Orissa Matters

TERRITORIAL ARMY ENCHANTS BHUBANESWAR WITH FUSION ORCHESTRA

Almost everyday this season, Bhubaneswar witnesses cultural events. But the city on 19 Nov 2011 was enchanted with a grand musical extravaganza as the Territorial Army in the evening presented a Fusion Orchestra, the band playing a wide range of tunes at Utkal Mandap of the Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya, while celebrating its 62nd Anniversay.

It was a melodious harmony of Martial music, Patriotic songs, Western and Indian classical, Contemporary and Folk Tunes, presented by 80 musicians live in 25 performances.

When Subedar RB Thapa conducted the tunes of Jana Gana Mana, Raag Yaman, Abide With Me and Sare Jahan Se Achha tunes with Brass, Nischay Kar Apni Jeet Karun, Dil Hoom-Hoom Kare, Zindegi Pyar Ka Geet and TA Song with Brass and Vocal, Hindi tune – Pyar Ka Nagma with Instrumental, Bhala Sipya with Pipe and Brass, Resham Firiri with Flute and Violin and Dhano Dhanya Puspe Bhara in Vocal, Subedar Major Ramessh Singh conducted Patriotic tune with Zazz, Kandhoon Se Milte Hain Kandhe and Chhu Kar Mere Man Ko with Brass and Vocal, Light of Freedom and Jana Gana Mana (slow and regular) with Brass and Mozarat with Violin, Singers Havildar P. Sengupta presented Pukar Ta Chala Hun Main and Badii Door Se Aoya Hai , Sipoy S. Sarkar Ye Jamin Gaa Rahi Hai, Hav. S.K. Ghatak Jab Koi Baat Bigar Jai, Jitendra Harpal Rangabati and Laxmikant Palit Bande Utkal Janani.

The event was organized for the first time in Orissa (now Odisha under a misconceived Act) by 120 Infantry Battalion (TA) BIHAR that came to Bhubaneswar during its Bharat Parikrama program as a part of its performance in 22 cities addressed to national integration and to arousing sense of patriotism and increasing overall awareness amongst youth about Territorial Army and the Army.

The musicians played instruments as varied as Woodwinds, Percussions, Strings, Brass, Pipe with elaw.

A mix of Indian and Western tunes that emerged from the Flute, Piccolo, Bassoons, Corner, French horns, Trumpets, Saxophones, Tabala and Santoor made the evening memorable.

“It was really eclecticism at its best. The band performed very nicely and set the perfect mood for the evening” said Governor M C Bhandare, who graced the occasion as Chief Guest.

Acknowledgement
Photographs courtesy of Colonel S.K.Padhi, Second-in-Command, Commanding Officer, 120 Infantry Battalion (TA) BIHAR, Bhubaneswar.

Having Failed To Cross The Labyrinth of Divinity, Oriya Poetry Is Unable To Guide The Society, Says Dr. Suchismita Pattanayak

Oriya poetry is far from playing its guiding role in society, as, despite progress, it could not cross the labyrinth of divinity, says scholar Suchismita Pattanayak, in a study on its trend of advancement between 1935 and 1970 that has brought for her the Ph.D. degree from the State’s premier University – The Utkal University.

These 35 years were the most crucial ones for shaping up its emancipatory character. But in reality it did not happen, she has said

Though poetry in this period had come out of the cocoon of elitism and become quite nearer to members of the society by way of freer verses and clear expressions leaving behind the burden of meters and jargons blossomed to the pick in the preceding era known in the name of Upendra Bhanja, yet it not only drew characters from epics that the Bhanja era had lucidly scripted, but also in works of nature and live events like Chilika or Darabar authored by the initiator of the modern era, Radhanath Ray, divinity rather than human society was more in focus, she has observed.

Similarly, according to her, in the succeeding era initiated by the Panchasakhas of Satyavadi – Gopabandhu Das et al – poetry became more patriotic than epic-centric. But yet, projection of divinity was sic passim their poetic works. Man was not the basic entity in their horizon, though to the poets of Satyavadi era, man was at the center of the Almighty’s schemes of creation.

