Odisha, through my senses

My first trip to Orissa was after my marriage to an Odia, way back in 1989.  I went there as a young bride and was very fascinated then and to this date every time I land in Odisha my heart lifts.

As a young child my only exposure to Odisha was a state in India about which I learnt in Geography. I was also familiar about the Neelachal Express because this train would leave at about 6:45 a.m. from the New Delhi railway station and almost always was in the platform next to out train, which was the Kerala Express.  My father then told me that the Neelachal Express goes to Puri in the state of Odisha.  It was just that and I would soon forget about it.

As a young bride I felt welcomed into the family I married into, the rituals were as fascinating and awe inspiring as the people of Odisha.  What is a little bit of curiosity and looking at by friends and neighbours when love abounds and everyone is ready to kiss and hug the bride.  The meals were delicious, served on wanna leaves and I was surprised at the similarity in the diet in Odisha and Kerala.  I suppose it is because of the climate of both the states being similar.

So about Odisha, there is a warm fragrance to the soil baking in the heat as you come out into the city of Bhubaneswar.  The roads are pleasantly free and there are hardly any bottlenecks or traffic jams, but then it is a city and it too has the trappings of one.  Slowly the malls and the large Pizza and Chicken stores are coming up but the charm and the popularity of the small joints selling the classic rolls is to be seen to be believed.  The taste of the rolls is even better, the best that I have tasted and my daughter proclaims it to be the best in the world.  The browsing at the Odisha handloom stores and Priyadarshini, well, if I could I would……..buy so many fabrics.  The colours and the weaves are a visual treat and it somehow calms my mind.

While at Bhubaneswar the mandatory trips to meet the uncles and aunts who after greeting us and asking us for an update, go straight into the happenings within the family.  Its an instant update and one feels that it almost is a narration of events and happenings from our last visit to this visit.  What I like is that there is little or no formalities.  Some of these aunts and uncles are now no more but the memories of visits to their home and time spent with them are some that I miss, cherish.  The various temples within the city bring back the sounds and smells of an era gone by.  The temple tanks, the flower sellers, the big banyan trees, the priests and the small shops selling the “prasad” or the offerings to God.  These shops all sell gourmet local sweets and savouries, the taste of which can never be replicated.  My visit to Bhubaneswar is also not complete without partaking of food from one of the temples near the temple tank of the Lingaraj temple.

The best part about my trips to Odisha are the sub trips to Puri, the village where my in laws family stay, Raghurajpur.  The most splendid one is the trip to Puri to meet Lord Jagannath and what mesmerises me the most is the winning village roads and the small towns in between with small tea stalls.  the village of Pipili, where artisans create heaven on cloth with patchwork.  Once again a rainbow of colours and washes away the tiredness and wakes up my soul.  Alas, the development of the highways, now the trip to Puri is on a fancy highway that bypasses all these small villages and if i want to go there it has to be a detour.

As a family we have a favourite resort at Puri but then that is more for the stay at night.  We mostly spend the day roaming around, with a walk to the main street near the Jagannath temple, a visit to the temple.  The temple itself is rambling and can make a large crown seem thin.  My mind calms even as  I climb the steps into the temple, wide and welcoming.  History, spirituality, fragrances, rituals, temple bells, the chanting of shlokas, the sky against the temple, all at once, all tease the senses, all are like a balm to my stressed spirit.  It is as if the past is telling me a tale.  The sea at Puri is pure even though the beaches may have not survived the human touch.  It’s roar is gentle, its dancing waves are calm, it pulls me into its lap.  The children selling coloured stones, shells, and flowers with their smiles are charming and i just buy them for the pleasure of buying them.

Raghurajpur, is like heaven on earth.  A small road that winds between thatched mud houses, women, children and men working on small and large “pattachitra” paintings.  The Gods, Goddesses and their stories come alive through the artists’ brushes on cloth.   It is heartwarming to see that the young children are learning this ancient art and reviving it.

However much I visit the state, whenever I come back, I come back with a sense of awe and every time return there is a newness in the place.  Like once my uncle said, after I married, we don’t have a bit of Odisha but we have a chunk of Odisha.  I do not know whether to call it his intuition about my fondness for the place or to attribute it to my husband’s size!! Whatever he meant, he meant well for us and it rings true.