BAH RE Akshaya Mohanty for being ages ahead in correctly capturing the ethos and pathos of the city. Way to go Bhubaneswar, the city who lives in my heart. Happy 76th Birthday to my city, my first love 💘 Bhubaneswar who no one ever forgets.

GUDAKHU - The Chewing tobacco

 Not sure if the millennial generation of Odisha is aware of "GUDAKHU" - a paste like chewing tobacco used mostly in its Coastal area. It is identified by a popular brand named "AKBAR KHAN KADAA "(strong) Gudakhu which has a typical bright reddish-orange tinge with an overbearing scent. No idea if that brand still exists.

The users of the product rub it on their teeth and their subsequent spit leaves a stubborn stain which can resist world's most efficient industrial cleaning bleach. Many who are addicted to it can't take their morning dump without rubbing it on their teeth. Though GUDAKHU helps inducing bowel movement, it creates a dependency leading to addiction, not to mention the gluey paste being a leading cause of oral cancer.

The depth of dependency it creates can be measured from the anxiety of a gentleman from Odisha, a GUDAKHU addict who was visiting his son in the United States on a visitor's Visa. Though he well wrapped it, his stock of the red paste tobacco inside his luggage was a matter of concern at the US immigration because of its strong smell which won't elude the drug sniffing dogs at Airport. He frankly proclaimed - if the Customs Authorities find and confiscate my GUDAKHU, I will catch the next flight back home. Luckily for him, nothing of that sort happened and he managed to get his 6 month stock of GUDAKHU inside US, though his daughter-in-law wasn't amused as she struggled to keep their bathroom sink clean.

Not everyone who tried to surreptitiously sneak in GUDAKHU inside United States were so lucky. Another elderly gentleman attempted to bring in this sticky stuff. No sooner he pulled out the luggages from the conveyor belt than a sniffing dog started circling around his bag, barking loudly. Next thing the couple found themselves surrounded by burly US DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) agents who threw a volley of questions to them. Terribly fatigued after a long tiring flight, this was the rough start, the last thing the Odia couple wanted while coming to visit their progeny in America. The lady who couldn't speak a single word in English nervously watched her visibly shaken husband trying his best to explain to the Officers that they weren't carrying any kind of contraband.

The Agents ordered them to open the bag in open sight, which the gigantic doggy of the size of a calf was still busy scratching, its barking getting louder and louder. With fidgety hands our gentleman from Odisha opened his bag as the old lady rested on a nearby chair, shocked and gaping at the ongoing commotion around her. The big dog growled, rubbing its nose against one particular corner of the suitcase excited by the ubiquitous smell of GUDAKHU, frantically scratching on its surface before burying its snout inside the luggage, as the tag it depicting name and address of the senior citizen's son printed in bold, helplessly hanging outside.

Following the directive of the detective doggie, one of the Officers plucked a box from the inside wrapped in Odia daily "The Samaja" with the face of our Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik smiling at him. The box was opened as the area was filled with an overpowering, moist stench of GUDAKHU hanging still in the air. The face of the Odia couple turned red akin to red stuff the Officer was holding, sniffing it with a squeezed nose, wrinkles forming on it due its horrendous smell. Finally the Agent threw away the GUDAKHU box as the yelping doggie didn't sniff the suitcase anymore. Our Odia visitors were let go with a warning as the DEA agent duo took away the canine who got busy inspecting other luggages. The couple finally breathed a sigh of relief after this close call.

It is rumored this legendary tobacco paste is smoothed by GODARAs (Filaria infected thick legged folks, some with super sized balls - a common site in our coastal Odisha) who march past on layers of the Gudakhu paste with their uncovered, pus filled legs. They alternate that with rhythmically scratching their private parts in public, giving the GUDAKHU paste a hand until it is fined into perfection. It is said that this brings the best taste and flavor out of it.

Can't remember any proverbs going with GUDAKHU, but there is certainly one on the GODARI (female with filaria stricken leg) -"GODARI LO TO GODAKU CHAHAN", transliterated it means, "O' the lady with filaria. Look at your infected legs". It simply means - Look at yourself before you point fingers to others.

Don't know if this Red Paste is used by the new generation back home, because it doesn't sound cool to chew GUDAKHU for a modern Odia youth to impress his girlfriend, exposing his stained teeth to his beloved as his symbol of love. The act of proclaiming to his beloved his dependency of the orange paste to his bowel movement hardly sounds very romantic. That's good news - for like any tobacco product GUDAKHU causes cancer, a notorious disease with a history of consuming many consumers of the famous Akbar Khan brand.