The green group, which Annada Sankar Roy of Dhenkanal – later migrated to West Bengal – headed, in the next era named after them, viz. Sabuja Yuga – the era of the youth – had made a new experimentation of supernatural feeling in man’s natural being that eventually gained acknowledgment as the romantic era in Oriya poetic literature. But here also supernaturalism was the pivot of poetic expression, not the youth for which the group was known; and divinity was more recognized than man’s societal environment and/or identification.

Even in the era of progressivism begun with foundation of Nabayuga Sahitya Samsad by Bhagavati Panigrahi and his comrades of letters and enriched by Sachi Routray et al whose monumental works of revolutionary expression had the fountainhead in Marxian concept, divinity was not completely discarded. In his post revolutionary authorship, there are instances where Routray accommodates supremacy of time in an environment of loss and emptiness whereas other active founders of this era like Anant Patnaik were also seen on the brims of spirituality and divinity, says the scholar.

The post progressive era brought poets of excellent caliber. But depiction of despair and withdrawal, love and loneliness, dreams and disappointment – personal and societal – look more defined in their verses where divinity is more relied upon in search of solution than politico-economic reality.

Thus, Dr. Pattanayak says, emancipatory objective of poetry, which should have been made absolute for societal benefit after extrication from elitism could not be properly formulated during the pertinent period from 1935 to 1970, as a result of which, the present poetic literature of Orissa has remained far away from its expected societal relevance.

Human Rights Caddishly Contravened: L & T Infotech Victimizes the Victim

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

Human rights of a lady IT professional were caddishly contravened in the office of the Larsen & Toubro Infotech; but her protests against the offense made the management use designed dragnets to further victimize the victim.

The offense fits into the definition of sexual harassment as pronounced by the Supreme Court of India and warrants action under its 1997 guideline promulgated in Vishaka case by J.S.Verma C.J.I. , Mrs Sujata V. Manohar and B.N.Kripal JJ (AIR 1997 SC 3011) on August 13, 1997. But L & T Infotech, in the instant case, has shown scant regards for the Supreme Court guideline and has, instead of acting against the offender, used intimidating tactics to “force upon” the victim “to retract and take all the blame” to herself “in writing”.

The affected lady trainee is an engineering degree holder with excellent academic records on study of which the L & T Infotech had placed before her its “OFFER OF APPOINTMENT AS SOFTWARE ENGINEER TRAINEE” and it was natural on her part to positively respond to the offer, as an “offer” of appointment makes any job seeker accept it.

And, on joining the company on 23 November 2010, the lady recruit made excellent marks on her assignments. Her success was “applauded” in an official commendation sent to her on 28 March 2011, wherein it was noted, “Congratulations on your successful completion of SET Induction Programme. We applaud the hard work and efforts you have put in for this impressive achievement”. Alas, the same distinguished hard worker is now being condemned by the company as a person who does “anything and everything in her capacity to excuse her leave from the organization”!

Why this? This is because, she has been insisting upon action against the perpetrator of sexual harassment and abettors thereof in the office of L & T Infotech and has left the workplace alarmed by lack of ready refuge in the company from the offending design and continues on seeking leave till a safe environment – free of fear of sexual harassment – is made available to her by way of exemplary action against her tormentor and the abettors.

Lackadaisical manners of the management in the instant case is discernible in the very fact that when she put on records how was she browbeaten by the HR topnotch under the cover of inquiry over her allegation to change her allegation of “gender harassment” to “misbehavior” of a male colleague and how thereby she has been subjected to “mental distress”, and demanded that the matter should rather be forwarded to the higher up for correction of the wrong done to her, the company has preferred not to answer to her, though, after receipt of this mail, she has been told several times to resume work by submitting medical certificates in support of her absence.

