Charudatta Panigrahi
The Scent of Odisha ought to travel far and wide, not only because the Odisha musk needs olfactors but the universe requires it to live better. Overwhelming naturalness & credulity, which is why some believe that it is a mystic land. Has to be. The unimaginable & incredible happens in Odisha, defying calculations, assertions and wily aggressions. Odisha carries a great mystery within itself which has to be realised and a great potentiality which has to be actualised. Hence the Scent of Odisha is peculiar and quite different and yet not mulish. Scent knows no border and Odias know no delimitation. This cosmopolitanism of Odisha has a fragrance which has both the high and low notes, the steadfast & discursive narratives, the ingenue & chic souls and all the variants to make it a full-bodied fragrance. The enormity & diversity of Odisha canvas is daunting, and the Scent is a whiff around the wood. Much lies inside it. The dedication of the book to Koraput celebrates the simplicity and richness of the indigenous community. It is here that everything has started, even fourteen billion years ago and it is here that the next centuries are being crafted. The author’s reflection in the essay, Origin of the Origin will speak more on this. Akshaya Mohanty deserved more from his fans, Madhu babu’s nationalism should be made au courant, a Ministry of thinking is perhaps essential now and the unscrupulous Officers can’t be allowed to derail progress. Many more waves rough out in the tranquil Buddha land, a gem in the east, where the Sun rises a bit early, every day. Every day Odisha has a new story and every day Odisha fetes the past. This swing is the romance of the Scent, the mystic spirit, maverick, uncorked but also corked. Inclusive of all shades but much beyond the ideas of right & wrong.