Our complex about fair complexion

 A controversy erupted in Kerala after a renowned classical dancer Kalamandalam Sathyabhama made derogatory remarks against a male dancer. Without taking his name, she said - "His complexion was like a crow, and he looked ugly to perform the art". She conveniently forgot that art has nothing to do with the skin color.

Among all civilisations the Hindu India is the arguably the most racist. Long ago our scriptures, epics and myths assigned virtues with the fair skin and vices to dark skin. The Devtas (Gods) are all fair and handsome while the Demons are black and hideous. Fairness of the skin is also associated with the cultured Aryans as against the "MLECHHA" (uncouth) Dravidians. 

Pakistan, a nation partitioned from India has inherited similar traits and are culturally hopeless when it comes to skin colour. In 1960s when Bangladesh was East Pakistan, Yahya Khan, the military dictator launched a specific mission for the Punjabi soldiers to alter Bangladeshi genes through thorough rape of all women to produce white skin progenies. The dark skinned Muslim migrants from UP and Bihar are still kept separate as Mohajirs in Pakistan.

Once a Pakistani player Sarfraz Ahmed was heard hurling a racial slur at his South African counterpart Andile Phehlukwayo during a Cricket match - "ABEY KAALE, TERI AMMI AAJ KAHAAN BAITHEEN HAIN ?" - transliteated "Hey Blackie, where's your mother sitting today ?" Apparently Pakistanis separated from us only 75 years ago by religion aren't tradition wise much different.

No question, we are a fair skin craze Indian Subcontinent never been able to get rid of this complex about our complexion. Fair skin lotions sell like hot cakes. Indian matrimonial columns are filled with ads where the prime most criteria for the bride is "FAIR", followed by Tall, Beautiful, Qualified blah blah blah. In Odisha when a marriage broker says JHIATI TIKE MANDA RANGA meaning " the girl has little bit dull color", it's an euphemism for dark complexion.

Fair enough. No doubt we got a complex about complexion. Can't blame the marriage broker, it's not fair to kill the messenger. He is just trying to make his sales pitch in a marriage market where fair complexion rules the roost. An article in the magazine "India Today" not so long ago mentioned about numerous high society Call Girls operating in Delhi are from the impoverished ex-Soviet Republics. The answer given by a pimp to the undercover reporter - "White skin is more sought after than the rest".

The obsession about white skin isn't limited to prostitutes of Delhi. It  extends to the top echelons of the glitterati of India's capital. When Sanjay Gandhi, the son of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi married Maneka, daughter of a Sikh military man, many whined that her family of not having the same stature as the Gandhi family. At the same time they had no qualms of accepting Sonia Maino as wife of Indira's other son Rajiv though she was the daughter of a middle class man in Italy, simply because she was a white foreigner. The stigma of 200 years of slavery to British still exists till date.

Shakespeare wrote "What's is a name ? You call Rose by another name, it still smells the same". Similarly we can very well say "What's in a Complexion"? A part of Martin Luther King's I have a dream speech was "A person should not be judged by the color of his skin but the content of his character". He was so correct.

The cheer girls performing at IPL cricket matches are conspicuously Caucasians. Yet in a country where most are dark or brown skinned, the craze for white skin cheer girls is nothing to cheer about. Do we lack good looking able dancers who are not necessarily white skinned ? This cheer leading concept have been straight taken out of the page books of American NFL (National Football League) where the cheerleaders include many African Americans and Hispanics, who are either dark or brown skinned. So why not take a step further in IPL and make it more inclusive ? 

During my Engineering College days in REC (now NIT) Rourkela we had couple of students from Ethiopia and Kenya. Many passed innuendos to them - "ABBE KALLU - Hey Black guy". In due course they came to know what "KALLU" meant. One of them retaliated - "You guys call us black but you are a just a shade fairer". He hit the Bull's Eye. Nothing can be more hypocritical, especially when some of us accuse Westerners being racists while we ourselves are world champion racists.

The other day I watched a South Indian movie where the leading female role is played by Kajal Aggarwal, a North Indian import, who hardly knew any acting, but happened to be fair skinned, supplementing her huge assets. Wonder what happened to the talented South Indian Indian movie industry, which has gone so bankrupt that they have to import B graders from North India simply due the the skin color of the actresses.

Gone are the days of Vaijayantimala, Hema Malini, Rekha, Sridevi, Jayaprada who were hardly fair complexioned, had not only excellent looks, were endowed with great acting skills, extending their reach from South to Bollywood. Now it seems the trend has been reversed. Nothing but the craze for fail skin would ascribe to it. And the craze doesn't wane. Those contributing to the immense backlash of Ms. Sathyabhama have made their point. May their tribe flourish.