Orissa Matters

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak’s poetic work, Smrutirekha, is an excellent depiction of magnificent imagery and portiere drawn on love, observed India’s celebrated poet, former Chief Secretary of Orissa and former President of Central Sahitya Akademi and its present Fellow, Sri Ramakant Rath while launching it as the Chief Guest of the function held for the purpose in the conference hall of Orissa Red Cross at Bhubaneswar on December 6, 2009. Vidypatinka Prema Geet was the other book of SCP that he simultaneously inaugurated.

He thanked SCP for having given the opportunity to Orissa’s readers to read Vidyapati for the first time by translating a section of his lovely songs in equally lucid verses in Oriya.

Chaired by distinguished author and editor of mainstream news daily, Khabar, Prof. Biswaranjan, the lunching ceremony, attended by eminent persons of letters and intelligentsia, was graced by three prominent scholars who dwelt on the distinction the two books deserve.

When Prof. Sneha Das and Prof. Pramod Kumar Mohanty discussed on Smrutirekha and Vidyapatinka Prema Geet respectively as the Speakers of Honour, Prof. Hara Prasad Paricha Patnaik gave his views as the Guest of Honor.

Smrutirekha: a magic chest of romantic poetry

Describing Smrutirekha as the best amongst ardent works of contemporary times that she has gone through, Dr. Das said that launching of this book is opening up to the public a magic chest of romantic poetry wherein lively, loyal and guileless love is lusciously inscribed with splendid stiches.

Vidyapatinka Prema Geet: a masterpiece of translation

Dr. Mohanty, winner of Sahitya Akademi of India Award for poetry in 2008, described Vidyapatinka Prema Geet as a masterpiece of translation. “I am charmed by the beauty of translation in this book. The pieces rendered here are so superb that even Dr. Mansingh, the famous author of Dhoopa, might have felt inferior had he ever gone through these poems, he opined. Before dwelling on life of Vidyapati, Dr. Mohanty thanked Sri Pattanayak for having given Orissa the opportunity to read Vidyapati, which was not available so far in the State and made a cogent appeal that henceforth whenever one is invited to a wedding festival in Orissa, he or she should give a gift of this book to the newly weds as a mark of respect for love in life.

Superb style of versification and faithful translation

Dr. Paricha Patnaik, Secretary of Orissa Sahitya Akademi, praised the superb style of versification used in Smrutirekha as well as in translation of Vidyapati’s love songs. Subhas Babu had started translating from an English translation of Vidyapati’s songs in 1972 and taking all these years to refine his work on the basis of original Maithili verses, has rendered a faithful translation, which is sure to help Oriya readers know of the literary treasure of Mithila, he said.

Symbolic presentation

Both of the books were launched, as mentioned supra, by the Chief Guest Sri Rath. But authentication thereof was done in a novel way. Founder of Book Fair Movement in Orissa, Journalist Barendra Krushna Dhal, received the symbolic presentation of the books. Acknowledging the offer, he said that he was marveled by flow of poetries in from the pen of Subhas Chandra Pattanayak, whom for forty years he knew only as a ruthless, hard-hitting journalist. It would not at all be surprising if he presents more poems to Orissa in future in addition to the three books of poetry already published in succession, he said.

Supplementing excellently the speakers with his scholarly elaborations, President of the event, Prof. Biswaranjan, an intimate friend of the author, compared him with a coconut that outwardly looks hard but inwardly is absolutely soft and sweet.

Beneath the impregnable layer of prosaic journalism, lives a passionate poet in Subhas Chandra Pattanayak, he said.

He threw light on how he has seen poetic trance translated into instant translation of the songs of Vidyapati on the very pages of a book containing those songs during a journey from Bhubaneswar to New Delhi and back by train in 1972, after Sri Pattanayak had chance acquired an English translation of the Maithili poems from a hawker of old books at Kharagpur. He subsequently obtained the original songs in Maithili language and studied Vidyapati and refined his translations juxtaposing them with the original ones and the result is the book now released, he informed.

At the beginning of the evening event, the congregation paid a standing ovation to the Chief Guest Sri Rath, as on the same day in the forenoon, he was decorated for the second time with D.Lit. Prof. Narayan Panda, on behalf of the audience, offered glowing tributes to Sri Rath.

Sri Rath, who despite having fever had devoted the evening to launch the two books, praised Sri Pattanayak for his remarkable style of versification and ability to blend imagery and reality of emotion.

Major Dr. Kumudini Barai, former Principal of Rama Devi Women’s College and authoress of many books, proposed vote of thanks.

Publisher Bharata Bharati, through proprietor Umesh Prasad Sahoo, organized the event.

By Shri Nagendra Nath Mahapatra, Senior Consultant, OERC II Shri Manas Kumar Das, GM,Reliance Energy Trading II Miss Sandhyarani Behera, CESU with emphasis on world energy conservation day to be observed on December 12 and National Energy Conservation Day on December 14 this year.

