MARCH 21-27, 2021

HERE . NOW

WORLD POETRY DAY

P3,4

CapturingCreative Spirit

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

MIXED BAGSUNDAY POST

A WORD FOR READERSSunday POST is serving a platter of delectable fare everyweek, or so we hope. We wantreaders to interact with us. Pleasesend in your opinions, queries,comments and contributions to

features.orissapost@gmail.comB-15, Industrial Estate, Rasulgarh, Bhubaneswar – 751010, Orissa.Phone (0674) 2549982, 2549948

FIRE IN PARADISESir, I liked last week’s cover article on forest fire. It’s a matter ofconcern not only for the green crusaders and wildlife experts butalso for the entire human race. I agree with Prakash Mardaraj’sopinion that the authorities need to focus on checking the fireinstead of attempting to douse it. The spread can for instance becontained by digging earth boundaries. The priority is savinglives. Instead of waging a tug of war against the forest dwellers,the government should chalk out plans to ensure their safety.

Only on Sunday POST!

WhatsAppThis Week

LETTERS

SOUMYA SEKHAR SAHOO, KOLKATA

MAGIC ON CANVASSir, I thoroughly enjoyed last week’s My Sunday column featur-ing painter and actor Chintamani Biswal. I can’t say about hisfeelings, but I am excited to learn that former Indian PresidentPrativa Patil had bought his painting Indian Monalisa duringher visit to the state. I wish Chintamani had disclosed theamount he had been paid by the President for his painting. Iwish him best for his upcoming painting series.

CHANDRASEKHAR NANDA, BOLANGIR

Send in your most interesting Whatsapp messages and memesreceived to: features.orissapost@gmail.com

And we will publish the best ones

THE BEST MEMES OF THIS ISSUE

n Last night my girlfriend was complaining that I never listen to her… or something like that.

n May be if we start telling people their brain is an app,they’ll want to use it.

n People who take care of chickens are literally chicken tenders.

n It was an emotional wedding. Even the cake was in tears.

Popular anchor and RJ Rojalin Mohanty has carved a space in the literary world for her short stories ‘Cactus’, ‘Mudhibala’,‘Abisapta Maa’, ‘Bada Dina Cake’ and poems ‘Asha Baitarini’,‘Luha’ and ‘Shaba’. She reads eminent authors Manoj Das and

Pratibha Ray in her leisure time

RASHMI REKHA DAS, OP

MARCH 21-27, 2021

Burning calories On Sundays, I force myself to take anhour-long brisk walk in the morning tomaintain a good level of physicalfitness.

Chef by choiceI love to treat my hubby withsomething special and there can’t be abetter day than a Sunday to do that. Imostly try different varieties of biryaniand kebab which he loves them.

A Hrithik fangirl Being a diehard Hrithik Roshanfan, I make sure to watch at leastone of his movies on eachSunday. That apart, I also watchweb-series of thriller genre onstreaming platforms

Literature loverThe Sundays are incomplete if I don’tread my favourite authors like ManojDas and Pratibha Ray. Now, I amreading Manoj Das’ Sesha Tantrika RaSandhana Re and Sushil Pradhan’sAndhara Re Thau Kichhi.

Couple timeI love to spend timewith my husband, aphysician. We often goon a drive to Puri beachin the evening to startthe week afresh.

With husband

SUNDAY POST COVERMARCH 21-27, 2021

BIJAY MANDAL, OP

Vande Mataram. These were not just two words fromBankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s Bengali fictionAnandamath, they proved to be the most potent

weapon of India’s Independence Movement. They couldunite the freedom fighters irrespective of their caste, creed,religion and the region they belong to. While Vande Mataraminspired the rebels, it evoked terror in the British Empire.People who gave this slogan were lodged in jail.

This is not a solitary incident. Poetry has played a decisiverole in revolutions across the globe. But what role poetryreally plays in a common man’s life or why a peasant singsloudly while working in the field? Why poetry is a mediumto express the feelings of love and pain? What would havehappened had there not been poetry?

On World Poetry Day, a few powerful contemporary poetstell Sunday POST about the purpose of poetry and what isthat poetry and poetry alone can do.

‘An eternal pilgrimage’Pabitra Mohan Dash, a

well known poet, novelist andcritic, says writing poems isa spiritual practice for him.Over the years, he has beentransformed from a firebrandromantic poet to a wordsmithwhose works reflect the realityof his time and living.

