A balance well struck

For Durgeswar Bahalia,33-year-old software engineer from Rourkela,Orissa,Pune is like a second home.

For Durgeswar Bahalia,33-year-old software engineer from Rourkela,Orissa,Pune is like a second home. Bhalia is a part of a thriving Oriya community nestled in the city. In the last six years,it’s been a virtual cultural exchange for me, says the engineer. The community is a large one,with almost 2,00,000 Oriya families residing in and around the city. And they have steadily tried to mingle with the local culture,at the same time trying to recreate memories of life back home. Utkal Samaj is an organisation that aims to provide a cultural and social platform to the community in Pune. Set up in 2009 and sporting 1,200 families as its members,the Samaj has successfully tried to bring out the intricate art work of Orissa,the devout Jagannath temple and the cultural festivities of Saraswati Puja .

Shares L K Tripathi,who has been in Pune since the last 26 years and is the secretary of the Samaj,Before coming up with this organisation,we would have informal gatherings where we would meet regularly. Later on we realised that we need a registered forum that will help get the community together. In fact,the name too is significant,We called it ‘Utkal’,which is an old,historical name for Orissa, reveals Tripathi.

Bara mase tera jatra (thirteen festivals in 12 months) probably defines the colourful spirit of the people from Orissa. Through the Utkal Samaj,the community comes together and celebrates everything – right from Utkal Divas,Saraswati Puja to Pana Sankranti and Ganesh Puja. To be celebrated on April 22 this year,the community is currently busy with the preparations for Utkal Divas,to be held at Nehru Memorial Hall. Nivedita Nanda runs a boutique that specificly sells handloom art of Orissa. The Utkal Divas is a big day for us. It is celebrated in Orissa with a lot of pomp and so here too we try to have the same. Nanda in fact is also an Odissi dancer and believes that staying outside one’s home-town makes one more sensitive to one’s culture. Back home,festivals like the Rathyatra and Kumar Purnima are celebrated in such a big way. While staying here,we have tried to recreate that feeling,so that we maintain our cultural connection even while embracing a new set-up.

But the work of the community spreads to other quarters as well. In the past,they have had a tree plantation drive and blood donation camp. In June 2010, the Utkal Samaj established the ‘Sri Jagannath Trust’ with the aim of making a replica of Shree Jagannath Temple in Pune. On a land donated by Prashant Chordia,trustee,Sri Jagannath Trust,the organisation has started building the temple at Wadachiwadi,four kms from Undri check- naka ,and is estimated to be completed in three years’ time.

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