Electric power is an important sector of National economy. Providing adequate and affordable electric power is essential for economic development, human welfare and better standard of living. Indian economy is at a crucial juncture of its evolution. In spite of massive addition in generation, transmission and distribution capacity over ten Five-year plan periods, growth in demand in power has always exceeded the generation capacity augmentation. Although the installed capacity of the country has increased from a mere 1713 MW in December, 1950 to 1,47,965 MW and the annual generation has grown from about 5 BU to 691 BU by end of March, 2009, the capacity achieved is far below the target set during various plans. Details of planned capacity addition vis-à-vis the actual capacity addition during last ten Five-year Plans and first two and half years of 11th Plan period are given in Table 1 below which pinpoints that excepting during 1st, 5th, 6th and 7th plan period, the performance hovers around 50% of the targeted capacity in other Five-year Plans.

For the detailed report, please click here.

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

Orissa has fallen in so rotten hands that the Assembly has been made to make farce of itself.

When necessary discussions on demands of majority of the administrative departments were gagged under the guillotine expressedly because of paucity of time, the session has been closed by the Speaker before 14 days of its schedule as the Government claimed that there was no business to transact.

What more shame for democracy is possible than a Government’s declaration that it is not able to place before the Assembly any business to transact?

More shameful is that the Opposition has taken the House to its occupation and is raping the Rules of the Assembly in its own Hall ever since the Session was abruptly aborted and the Government is so confused that it is unable to retrieve the dignity of the rampart of democracy.

Is it not time to terminate this Government that has thrown the Assembly into anarchy and taken the State for a ride?

President of India is visiting Orissa from tomorrow. She is not an engine of democracy to be ignited. She is a living person with all the abilities to understand how democracy is running. After agreeing to accept the responsibility, she has been administered with the Oath of Office to save democracy from all possible derangement. So when in Orissa, it would be her legitimate duty to look into working of democracy in the State. If she discharges this duty, she will see how and under what circumstances the Opposition has kept the Assembly under occupation and then it would be her legitimate right to set right the wrong done by the Orissa Government to the Assembly of Orissa. She will have no necessity to have a report from the Governor as the atrophy of democracy would come to her direct observation.

Then she should cogitate the question raised in the preceding paragraph. Otherwise her visit to Orissa, to her heritages like Konark and Puri, would remain to be remembered as a jaunt that a President of India is capable of enjoying.

Barendra Krishna Dhal with the book after Lokarpana

Barendra Krishna Dhal acknowledges the Lokarpana

Launching of Smrutirekha and Vidyapati'nka Premageet

Ramakant Rath after launching the books

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

Hon’ble Speaker of Orissa Legislative Assembly allowed the Government an abrupt abortion of its winter session as the Opposition was seen determined to unveil corruption in mining and land grabbing by the mafia during continuous incumbency of Chief Minister Navin Patnaik.

To layman’s comprehension, Navin is not accepting the Opposition demand for a CBI inquiry into the ongoing loot of Orissa mines lest the corruption comes out.

But what the State Vigilance has disclosed to have discovered is no less than description of unprecedented loot, even though the volumes thereof estimated by the official agency looks like mere tip of the iceberg.

No wonder, premature termination of the session was the only option readily available to the Government to escape.

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik seems to have developed a wrong notion that governance of Orissa in Oriya depends upon his mercy. His press-note of December 17 and full page display advertisement in major broadsheets of today force us to arrive at this apprehension.

In his December 17 press note it was declared that he had held a meeting with the five members of the ministerial committee on that day for the purpose of “strictly implementing the Orissa Official Language Act, 1954 in official and non-official level” to facilitate which a website has been floated by the government. In the full page multi-color advertisement in broadsheet dailies today, this is intriguingly missing.

The advertisement is designed to tell the people that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has taken historical steps to save and develop Oriya language, and has enumerated the steps he has taken. This is blatant lie. Neither he nor his government has executed any single item claimed to be “historical” in the official advertisement. The entire advertisement is nothing but false propaganda. What a shame it is, that, the people of Orissa are taken for granted by their Chief Minister! Read more →

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

Legends are the most misguiding mischief aimed at superimposing lies on reality so that indigenous people of an occupied land are kept too dazzled to see the dark face of the rulers and the class of exploiters can keep its victims subjugated to its authority, while forcing them to forget the heroic history of evolution of their own philosophy of life, their own splendid spiritual realizations, their own socio-economic uniqueness, their own ancient culture, their own valorous past, their own way of social integration and their own civilization.

We see this mischief galore in the context of Navakalevara of SriJagannatha.

So, here, we are to rip apart the legends and bring the reality of the Navakalevara to light, as thereby alone we can reach the lost uniqueness of the people of Orissa.

We will use Puri Sankaracharya’s self-proclaimed authority over Navakalevara to proceed with our purpose.

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

The Oriya daily SAMAJA founded by late Utkalmani Pandit Gopabandhu Das, to which, out of their love and reverence for the great humanitarian leader, the people of Orissa had and have been giving their financial and moral support, is in a menacing maze of forgery and loot.

Sadly, two of Gopabandhu’s trusted men – Lingaraj Mishra and Radhanath Rath – who, because of being known so, had the opportunity of becoming cabinet ministers in Orissa, were the masterminds and/or makers of the forgery from which the paper is yet to be salvaged.

Both of them – Lingaraj and Radhanath – had partnered with each other in forging the last WILL of Gopabandhu to grab the Samaja, which being Gopabandhu’s paper was of superb credibility and the greatest political instrument of the day. They had performed this crime behind the screen of and in nexus with Servants of the People Society (SoPS), of which, while breathing his last, Gopabandhu was the Vice-President. Read more →