In Orissa - My hometown Rourkela

People are so unaware.. India just doesnt comprise of these metros - Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai.. diversity has made India culturally rich but it leads to no ground for Indians to debate about which region is the best in modern times.. its vastness lies in its numerous villages and also smaller cities and township not just the metros.. one such township is my hometown Rourkela, Orissa.. Orissa has been put in the map of history mainly cause of the Kalinga war during King Ashoka's reign.. the aftermath of the war simply changed Ashokas course in life.. he sacrificied his luxurious and kingly life and embraced the path of non-violence and set out in search of 'nirwana' following the footsteps of Lord Buddha..

Orissa is made famous by its 'filigri' work on silver jewellry.. applique work called 'pipli' on wall hangings.. did you know the Sun temple @ Konark rivaled the splendor of the Taj Mahal @ one time.. its largely in ruins now cause of lack of funding for its upkeeps.. but every year it is the center stage of India's largest classical dance festival - Konark Dance Festival (http://dances.iloveindia.com/dance-festivals/konark-dance-festival.html) .. its an experience in itself.. the Shiva temple -'Lingaraja' @ Bhubaneswar is yet another mark of beautiful temple architecture.. and the Jagannath Temple @ Puri and the world famous Rath yatra 'car festival' is celebrated with all pomp and show here..

Orissa's greatest contribution to Indias musical and dance scene is the graceful Odissi dance and Odissi vocal.. in the world of sarees - 'Bomkai' reigns supreme.. then theres Sambalpuri silk.. Ved Vyas was born in the confluence of 3 rivers - Sankh, Saraswati and Koel river.. it is lined by several caves where he once is said to have split the vedas in to 4 and authored Mahabharata.. (http://www.world66.com/asia/southasia/india/orissa/rourkela/sights/vedavyas)

the 'Chillika' lake also a bird sanctuary for several migratory birds has breathtaking views.. among modern architectural structures are the Hirakud Dam which is among worlds largest Dam.. Paradip port handles tones of cargo every year - (http://www.paradipport.gov.in/)


The Rourkela Steel plant(part of Steel Authority of India Limited(SAIL)and a Public sector organization) itself is an indo-German collaboration.. Rourkela is a very well planned and green town with the famous Ring road which in a way connects the whole township.. The city itself is flanked by hills on all sides.. City has its own Aerodrome :) and many beautiful parks like Indira Gandhi Park, Jubilee Park,etc and every year winter marks the time for its annual Flower and garden show.. Its the home of 'Hamuman Vatika' - (http://www.rourkela.com/hanuman.html) where the tallest Hanuman statue of 75 feets overlooks the entire vicinity.. home of one of the famous National Engineering College(National Institue of Technology(NIT) - Formerly REC Rourkela).. thats just one among several such educational institution..

Rourkela has its own local TV Channel .. my sister used to be an anchor and news reader and I have performed several times on local TV myself.. highlights of the year used to be the Sangeet Utsav when judges were invited from all across the country.. I actively participated almost every year until it was time to go off to college.. we had several picnic areas in and around Rourkela - Jhilpani, Khadahar, Blue Stone, etc

I can go on and on.. when people scorn me for my being a Rourkellite this is my answer to them.. can you match this kinda contribution of my homestate to any others.. this is just a few.. theres more to where I come from..

Bangali A to Z - My 2 cents

A - "Appayon"(hospitality)

B - "Bhaja" - deep fried version of fish / chicken to saag or any kind of non-vheegis or vheeggies... "Bibaho" - marriage....a year long festivity.. noone can beat that.. starting from "meye dekha"(seeking a bride) ->Ashirbaad and culiminating in Bou Bhaat...O!!!! Honeymooning in the one infamous beach "Digha"..... "Boktovyo" - I have an argument...dont start an argument with a Bangali.. u will never win

C - "Chappal" - flip flops - universal footwear to any attire - "Dressed to Kill" is an understatement..."Cha"(Tea) - favorite beverage of every Bangali - no Adda starts without that...

D - Dada(elder bro.. any man is a Dada in Kolkata).... Didi(same for women) Daroon(awesome)... Dadu(any man with grey hair is Dadu).. Dida(same for women)... "Dhuti".. now mostly worn by men on festive occasions - putting it on is an art in itself...

E - "Engraji"(english for english) - Ha!!!! Go figure... "Eije!!! Shuncho" (Honey!!! r u listening?)

F - "Fhameli" - greatest treasure of any Bangali

G - "Guru!!!!!! ki deyecho" - an exclamation.. "Ganguly, Saurav"...

H - "Hirok Rajar deshe"(in the kingdom of King Hirok)...famous children's movie directed by Satyajit Ray...every Bangali kid has seen it.. "Hooogly" - the river..

I - "AMI" - me - period

J - "Jhol"... Bengali form of Curry.. dimer(Egg) jhol... mangshor(meat) jhol.."Jilipi" - mouth watering, crunchy Indian sweet(snack) - usually eaten for breakfast.."Jam" - Traffic Jam.

K - "Kali"(Ma) - Bangali Goddess of Strength.."Khoborer Kagoj" - the Bangali newspaper - a Bangali cannot go thru the day without reading one...

L - "Load Shedding" - Power failure .. loochi(suggested by a friend)

M - "Maidan" - the race course.. "Metro" - pataal rail.. Mairii!!!(I swear - an exclamation)... "Mukhe Bhaat"(Annaprashan) - first time a child eats solid Bangali khabar(food)

N - Netaji(Subhash Chandra Bose)

O - "OOO!!!!!!" struck with realization or Awe

P - "Payesh"(rice pudding) - the ultimate dessert for every occasion.."Prem" - ajoshro - for everyone

Q - Queue - unending queue to get gasoline, to buy ticket, etc...

