Orissa- A Travelogue

Orissa?...but why?..of all the places in world why Orissa?...

I was wondering why my colleague wanted to visit Bhubaneshwar .He wanted to write some exam and wanted me to tag along with him on the trip.Even befire he came with valid acceptable lie to drag me along i gave my last and final verdict. "No Way"..You dont expect a guy of my calibre who has Phd in Laziness and Inertia to sweat on sundays in some Place whcih i know nothing of ., either language or anything and morever Naxalites and other anti social elemnts are pretty much active these days in those parts.
"No way" i told again before he could reason with me again..as i closed my eyes again n trying to re enter into my dream world







But this Ashish the Bihari babu is pretty stubborn.Qucikly he opened Google, Wikipedia and zeroed on Orissa Tourism site,
He was bent on pulling me out of my slumber.He started shooting marathon excuses on Why i should go along with him...

In Oirssa , they speak Oriya exclaimed Ashish

Without even opening my eyes i blurted out "So what ??"

He countered"You can understand Oriya culture better if yiou know oriya and we can get to understand oriya gals better"

Yawn..I didnt bother answering, i just covered my face with Robertludlum Bourneys Supremacy ., Anyway you dont need to know language to win a gal

"How about Temples??Bhubaneswar, the capital of Orissa, is also popularly known as the "Temple City of India"

Hmm..Iam Agnostic and Non Ritualistic i answered

How about many green botanical parks? He questioned

I love greenary and natural wildernes not clean n green parks,.Morever Parks are for couples and iam Overtly and Covertly Single.,Though in my dreams iam linked to Katie Holmes and engauged to Ana Ivonovic in my hyper sense of imagination.







He , relenlessly took another swipe at me " Imagine the local cuisine , When was the last time u experumented the food beyond Andhra food?..Now he touched my heart ., he knows what a big foodie iam ...but still ...hmm...maybe or may not be ..,,reason not convincing enough

No Way ,,,is my answer still ..now and forvere .Once i give word ., its like being etched on stone.No force can change it

Books and Nature are always my 1st and ever lasting love being Food comming next in series,He knew it.
He pushed his final arguemnt"How about visting Historical locations on mountanoius region in Kalinga ??...""








Even before He completed the sentence i was in train to bhubneswar mentally watching the scene that i have seen million times in past.Its from movie" Asoka " by Sharukh khan.The encounter betwen Sharukkhan and Kareena kapoor.

""Kareena Kapoor:Kshrtraiya hu ..mar javogi (Iam warrior ...You will be dead)

Sharukkhan:Margyaa (Iam dead)""


This one dialgue is my favourite., i might have seen it in youtube million times..It maybe the effect of Asoka the historical king or Sharukhkhan the history maker on me,But King Ashoka is a facsinating character.No king has ever given up war and conquest when he was at peak of his power n energy in the world and embraced Buddhism ..As HGWells , a biritsh author says ..

"In the history of the world there have been thousands of kings and emperors who called themselves 'their highnesses,' 'their majesties,' and 'their exalted majesties' and so on. They shone for a brief moment, and as quickly disappeared. But Ashoka shines and shines brightly like a bright star, even unto this day."






King Ashoka is said to be ChandiAskoha meaning "Terrible Ashoka" as he had unquenchable thirst for war and conquest.His territorioes spread as far as Afgnanistan .He brutally massacred all the claimants to throne which legend says he kiled 100 of his own brothers .whatever maybe the case .. Kalinga war was turning point of his life.Kalinga now in Orisa put a stiff resistence to Ashoka forces but was finally defeated .Entire Kalinga was razed to ground.Thousands killed and many more thousands deported.The River Dhuavathi turmed red with blood of killed .The sight of massacre created a sesmic change in Ashoka heart and attituide towards war whereby He immeduately gave up war and promoted peace and Buddhism




Photos:

Stupa built by a Japanese govt overlooking Dhulavathi river where Kalinga wart was fought

Buddhist relics in State Museum

Trrrrrrrrrrrrring...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

""It takes a Minute to Offend Someone
An hour to like Someone
And a Day to Love somoene
and a Lifetime to Forget Someone""

I very strongly believe that "Sundays" are greatest gift by Gods to Mankind and ultimate discoveries by Man on this planet after Inventions of yummy Cuisines of Dosas and Mysore Bajjis (if u r in karnataka its goli bajji).Its not that sundays are holidays and i can laze around., infact be it sunday or monday ..i wud be still lazing and daydreaming and everyday is Fun-day

Sunday newspapers are gateways to understand a city.Any new place i go ., first thing i would do is buy all sunday newspapers.Sunday newsoapers will be loaded with many intesrting artciles n comics .Films are strict no-no to me on sundays .(who wants to sit in theatre filled to its full capacity., better watch it on monday or tuesday when half the theatre wud be empty)...okok

Today...weather is good.Cloudly.Breeze playing around me ,Already my mind has gone into tranquility mode after AOl meditation...Suddenly tranqiulty broke by phone vibration....Now this is "Surprise of Century" ...How did i ferget to switch off my phone on sunday.Sunday is strict No-no day fer Communications....fer a moment there was a tremor in my otherwise tranquil mind.The number...The number flashing on phone is of 10 digits...Its number that flashed in my dreams millions of times in far dead past.