The English lecturer ofSha s t r i Smrut i DegreeMahavidyalay, who commands

a strong fan base, says, “ Poetry has no purpose.It only holds and reveals the multiple dimensions

of existence. It acts as a catalyst to celebrate life. Poetry is aneternal pilgrimage having no destination. It starts with wordsand goes beyond. Information and knowledge have theirown place in this world but poetry relies upon wisdom.”

The Bajravamshee poet who has seven anthologies to hiscredit continues: “Once American-English poet TS Eliothad rightly said ‘where is the knowledge we have lost in in-formaion?’. So issue of information being mistaken asknowledge is not new.Our focus should remain on poetry.The key role of poetry is to communicate and connect. Bymeans of communication it can convert the language ofbigotry and intolerance in to that of harmony. It can convinceus that life is undivided so we shouldn’t destroy each other.”

However, poetry claims no direct responsibility. It cansilently help in flowering of human mind .It can providepeople the required strength to fight for dignity of life. Poetrycan generate the language of protest but poetry alone cando nothing except radiating it's own brightness, adds theDandibruta poet.

‘Poetry alone can save usfrom becoming zombies’

Nikhilesh Mishra is a powerful voice in the literary circuitof Odisha. In his upcoming poetry anthology Kabitie MarigalaPare (After a poet dies), he blends ‘what is’ with ‘what couldhave been’ to test the potential of poetry. One can find theglimpses of grief, vulnerability, loss, anger, love and joy inhis poems.

On what poetry can alone do, he says, “In poetry, pausesare as important - if not more - as words are. Anyonereading/listening/writing/living poetry is well-acquaintedwith pauses, both literally and metaphorically. Now in ourage, not only information, but misinformation is also beingaccepted as knowledge. That's because we are all obsessedwith speed, with getting everything readymade at our finger

tip. The dangers of such a way of life are all too evident.We have become less empathetic and

more reactionary, less

bothered about facts (oropinions for that matter),and much more about theshrillness of any voice thatsuits our own prejudices. Inthese terrible times, poetry- and poetry alone - can makeus pause.”

The poet of Kehi JaneKejani Kouthi, a book thatmade to the final shortlist

for Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar 2020, continues: “Andonce we pause, even if for a moment, poetry offers us thescope of reflecting upon the world and ourselves. Once wepause, there is time enough for all the little joys and sorrowsof life; there is time enough for empathizing with anotherhuman being in agony; there is time enough for actuallyliving life and not just enduring it.”

Poetry alone can save us from becoming zombies.

Capturing

Knowledgeand information are

updated but poetry is theeternal glow and flow ofperennial wisdom, says

bilingual contemporary poetSwapna Behera whose poems

have been translated intonearly 70 national and

international languages.

CreativeSpirit

WORLD POETRY DAY

SUNDAY POST COVERMARCH 21-27, 2021

Poetry alone has the potential for keep-ing alive the humanity in all humanbeings, adds Mishra, an alumnus ofJawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi whois now a student of Direction andScreenplay Writing at Satyajit Ray Film& Television Institute, Kolkata.

‘A song of the soul’Bilingual poet Swapna Behera is also

an educationist and the CulturalAmbassador for India and South EastAsia of Inner Child Press, the UnitedStates. She has not only participated inseveral national and international seminarson literature, her poems have been trans-lated in nearly 70 languages across theglobe.

Askedaboutwhat po-etrymeans tocommonman, shesays,“Poetryassimilatesand fliesbeyondborders. Itcrosses the boundaries of culture, religion,caste, colour and deletes all discrim-inations. It is the logical logistic ofmillions of expressions. Knowledge isthe information and digital footsteps inthe brain but poetry is the radiant dancesof the heart, by the heart and for theheart. Poetry can break the geographicalboundaries. Poetry is just like the pollengrains, the first monsoon for a farmer,breast milk for a baby, dreams of a child.Yes, I do believe poetry can lead the aes-thetic movements. Poetry codifies thesojourn journey of the soul from eyes

to al-phabets.Poe t ry i sthe alpha andomega .

Poetry heals inner wounds, protectsvalues, germinates, rejuvenates, exploresand deletes the stigmas, taboos and alsodetoxifies. Above all, poetry is the voiceof an orphan, widow and the envi-ronment.”

