On Occasion of Utkal Divas and Pana Sankranti, Poila Baishakh, Puthandu, Vishu

Greetings my fellow dimers. After demise of last Odia King Mukund Dev in 1568, my state Odisha had been ruled by Mughals, Nawabs, Marathas and English. Utkala Gouraba Madhusudan Das, Utkala Mani Gopabandhu Das, Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati, Pandita Nilakantha Das, Fakir Mohan Senapati, Gangadhar Meher, Basudeba Sudhaladeba, Radhanath Ray, Bhubanananda Das, A. P. Patro etc notable people, fought a political battle for 3 decades to give Odisha its due recognition as a separate state. Source: https://www.quora.com/What-is-Utkal-Divas-and-w... . On 1st April, 1936, Orissa was formed( Today we call my state Odisha). @Simbha3 @Limbo bhai, Utkala Naba Barsha raa Hardika Abhinandana. Our history predates back to before Christ. My state was renowned as Kalinga. You have watched the movie Ashoka. There is a place called Dhauli Santi Stupa, Google it. By it, a river flows, known as Daya Nadi(Nadi translates to river). Battle with Ashoka resulted in decisive defeat of Kalinga and legends say, Daya Nadi was turned red. I am proud to say that I speak Odia as my mother tongue, call Odisha as my motherland. 🙂

Odisha and Bengal celebrates today as Odia New Year. In Bengali today is Poila Baishakh( 1st Baishakh) and Odias celebrate today as Pana Sankranti. Sankranti means transmigration of Sun from one Jodiac sign to other. Pana means a drink made of Bel, curd, jaggery, bananas, bhang etc. We drink it today in Odisha.

Well, I am from a Bengali family, who have settled in Odisha since a long period of time. So, I have a rare opportunity to have the taste of both culture. I went to Odia med school, I spoke Bengali in home. And I have stayed at different parts of Odisha. 🙂 Our relatives in Bengal influenced Balasore and Kolkata gave me a taste of Bengali culture. After I had my job, I was posted on various parts of South India. So, I have tasted the culture of Tamilnadu and Karnataka too. The best part I like about Tamilnadu is, their honesty. In their crowded bus, if you have to give the bus fare, you have to pass the money to the conductor by fellow passengers. And nobody will take a single money out of the change the conductor passes to you. They are very good people. And Kerali people are famously known as Mallus, Macha. Love them. My people were like you have to eat sour water, Idly, Sambar n Dosa. Boy I miss those things.

So, I would like to give my greetings to all of my fellow dimers on occasion of Pana Sankranti(Odia), Bihu(Assam), Poila Baishakh(Bengal), Puthandu (Tamil), Vishu (Kerala).
@rini50 Happy Bihu buddy @AnnamalaiNryaa Happy Puthandu Anna 🙂🙂

Have a good night