The victim trainee, in her communication, in refusing to give a particular date to resume work, has said:

“I am not able to give you an exact date of joining because I have been severely beaten up mentally by the HR department of the company. Unfortunately, when they should have been more humanly concerned to my problem, they, instead ……….. tried to slight me in all possible ways and put me on the spot and almost forced upon me to retract and take all the blame to myself in writing. This kind of humiliating situation coming from HR of a company of L & T repute has shattered my dreams and confidence as an young professional; I am speechless.

“Added to my physical discomfort and ill health ( caused by the nasty act of sexual harassment) this mental distress inflicted upon me by the HR has become a great drag in my concentration, and hence, I am not able to give you any fixed time of joining my duty anytime soon.

“Kindly consider my situation and do the needful. Should you even like to pass the matter higher up, I will have no objection since I feel there is an inherent flaw in the company HR policy/system which, if corrected, will yield higher human dividend to the company in the long run”.

Even as the L & T Infotech authorities have not countered the allegation raised in this communication, they have started using the tactics of blackmail to silent the affected trainee. Through deliberate wrong interpretation of her absence from workplace, they are demanding a sum of Rs.2 lakhs under cover of abandonment of service before two years of bonded time!

IT Professionals Bonded Labors?

The Company boasts of being the best managed Company of India on the strength of a 2010 Business Standard survey. The survey looks correct in this specific context. The company is so shrewdy managed that the world does not know that it makes bonded labors out of IT professionals it recruits as trainee employees!

Our investigation shows that the trainee recruits are made to sign on dotted lines on a “prescribed letter of undertaking on the date of joining” and as a matter of “mandatory requirement”, the said “prescribed letter of undertaking” is signed on dotted lines also by two guarantors. As at the time of “joining” this “prescribed letter of undertaking” is handed over to the trainee recruit for her/his as well as the guarantors’ signature on dotted lines, none of the recruit side signatories gets any time to peruse and understand the contents thereof and as no copy of the said “prescribed letter of undertaking” is supplied to the signatories, the contents thereof remains beyond their knowledge for ever. After joining, the trainee recruit knows that there is no courses of study for the training. The only thing that takes place is doing jobs that employees usually do. So, trainee recruits work on projects like regular employees; but do the job at much less a cost than the salary given to regular employees. There is possibility of resentment, L & T Infotech knows, against this practice of exploitation. Over and above such financial harassment, sexual harassment is a regular phenomenon that lady employees often experience in workplaces despite the Supreme Court’s Vishakha verdict. Many studies made by various researchers and organizations such as India’s National Commission for Women, have revealed that, even though subjected to sexual harassment in workplaces, many women do not put their complaints on records; simply because, they are afraid of facing hostility in the circle of male colleagues or of being dismissed by organized machinations under the offender’s one-upmanship. Yet, there is possibility of protests on records by exceptionally extraordinary ones. In such exceptional cases, L & T Infotech has its invented tactics of blackmailing to suppress the protests by subjecting the protester to circumstances of paying a heavy money that they style ‘liquidated damage’ to the company. If unable to stomach the humiliation, a lady trainee employee remains absent or resigns, she is to pay a sum of Rs.2 lakhs to the company under the design of liquidated damage and be bound not to join any other organization within two years under covenants contrived in the “prescribed letter of undertaking”.

If this is not a clear instance of how IT professionals are being treated as bonded labors by a company like the L & T Infotech, then the State must act immediately to investigate into the matter and let the people know, how it interprets the character of the company’s claim of liquidated damage against a lady who is in protest-absence to protect her dignity and human rights from perpetrators of sexual harassment in workplace.

Victimizing the victim by a corporate concern cannot be countenanced.

NOW WE ARE NOT ALONE; OTHERS HAVE STARTED EXPOSING ORISSA CHIEF MINISTER AND HIS GANG

This site was alone in exposing misdeeds of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and his gang in Orissa government. Now most of media organizations have started exposing his misrule.