She goes on to add that poetry is thestrongest medium to delete the segre-gation, divisions, inconsistencies, am-biguities, contradictions and manmadeconcoctions. Today a man is imprisonedin his own cage. Nature is the paramountpoetry and great Love Guru. Poetrycreates the ruminations, purifies theinner self with innumerable fragrances.

Knowledge can argue with the collectedinformation but poetry is the song ofthe soul, a gift of the cosmic energy. So

poetry can stand alone to speak for itself.Poetry is‘bliss’ with its own aura, shefurther says.

On the relevance of poetry in today’stime she points out, “We talked of in-formation explosion in the late 1980s,the information superhighways throughthe 1990s .We are so much engrossedto leave our digital foot prints today butthe Greater Peace is always hash taggedwith poetry of love, humanity and corevalues. Knowledge and information areupdated but poetry is the eternal glowand flow of perennial wisdom.”

POETS ON POETRYPoetry is the spontaneous overflow of power-ful feelings: it takes its origin from emotionrecollected in tranquility

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH, ENGLISH POET

Poetry lifts the veil from the hidden beauty ofthe world, and makes familiar objects be as ifthey were not familiar PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY, ENGLISH ROMANTIC POET

Genuine poetry can communicate before it isunderstood TS ELIOT, AMERICAN-ENGLISH POET

All poets, all writers are political. They eithermaintain the status quo, or they say,‘Something’s wrong, let’s change it for thebetter’ SONIA SANCHEZ, AMERICAN POET

Poetry and beauty are always making peace.When you read something beautiful you findcoexistence; it breaks walls downMAHMOUD DARWIS, PALESTINIAN POET

n Congratulations for bagging the KendraSahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar. Let usbegin with this award. An award evaluatesthe talent of a writer or it just helps him/herto do better in future. Your thoughts please.

nThank you very much for creating a spacefor me in Sunday POST. I believe, anaward has certainly no capacity to evaluateeither a litterateur or his/her works. Creativewriting is a spark which flows like afountain and meets its own destiny. Somelegendary writers haven’t received anyaward in their life time but have been im-mortalised by their works and they continueto inspire generations. Do we have anyaward that can evaluate the works oflegends like 15th Century poet and scholarSarala Das, Atibadi Jagannath Das andSaint Bhim Bhoi? But yes, an award, inthe present day, sometimes stimulates thecreativity and innovativeness of a writer.It helps him/her to grow and glow. It alsogives the much-needed recognition thathelps a writer to compete with himself.Therefore, it is only the readers whoseevaluation matters the most. They are thebest judge of my works.

n Youths writing in essay genre in Odishaare getting recognised only in last twoyears. How optimistic you are about themwho write essays?

n Yes, it is true that our works haven’t beenrecognised on too many occasions in the

past. No wonder, onlya few young

mindsare

getting into the essay genre.Even a s the Akademi(Kendra Sahitya Akademi)has recognised essay writingin past two years, it is somethingwe all should be proud of. Atthe same time I must say, we havea great tradition of essay writingin Odisha and these back to backawards by the Akademi will definitelyinspire many young writers to carry forwardthe legacy. Following these recognitions,I can see many students of Odia literaturegetting into essay and literary criticism.However, they need to study a lot to reacha certain level as the arena of this genre isquite widespread.

n Being a top police officer you mostly faceextreme situations and deal with the law-breakers of the society. How could younurture a soft emotion like literature?

n Maintaining law and order is part of myprofession while literature is my passion.I am happy that I have so far managed tostrike a fine balance between the two. Butit has not been an easy journey for me. Igenerally read and write from 5.00 amto 7.30 am so that my profession is notaffected. Though my primary duty is toprotect the life and property by enforcinglaws, I always wanted to be identifiedas a good writer as well as a sensible policeofficer. In fact, I believe that all policemen should possess a bit of softness intheir hearts for the victims, for the women,children and senior citizens in particular.

n What is your process of writing? I meanto say how do you get the elements for

your works?

nWheneveran ideastrikes mymind, I start

reading a lotabout it before

writing. I ponder over and think whethera new dimension can be given to thatidea. The issues that are less discussedgenerally fascinate me. I also work onthose things which I believe can educateand enlighten the readers. Then a mentalstructure takes shape in the mind which

is laterdecorated withflesh and blood (words and narrative).Though I write essays, deep inside thereis a poet in me also. Expectedly, thelanguage of my essays is mostly poetic.