R - "Rock e boshe adda" - the corner stone of every lane in Kolkata made famous by the younger generation

S - "Shordi Kashi" - cough and cold.. year around.. no matter what the weather is..."Shonar goina"(gold ornament) - a Bangali tradition...

T - "Taanter saree" - arduously starched and ironed cotton saree that brings out the beauty of every Bangali meye(girl) .. "titkiri" - teasing girls

U - Uphoria... music band made famous by Palash Sen...

V - Vivekananda(Swami) - need I say more?

W - Weather of Kol - mostly hot and Humid

X - X - who knows...

Y - Yoodling by KishoreDa - Kishore Kumar(can u name one other Indian singer who can do that?)

Z - Zoo(Alipore)

Notes - "Bhision"... optical vision - short sighted - almost all Bangali - literary vision, scientific vision, philosophical vision, any vision beside optical is profound - uncontested..
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Home Water Damage incident round up:The complete Saga:

date of the incident - 17th January 2009(Saturday- it was a long weekend ‘cos Monday the 19th was Martin Luther King Jrs. Bday)):

Came back home after my music and dance classes to be welcomed with completely drenched carpet in my first floor and standing water ¾ of my large 15 by 22 sq feet room.
I could still hear the gush of running water somewhere behind my home walls.
First thing I did was backed out of the garage and park in the visitors parking area cos Ishani was with me.

Then knocked at my neighbors door thinking they might have accidentally left a tub or sink running and that caused the flood in my home.
No reply.
Then knocked @ Gloria’s door. She wasn’t home so called her to ask her what I should do next.
I bought my home just this past year September 08 and now I have water damage?? Didn’t exactly know the details yet. Felt like crying out loud. Haven’t felt so helpless in a long time now.. but cudnt do that .. had to take control of the situation before it took a toll on me.
Anyways Gloria said that she was out of town hence she would ask her neighbor next door who happens to know plumbing work to come out and help me shut off the main water that runs into my house.
Guess what he wasn’t home either. So I had to call 911 who then directed me to the fire department.

The fire truck came within 5-10 mins of my call and shut off the main line outside of my home. They kinda looked around - unplugging stuff from the walls that bore the water damage.. which included my home phone. They said they took care of 17 more such cases before me. Phew!!!! So much for good construction material used that holds up against any weather. So here I am very few minutes left on my cell and my home phone is out too? Besides God knows what the water bill is gonna be like this month?

They pin pointed the source of water to a freeze burst caused by the past freezing temperature that Nashville experienced this year. They suggested few companys that do water damage restoration and asked me to call my insurance company first and discuss how to get this fixed. One name stood out for secondary damage recovery – SERVPRO.

After they left I didn’t know how to start.. where to start. Anyways pulled myself together to assure Ishani that we are gonna be fine. She was terrified about the whole incident. She was like ‘Whats Mama Gonna do now? Can we ever get out of this situation.. o!! whats gonna happen to our home’

Then started the barrage of calls to warranty and insurance company. The warranty company were supposed to find a contractor for me to do the plumbing job(since it related to structural damage). But even after 24 hours I didn’t hear back from them. The earliest they cud get to my work was the next Tuesday. That’s beside the point since the extent of the secondary damages would be hard to recover. Hence they suggested I could call my own contractor and get the services authorized from them.

That’s what I did. Just picked up the yellow book and started calling plumbing companies who wud agree to do a free estimate of the plumbing job needed. Settled with ARS- Rescue Rooters who came in the very next day morning and gave me an instant estimate. I got it authorized by my warranty company and the same day they located the pipe and fixed it. It was such a smooth job. The technician who came to fix it just tapped all along the wall which was damp from the standing water and accurately found the ‘culprit’ pipe. It was no doubt a freeze burst. He just replaced that pipe with a flex pipe and hence the primary damage was fixed. Now the monumentous task of drying the whole area.

Instantly what would come to your mind. If you thot mold – right on the dot. The walls have been wet for over 48 or more hours now. The insulation pads inside the walls are damp. The wallboards are damp. I had to get the preventative care process started. So called servpro and my home insurance too. The crew that came in – ripped off the carpet and disposed off the carpet pad underneath it since it was soaked thru. They also knocked down about 1 foot of the wall and removed all insulation since everything was wet. Then the very next day they brought in huge fans and heaters to start the drying process. And the drying took about a week to get done. So that parts all taken care off.

Now starts the rebuilding process. I am letting my home insurance handle it from hereon. The work took 2 months to finally complete. No complains!

The age factor

I always wondered how 'old' that popular actress, or singer or model or dancer is?? recently found out that Mandira Bedi and Alisha Chinoy are my birthmates. Am not among their fan club and have never been.. but nontheless.. the knowledge of this fact disturbed me .. I think I am still young :))(what woman doesnt!!! ha!!).. yet when I think about particularly these 2 women they have 'been there done that' long time ago.. one was made famous by the 'made in India' number back in the early 90s and around that time the other was made famous by the series 'Shanti'.. gosh!!! it sounds old.. kinda prehistoric in this genre.. but look again.. these women still maintain a pretty glamorous profile to the outside world.. what is it that keeps you looking young :
1)regular exercise?
2)a pretty consistent sense of humor?
3)your heart
4)Botox??
5)sheer - bare minerales (well the ads on TV claims so!)??
6)the hollywood diet
7)??
if anyones reading this, would love to have some philosophical inputs