In the media, the active issue at the moment is hijacking of prime housing properties by Ministers under the umbrage of the Chief Minister. They attract penal prosecution for having affirmed their false statements as true under oath. But, as the CM is a collaborator, the prosecution machinery has not yet worked.

Convinced that the administration shall never act against the Ministers, civil society members have preferred to kickstart prosecution.

Police has been moved through FIRs to initiate action against Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and four others of his gang under charges of corruption resorted to in government plot allocation. These Ministers are: Law Minister Bikram Keshari Arukh, Higher Education Minister Badri Narayan Patra, Finance Minister Prafulla Chandra Ghadei, Revenue Minister Suryanarayan Patro and Panchayatiraj Minister Maheswar Mohanty.

It is not that the State’s anti-corruption wing is not aware of the offense. But administration of the State has become so corrupt that acting against corruption looks like acting against the State to the anti-corruption wing, specifically as, fellows from Ministers to Chief Minister are involved in corruption!

It is therefore good that the media community in its majority has started stripping this government and activists have come forward to invoke police action against the corrupt Ministers, which, notwithstanding how the police would work, should certainly make mass awakening more defined to put under leash the mad dogs of democracy.

Orissa Became Odisha: What Else Could Have Happened When Stupids Rule the Roost?

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

The Government of Orissa celebrated the assent of the President of India to the erroneous Orissa (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2010 that tampers with classicism of Oriya language by enforcing change of the State’s English spelling from Orissa to Odisha with effect from November 01, 2011. The Chief Minister declared November 05 a holiday to mark the success in the mischief and announced that signboards all over the State and official files shall be made to replace Orissa and Oriya with Odisha and Odia respectively by end of March, 2012. The Hindi words – Urisha and Uriya – must also be changed in use accordingly.

The Bill was erroneous inasmuch as it is surprisingly silent about so called wrong naming of the State in Bengali and other Indian languages. It is erroneous, further because, its nomenclature was misconceived. It was not meant for altering the name of Orissa and in fact it does not. Orissa as pronounced in Oriya is kept in tact and is to continue like that. So, there is a blatant mismatch between the nomenclature of the Bill and the purpose thereof. Over and above this mismatch, the aim of the Bill was detrimental to the classic character of Oriya language. Hence the Parliament of India should not have passed the misleading Bill and when despite our protests, the Bill was passed, the President should not have given assent to it sans required cogitation. The Parliament was certainly conspicuous by its absence of mind in considering the Bill and has made a blunder in passing it without going into the history of transliteration of these two most material words. But the President acted a mere rubber stamp of political power holders and approved it without application of mind to the issue raised by us.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is a congenital non-Oriya born to Biju Patnaik through a non-Oriya mother. He has neither any education in Oriya nor any commitment for this matchless language, which not only is recognized in Linguistic Survey of India (Vol.IV) as a language “of a rich vocabulary in which respect neither Bengali nor Hindi nor Telugu can vie with it”, but also is marked as the most distinguished language on archaic aspect of languages of India, specifically amongst the neighboring tongues when linguistic authorities like Dr. Suniti Kumar Chatterjee of Bengal points out that, “Of these three languages – Oriya, Bengali and Assamese – Oriya has preserved a great many archaic features in both grammar and pronunciation and it may be said without travesty of linguistic truth that Oriya is the eldest of the three sisters, when we consider the archaic character of the language” (Indian Historical Quarterly, Vol.XXIII, at p.337). Neither Naveen Patnaik and his followers and fellow politicians in Orissa nor the members of Indian Parliament who passed the Bill know of this archaic distinction of Oriya language. But, they have given a death blow to this distinguished feature by making this misconceived Bill a Law of the land giving it effect through an amendment in the Constitution of India. This happens, when stupids rule the roost with determination to stay in power by any means and contrive schemes to divert public attention from blatant failure of their administration to misled satisfaction on fulfillment of misconceived pride that the schemers deliberately coin.