Now the phone starting purring softly as cell volume went on ascending mode

10 digit number signifies only one thing. International call!!!.. Who would give me International call.??.and why ?

I observe the number.Its starting with 001 ..American number .Only one thing it means.

" Its Her .....!"

Time there should be roughly midnight.Hmm..the girl has become noctornal ...

"TRINGG"
Now the phone started moaning in raised pitch.

Why?..after so many years.Why ..suddenly?.now the important question is not 'WHY?' but should i take the call or not




Its been 5 years approxmiately since we parted on consensual basis .Now the call comes all out of blue..Shall i lift it or not ?...The Volcanic dilemma erupts mentally.

"TRIIIIIING.!!!!"

Surprising.,she still remebres me.I thought American life would have erased my memories from her mind and heart.

I have erased her memory completely with little or no residue.Now this call comes.Shall i ignore it like i have ignored and torn the letter given by cutetest gal in Engineering in front of all seniors gaping at me jealosuly?How immature and coward had i been at that time when i just tore the letter without even looking contents inside just out of fear and embrassment,Hmm..now i have come long way since that incident,
i

TRRRRRRRIIIING...
shall i or shant i ?..THE DIlemma rocks my cranium contents.Being in world of Finance., Mind automatcially generates Risk Assessment Report

My head seems to split like Raavan 10 heads .Each giving a Reason and Answer.Good ., bad and ugly Reasons and in middle lie Me.Totally Confused and Incoherent.

Why is she calling me after so many years.?.Is she trying to redeem the promise i held fer her that i wud stand by her irrespective of what time period of our lives it is .Damn., I hate giving such promises which wud put me in fix.But in Love ., Who is Sane??.I cant break a word that i have given.History is yet to see the day i wud break a promise.Its matter of reputation.The gal might have gone from life but the word thrives.Word is word .Once given.It canot be broken.No matter what.

TRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIMGGGGG
now the phone started howling in cool wind

The Gals seems like from another lifetime.,,i cant lift the call and bring back the all Past rushing to Present,Its tempting but i cant.Momentarily it is good idea and tantazling idea to lift the call and hear the same soft n sweet voice again.But i wonder whats the long term consequences and implications can be?.

i cant take the call.One cannot become weak emotionally atleast A Man Cant,.Past is past and its Dead past .I know all my crazy pals esp Gato and Chouji wud scold me fer not taking the call but after all its my life .At end only Iam responsible for all decsions i take.and icant shrink from taking tough decisions.





Hmm..Gato and Chouji always scream and break my eardrums on singing her virtues and how best, beautiful she is ...hmmm.She might be best But i cannot go against anyones Wishes and Will.She might be best but that doesnt mean iam tooo ordinary.I may be single maybe thats reaosn good enough to invite this hyper pretty gal back..But I am not scared of being alone perpetually.Iam giver of love not a beggar of love., Its matter of self respect.If she is not there then Someone wud come.Weak people believe that Partner from Past is best coz they already know inside out of them and are comfortable with old than venture into new waters .Known Devil is better than Unknown Angel" is the mantra..I dont fear New nor Feel for Old..She maybe Best.But I make My partner "Better than the Best"

TRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING...CELL IS HOWLING LIKE 100 TRUMPETS

On positive sie its a golden opportunity to test how far i have taken control over my emotions since the end of our courtship.I want to see if the embers in my heart still glow in red with fire for her or not.Sitting on roadside pavement .i make a complete chcklist of all Physiological parameters within me .Hope people wont feel iam some kind of levis wearing vagabond or road side romeo with chinese made phone on streets...


i guess all my physical emoti0onal and mental senses are in order...


""Mind though initially surprsied and startled due to sudden flash of her number..now its all calm and tranquil and placiod.No agitation or frutsration.


Nasal senses Breeze not Sweet Whiff of her scent on her nape of neck.Speak of pheromones

No day dreaming.Mind doesnt project her face on mental screen

No insomnia., i still sleep peacefuly with no dreams

no mental fluctuations or cradiac beat gone haywire.....Hand still feels cold N81 out dated phone not imaginiing her small n soft hands ..Habits are same since iam born..Teetoteler..dosa lover..comics onsessed


Hormonal release is normal .No Nostalgia of Past or Aspiration of Future..!stress hormone cortisol is nullified and negated by happy hormone Doipamine resulted from new comic books i bought yesterday""

Thats it ..Everything is perfect


Whats wrong in taking the call ...maybe its a just a Courtesy call ....hmm Mind comes with various tricks ..when u want soemthing ., Mind surely comes wuth Hyper good reasons to do it ...NO No no Iam not going to fall fer tempttations ...

Shall i take the call or not ...?Hmmm.....call ceases...

hmmm...Call dies naturally ...shall i call back ?..no way ...N0 matter what happens ..no matter who is there or not ...what happens or not ...

shall i ..shall i not ? coffe or tofee ..the arguement continues as phone ring dies naturally ....shall i call back??

no way ..Let Bygones be bygones ...!!!!! what do u say ...i did right na ,,,,,Time to pack for my annual week long holiday ..no work for a week ..yipppieee..iam off to mountains....



and Dindt someone say

"Best Future lies in Forgotten Past.!!!"