nTell us something about your award winningbook Chetanara Anwesana.

n It is my second book which has a collectionof ten essays. The subjects of all the essaysare different – from sorrow of silence topleasure of pain, to the search of dignityand to deriving love. There are alsoessays on legends like Saint Bhima Bhoi,Mahatma Gandhi, poet MayadharMansingh and author Khushwant Singhin my book. Essay is not at all a drysubject for me, moreover, it is addictivelike a Mahua flower. I believe, from heremy sailing begins for a search, a searchwithout knowing the truth and ultimatedestination. Hope, Chetanara Anwesanawill continue to get the required patronageof the readers.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

SUNDAY POST PERSONALITYMARCH 21-27, 2021

’Readers are thebest judge of

my works’

Chandrasekhar’s Fact FileBorn July 1, 1985, the recipient of AkademiYuva Puraskar worked as a Commercial TaxOfficer for six years after doing his M.Phil andPhD from JNU. Besides writing thought-pro-voking columns in several vernacular dailiesfor the last 12 years, Chandrasekhar has alsotaught students of University of Delhi for abrief period. So far, he has been felicitated byseveral literary and cultural organisationswith honours like Gokarnika Samman,Saraswata Samman, Mahuri Samman, AkhilaJagannath Das Samman and KrushnenduSmruti Samman.

Essayist Chandrasekhar Hota needsno introduction to those who take

interest in Odia literature. The 35-year-old has already four books to his

credit while three others await their releases. He also commands a sizeable fan

following for his attractive write-ups in various vernacular dailies. But not many

people know that writing is not his profession but passion as he serves in the

police department. Chandrasekhar’s love for literature coupled with an investigative mind

often leaves a lasting impression on thereaders. No wonder, he has been conferredwith several honours by many literary and

cultural organisations across the state. Butthe jewel in the crown is his recent selectionfor annual Kendra Sahitya Akademi Yuva

Puraskar 2020 for his essay compilationChetanara Anweswana.

In an exclusive talk with Sunday POST,

the DeputySuperintendent

of Police inNabarangpur, spoke

on a host of subjects.Excerpts:

BIJAY MANDAL, OP

Actress Radhika Apte had no ideawhether Laxmi, her character inthe upcoming web series

OK Computer, was male or femaleat the time she was offered therole!

“When I was first offeredthe role of Laxmi, the mak-ers told me that it wasundecided whether mycharacter was male orfemale, and I soonrealised that this wasalso the case withthe other characters.There was so muchflexibility and mas-sive room for im-provisation in termsof the nuances of hercharacter which wereall explored and de-veloped on the go. Thismade the ent i reprocess of portray-ing this characterand workingon this series,extremely sat-isfying,” shesaid.

Throwinglight on hercharacter inthe show

and her similarity with Laxmi’s thoughtprocess, the actress added:

“Laxmi is the head ofPeople for the Ethical

Treatment of EveryRobot(PETER) andan a rdentsupporter ofthe ideology

that artificial in-telligence cannotharm humans.”

IANS

Actress Leah Remini says her daugh-ter Sofia thinks she is ridiculous.The Hollywood star, who rose to

fame as Carrie Heffernan on the long-running sitcom The King Of Queens,made the confession on the The DrewBarrymore Show.

Actress Drew Barrymore was seentalking about Remini’s nail. Shesaid: “I know that you are a nailenthusiast... wow your nails are soextraordinary.”

Remini replied: “They arereally inappropriate for myage, but these are like lipswith a grill. Like I don’t

know why, I just love nails.I love hair and makeup.

I love the whole thingand my daughterthinks I’m ridiculous.She’s probably rightbut I love them. Ienjoy them.”

Remini disclosedthat her daughterSofia does not findit interesting about

be ing 16 , whenBarrymore asked herdaughter’s age. IANS

Riteish turns hairstylist for Genelia

Actor Riteish Deshmukh turned hair-stylist for his injured wife Genelia,who currently has her left hand plas-

tered. She shared an Instagram video recentlythat shows hubby Riteish tying her hair.

“I need somebody who can love me atworst,” Genelia captioned the video, quotingAmerican singer Pink Sweats from his song“At my worst”.

The song also plays in the video asRiteish takes care of Genelia’s hair.

After he is done, the actress pullshim close to her and plants a kisson his cheek!