The moment it had come to our attention that the lingua non-Oriya fellows in power in Orissa were conspiring to kill the classical feature of Oriya language through this misconceived instrument, we had tried to place our views on records and had urged upon the CM that the English and Hindi spelling of the name of the State and its language should not be changed, as the same was nothing but recognition of Oriya’s classic distinction by non-Oriya Indians and English speaking foreigners.

People of this State had not coined the words Orissa or Oriya or Urisha or Uriya to pronounce and spell the name of their land or language. The non-Oriyas – Indian and foreigners – had to develop these spellings by using ‘R’ for approximately correct pronunciation of the concerned Oriya words.

The peculiarity of Oriya language lies in different appearances of the same alphabet to serve the purpose of two patterns of pronunciation. This was posing a problem for the non-Oriyas, particularly the British occupants of the land. To remove this difficulty, a British officer – Mr. T. J. Maltby of the Madras Civil Service – had authored a ‘Handbook’ in 1874 “mainly for the non-Oriya officers serving in the Oriya speaking districts of the Madras Presidency”. Orissa Government adopted the book – A Practical Handbook of the Oriya Language – in 1945, by courtesy of Miss Lilian Cranworth Maltby, daughter of the author. In this book, Maltby has most ably and faithfully located the pronunciational differences of similar Oriya letters to the extent of even a single letter and has laid down rules for transliteration thereof to Roman equivalents. In the process, he has marked the two patterns of pronunciation of the single Oriya letter represented by Roman D. When the first pronunciation of D is “dental” or “soft” like ‘D’ as in ‘Did’, the second pronunciation of the same D is “cerebral” or “hard” as in the word “Dol”, he has noted. The second pattern of pronunciation of this particular letter was being stressed by the children of the soil by adding distinction to the same alphabet with a dot underneath. M altby, who mandated that “Oriya words in the Roman character are to be pronounced as in German or Italian rather than as in English, and care must be taken that every letter be distinctly sounded” ruled that the relevant alphabet represented by Roman D with a dot underneath justifying its “cerebral” or “hard” pronunciation must stand converted into ‘R’ in transliteration and therefore, in transliteration, Odissa with a dot underneath ‘d’ had become Orissa and Odiya had become Oriya. Attempts were made in 1930s in the all-time authoritative lexicon of Oriya language – Purnachandra Bhashakosha – to present a new transliteration form by prefixing ‘R’ to ‘D’ in representing the dot underneath in matter of cerebral or hard pronunciation thereof and thus Ordisa was posted as transliterated name of the State and Ordia of the language. But, as this was practically problematic, the Bhashakosha’s prefixing of ‘R’ to ‘D’ was discarded by the founding fathers of this State and Mr. Madhusudan Das et al had accepted the rule of transliteration framed by Mr. Miltby and thus Orissa and Oriya had become the transliterated forms of the names of its land and language. Therefore these two words are symbolic of the classical status of Oriya language. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik who celebrated the stupidity of tampering with the classical components of Oriya language in this matter does not know of this.

Oriya language is not only matchlessly superb as pointed out in Linguistic Survey of India and Indian Historical Quarterly as mentioned supra, but also is the language that has given birth in India to the concept of linguistic states.

But, Naveen Patnaik, after taking over the Office in the name of Orissa’s regional interest, has shown constant disrespect to this splendid language and has continuously contravened the Orissa Official Language Act 1954, which stipulates that Oriya is “to be used for all or any of the official purposes of the State of Orissa”. In his regime, administration runs not in Oriya language, but in English. And, in his regime, massive majority of projects have gone to non-Oriyas, all major allocation of land have gone to non-Oriyas and priority of administration has been steered into serving the interest of non-Oriyas to the utter disadvantage of indigenous people of Orissa. This man now celebrates the death blow on the classical features of Oriya language and asserts to impose/enforce replacement of Orissa and Oriya by Odisha and Odia by March 2012 in the name of Oriya pride!

What a great farce! What else could have happened when stupids rule the roost?