Bhubaneshwar Travelogues
This place defies all conventional capitalist wisdom. For those of you who think Bangalore is laid back, let me assure you, compared to this place, Bangalore is a fighter plane with its thrusters on. To give you an example, the government office-staff come to work at 11.30 A.M and go home at 4. Oh, and they take a two hour lunch break. One wonders why they bother leaving home (nope, I wont wonder how they get any work done. You do the wondering on that).
Everything happens in slow motion around here. Whether it is the hotel receptionist filling out the register or the doorman opening the door. If you ask a guy on the road for the time, he will take a while to move his wrist to his eyes, squint at his watch and tell you the time in stretched syllables. His watch would be an hour behind anyways. Time is as important as crow shit, in this part of the world. Odiya's refuse to let their lives be run by a tiny gadget around their wrist.
The people of Orissa are the most profound thinkers to have ever laid paws on earth. Ask a person the way from point A to point B in Bhubaneshwar, and, you can go have breakfast, make mango juice, drink it, design a new space ship from scratch and come back to find that the guy is still ruminating over your question.
The people here are probably the most 'contented with life' clan in the Indian subcontinent. They are a totally satisfied race. Road rage does'nt exist here, they are unbelievably patient, whether it is the delay in trains, cancelled flights, or a misbehaving auto rickshaw driver blocking traffic because he's facing a mid road crisis about the right and left turns of life. On the latter case they just patiently sit behind their steering wheels and handle bars waiting for the confused auto driver to reach a decision and clear the way for others to pass. No curses, no honking, not even a dirty glare. Economically Orrisa might rank down there with the BIMARU states, but as far as satisfaction with the life goes, it is right on top of the heap.
The auto drivers are a much-abused clan in this country and most times rightly so. But the guys here are of a different mould. For a distance of 10 km, an auto driver in Bangalore will charge 70 rupees, in Kerala it would be 90 in Chennai it would be your family jewels (pun, totally intended) and half your house, but here he will ask for 40 rupees and give you a terrified look that says, "I hope you don't think its too much". I am happy to report that I have never bargained with an auto driver here.
Smiling through the day seems to be a unique Odiya trait. They are forever smiling, not the sad or the sarcastic smile, it is the smile of the cat that got the cream and has a fish stashed away for lunch. No discotheques, no glamorous watering holes, not even a shopping arcade, and they seem so happy. (Lessons to be learnt.)
The SISIR SARAS is a tribal festival that is conducted during the second half of January. The tribes from the neighboring districts display their wares and the tribes from other parts of the country (that includes me) come to buy the wares and see the tribes do the Joomba Joomba dance. With the help of an interpreter I asked a tribal about her lifestyle and if she was happy with her current way and state of life (I must have sounded like a NDTV reporter, but then, curiosity is my middle name). Surprise, surprise, she was completely contented with what Madam. Fate had dished out to her. Is it the air, or is it the lack of ambition that runs in the Odiya blood or is it the fact that most Odiya's have'nt seen enough material pleasures to want more? Whatever it is, the rest of the world would do well to learn a few things from these wonderful people about slowing down a bit in a world that seems to be moving at speeds far in excess of what it was designed for.
Contributions to:
Take a moment to smell the flower foundation
Greenwich Village
United Kingdom
Everything happens in slow motion around here. Whether it is the hotel receptionist filling out the register or the doorman opening the door. If you ask a guy on the road for the time, he will take a while to move his wrist to his eyes, squint at his watch and tell you the time in stretched syllables. His watch would be an hour behind anyways. Time is as important as crow shit, in this part of the world. Odiya's refuse to let their lives be run by a tiny gadget around their wrist.
The people of Orissa are the most profound thinkers to have ever laid paws on earth. Ask a person the way from point A to point B in Bhubaneshwar, and, you can go have breakfast, make mango juice, drink it, design a new space ship from scratch and come back to find that the guy is still ruminating over your question.
The people here are probably the most 'contented with life' clan in the Indian subcontinent. They are a totally satisfied race. Road rage does'nt exist here, they are unbelievably patient, whether it is the delay in trains, cancelled flights, or a misbehaving auto rickshaw driver blocking traffic because he's facing a mid road crisis about the right and left turns of life. On the latter case they just patiently sit behind their steering wheels and handle bars waiting for the confused auto driver to reach a decision and clear the way for others to pass. No curses, no honking, not even a dirty glare. Economically Orrisa might rank down there with the BIMARU states, but as far as satisfaction with the life goes, it is right on top of the heap.