Earlier this month, Genelia in-jured her left arm while tryingto learn skating with the intentionof accompanying her kids. Sheshared the story on Instagramsaying even though people usethe platform to share success sto-ries, but she wants to open upabout “the times we fall”. IANS

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

TINSELTOWNSUNDAY POST

1MARCH 21-27, 2021

My daughter thinks I’m ridiculous: Leah

When Radhika was kept in dark

Actress Parineeti Choprasays her recently-releasedOTT film The Girl On The

Train, taught her a lot. She feelsthe film gave her ‘second life’ asan artiste.

“I had become a little complacentand carefree and I used to dothings the same way. So it (beingpart of the film) was so amazing,I really feel like this was my secondlife, almost. I really don’t wantto make dramatic statements, butI do feel new again and I feel likea new version of me,” she said.Parineeti also added that being

part of the film was a satisfyingexperience for her.

“I think school was anunderstatement, it waslike Gurukul, it was likeacting ka boot camp forme! I had to literally un-learn everything, and inthe process of that I dis-covered what I really likedand wanted, and my workethic and what I wantedto do. I found love forfilms and acting again,”she said. IANS

‘I had become a little

complacent’

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

SUNDAY POST FOODMARCH 21-27, 2021

Gourmets’ delightGourmets’ delightVEGGIE BURGER

Ingredients Procedure

Heat oil in a pan and add allbeans, carrots, cauliflower

and cabbage to it. Stir over highheat. Add coriander powder, salt,turmeric powder and mix well.Turn off the heat. Keep aside tocool. When cool mix with theboiled potatoes and peas. Makethin rounds so as to match thebun. Dust with maida and dipinto the beaten egg. Coat withbread crumbs. Heat oil and deepfry till they turn golden brown incolour. Slit the burger roll andplace the patty in it along withmustard and mayonnaise. Servehot

n French beans (strung, blanched andchopped fine): 120 gm

n Cabbage, grated: 120 gm

n Cauliflower, grated: 120 gm

n Carrots, grated: 1/2 cup

n Potatoes boiled and mashed

n Coriander powder: 2 tsp

n Salt to taste

n Turmeric powder: 1/4 tsp

n Boiled peas: 1/2 cup

n Eggs: Two, slightly beaten

n Maida: 1/4 cup

n Bread crumbs

n Oil

Procedure

FOR DOUGH:

n Maida / plain flour: 1½ cup

n Salt: ½ tsp

n Water for kneading

n Oil for greasing

FOR STUFFING:

n Oil: 3 tsp

n Garlic (finely chopped): 3 clove

n Ginger (finely chopped): 1 inch

n Chilli (finely chopped): 1 inch

n Spring onion: 4 tbsp

n Carrot (grated): 1 cup

n Cabbage (shredded): 2 cups

n Pepper (crushed): ½ tsp

n Salt: ½ tsp

IngredientsFirst, prepare the stuffing. Heat 3 tsp oil and

put 3 clove garlic, 1 inch of ginger and 2 nosof chilli in it and saute. Also, add 2 tbsp springonion and saute on high flame. Further, add 1cup carrot and 2 cup cabbage. Stir fry on highflame. Now add ½ tsp pepper and ½ tsp salt.Additionally, 2 tbsp spring onion and stuffingmixture is ready. Further, pinch a small ballsized momos dough and flatten. Now dust withsome maida and start to roll using a rolling pin.Roll to almost medium thin circle around 4 – 5inch in diameter. Make sure you roll from sidesand keep the centre slightly thick. Now place aheaped tbsp of prepared stuffing in the centre.Start pleating the edges slowly and gathereverything. Press in middle and seal the momosforming a bundle. Heat a steamer and arrangethe momos in the tray without touching eachother. Steam the momos for 10-12 minutes or till a shiny sheen appears overit. Finally, veg momos are ready to be enjoyed with chutney.

VEG MOMO

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

SUNDAY POST GLAM SLAM

Printed and published by Tathagata Satpathy on behalf of Navajat Printers and Media Pvt. Ltd. and printed at Navajat Printers, B-15 Industrial Estate, Rasulgarh, Bhubaneswar -751010, Odisha;Phone:(0674) 2549982, 2549948. Editor: Tathagata Satpathy, RNI No. ORIENG/2011/37159

MARCH 21-27, 2021

Lipsa

PHOTO: CHANDAN, OP