The auto drivers are a much-abused clan in this country and most times rightly so. But the guys here are of a different mould. For a distance of 10 km, an auto driver in Bangalore will charge 70 rupees, in Kerala it would be 90 in Chennai it would be your family jewels (pun, totally intended) and half your house, but here he will ask for 40 rupees and give you a terrified look that says, "I hope you don't think its too much". I am happy to report that I have never bargained with an auto driver here.
Smiling through the day seems to be a unique Odiya trait. They are forever smiling, not the sad or the sarcastic smile, it is the smile of the cat that got the cream and has a fish stashed away for lunch. No discotheques, no glamorous watering holes, not even a shopping arcade, and they seem so happy. (Lessons to be learnt.)
The SISIR SARAS is a tribal festival that is conducted during the second half of January. The tribes from the neighboring districts display their wares and the tribes from other parts of the country (that includes me) come to buy the wares and see the tribes do the Joomba Joomba dance. With the help of an interpreter I asked a tribal about her lifestyle and if she was happy with her current way and state of life (I must have sounded like a NDTV reporter, but then, curiosity is my middle name). Surprise, surprise, she was completely contented with what Madam. Fate had dished out to her. Is it the air, or is it the lack of ambition that runs in the Odiya blood or is it the fact that most Odiya's have'nt seen enough material pleasures to want more? Whatever it is, the rest of the world would do well to learn a few things from these wonderful people about slowing down a bit in a world that seems to be moving at speeds far in excess of what it was designed for.
Contributions to:
Take a moment to smell the flower foundation
Greenwich Village
United Kingdom
posted by Antimatter at 12:03 AM
4 Comments:
hey...very nice post..sort of different from your usual style..but nice.
U definitely do have a good sense of humor and a way with words.
what the hell is zis???? you think we oriyas are fools or what??? you scoundrel........you just visit the city once, behave like you have come from mars n then start badmouthing the city......let me tell you that its a place where people love to live.....its got all the plus points of a big city with all the sweetness of a small town.....a rare combination which is found no where else in india.....n who says there are no discotheques n shopping malls here??? u must be blind!!!!
AH, PREETI, LETS DISSECT THIS ONE AT A TIME.
what the hell is zis????
ZIS IS A BLOG, WHERE PEOPLE WRITE THEIR THOUGHTS, WHIMS, FANCIES, ETC. YOU HAVE ALL LEGAL RIGHTS TO IGNORE WHAT IS WRITTEN HERE.
you think we oriyas are fools or what???
I DO NOT THINK ORIYAS ARE FOOLS. I DON'T THINK ORIYAS ARE 'WHAT' EITHER.
you scoundrel........
SCOUNDREL!! HMM, I HAVE BEEN CALLED WORSE, SO I SHALL IGNORE IT.
you just visit the city once,
HOW DID YOU REACH THE CONCLUSION THAT I HAVE VISITED THE CITY JUST ONCE?(I HAVE VISITED IT 4 TIMES AND SPENT OVER 6 MONTHS THERE.
behave like you have come from mars n then start badmouthing the city
......
I HAVE NOT MET ANYONE FROM MARS, SO I REALLY CANT COMMENT ON THAT STATEMENT. AND IF YOU HAD BOTHERED TO READ THE STUFF WRITTEN, YOU MIGHT UNDERSTAND THAT I AM ACTUALLY INTENT ON PRAISING THE PEOPLE OF ORISSA.
let me tell you that its a place where people love to live.....its got all the plus points of a big city with all the sweetness of a small town.....a rare combination which is found no where else in india.....
I AGREE.
n who says there are no discotheques n shopping malls here???
AGAIN IF YOU HAD SPENT A BIT OF TIME ON ACTUALLY READING IT INSTEAD OF SPEWING THE OLD VENOM, YOU WILL FIND THAT THIS ARTICLE IS OVER 2.5 YEARS OLD AND THERE WERE NO MALLS OR DISCOS IN BHUBANESHWAR AT THAT POINT OF TIME.
u must be blind!!!!
ONE OF US IS.
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