Nothing like Odisha: A First Look
A quaint, coastal state on the eastern flank of India, Odisha has a storied past, an evolving present and a promising future. It truly is a story in motion
Bhubaneswar
I landed into the capital of Odisha from New Delhi on the evening of an extremely rainy day. With very little time to spare, I rushed to the Udaygiri and Khandagiri hills, famous for its large network of ancient caves that were built by the ancient kingdom of Kalinga, which included all of Odisha and the northern parts of Andhra Pradesh. I had a little over an hour to explore the site before it closed its gates and a loud bang welcomed my arrival at the ticket counter.
It was the sound of shopkeepers hitting their tin roofs with sticks to scare the monkeys away. The shops around the cave-sites were full of gray langurs, a species of primates commonly found in Odisha, that have become infamous in parts of the state due to their violent encounters with humans and reputation for ravaging farmers’ crops. At this site, however, tourists fed them peanuts and bananas, which created some unpredictable and interesting situations.
While the langurs are happy to get a free meal, there are instances of aggression towards people that have led to serious injuries, resulting in fiery responses from local authorities. The issue has become a concern in coastal Odisha, where the state frequently sends squads of Mankidia tribesmen that specialize in capturing, tranquilizing and relocating the monkeys. The forest department also equips the squads with ultrasonic monkey-repelling devices that disorient the primates’ sensory system.
On my second morning in Odisha I spent the morning at Kuakhai Beach in Kesora, north of Bhubaneshwar city. It is a popular fishing and picnicking spot amongst locals and although it is called a beach, its more of a river sand bank along a river body. I reached there around 7.30am in the morning to spend some quiet time by the water and saw very few locals fishing, bathing and washing their clothes along the banks.
It was a serene walk along the river on an overcast monsoon day; it gave me some time to reflect. Arriving into the Bhubaneshwar, also know as the ‘City of Temples’ made me think about the larger context of life in India and our relationship with faith and religion.
I feel that in India, religion and faith are the great pacifiers. Life for most is a constant struggle, and the embrace of a supernatural power helps put people at ease. It is the inner knowing and belief that they are not alone in their journey, that there’s an overwhelming force that guides, protects and witnesses them through life’s upheavals.
Steel City
After the initial couple days in Bhubaneshwar, one of my high school friends had invited me to spend a week with him in Rourkela, a highly planned city, well known in the region for its largest steel plant, which was set up in collaboration with the German companies Krupp and Demag in the 1950’s.
Interestingly, Rourkela was the largest German colony outside Germany in the 1950’s and 60’s. They even formed the Indo-German club to socialize in the city, an institution that is decaying today, remnants of which are being used for club tennis and wedding banquets. Also, Krupp, one of the companies that helped set up the plant, helped manufacture weapons for the Nazis in Germany during the world wars, and profited heavily from slave labour at the time. After the war, the company’s head Alfried Krupp was tried and convicted for being a war criminal; the company eventually ceased operations in 1999, after partially merging with Thyssen group.
Despite its colorful history, Rourkela is an interesting anomaly. It reminded me a lot of my hometown Chandigarh, another planned city conceived by Polish and American planners, and designed by Swiss-French architects Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret. These cities are rare outliers in India, where cities tend to get overpopulated and grow chaotically to support the incoming population, often resulting in overburdened public works like water and sewage systems, power grids and trash collection.
The dominant population of Rourkela is made up of business families with origins in Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana. Many of these families work in manufacturing and domains servicing the steel industry, and have generated significant wealth in the past few years, especially during Covid when the Rourkela steel plant had increased exports to Vietnam, China and the European market. Suprisingly, instead of being slowed by the pandemic, they broke records in steel production for the foreign market.
During my time in Rourkela, I had a chance to interact with quite a few individuals belonging to these families and picked their brain about the steel business. It was refreshing to hear how clued-in and involved they were in their family business, and how they proactively used new technology to conduct daily business and keep track of commodity prices through online portals. Interestingly, the prices of commodities can vary daily based on market trends and disturbances, but there is a lot of transparency in terms of the price of raw materials and services provided along the supply chain of steel production.
Most people I met in Rourkela came from hard-working, industrious families that made their fortune by being in the right place at the right time; finding business opportunities in and around the steel industry. Despite the abundance of wealth, I found a lot of them to be rooted in family life, spiritual traditions and a pragmatic view on life and business. Some have found other opportunities in retailing, franchising, exporting and real estate, leveraging the capital generated from their businesses.
Another seminal event that transformed the city was the 2023 Men’s Hockey World Cup held at the Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium at Rourkela. It brought sweeping improvements in infrastructure and connectivity in the city. Driving around, one can see that there is no dearth of good roads, sporting facilities and general maneuverability.
What’s beginning to appear is a culture of sport for leisure and wellbeing. My friend Naman, who runs the OFA sports foundation along with our boarding school sports coach, is helping build an environment where families and their kids are actively engaging in sports ranging from basketball, football and tennis. There’s room for other sports like volleyball, pickle ball and badminton but it is a challenge to get access to sporting facilities in town. The problem is of underutilization of spaces built by the government for the people. It is as if the sporting culture is playing catch up with the facilities that already exist in the city.
Seeing coach, who taught us as kids, doing the same work with a newer breed of children was really refreshing. Although we were taught in a tough manner, its endearing to see a more compassionate side of coach while dealing with these children. Besides his methodology and approach, there’s an evolution in his understanding of the needs and motivations of people; he is able to work with them in a psychological manner and has an endless pool of energy to support his ideas and intentions.
Next Stop: Sambalpur
I had initially planned to use public transport for getting from city to city and navigate within towns when I planned my trip to Orissa. However, I had a rude awakening that not every place in the state would be as well connected and navigable by public transportation. There are varying degrees of development within the state and one cannot assume that the same conveniences and amenities would be available across the region.
The only practical way to get around in a timely and efficient manner would be on a personal vehicle, I learnt early on in Rourkela, where I was able to explore the city on a scooter. For the rest of the trip, Naman’s friend lent me his car, a great help that made my life much easier while travelling solo with a haul of luggage full of sporting gear that I usually leave behind.
For the first night outside Rourkela, I decided to stay in an economical highway resort in Ainthapali, a town just outside Sambalpur.
It was off-season time and I practically had the whole property to myself, till a Punjabi family brought a whole lot of energy and decibels in the otherwise empty restaurant one night. It was an oddly comforting experience
There was not much to do in the highway town, but it was close to some interesting attractions. One of them was a rock quarry filled with water of an aquamarine tone, not a place I would feel safe swimming, but definitely some eye candy. It was surely off the beaten path, and I was initially nervous to take the car away from paved roads, but it was safer to be in a car than a pedestrian on a path where trucks were hauling rocks.
The next day, I moved into the city of Sambalpur, an ancient town which has a history dating back to prehistoric times. I went to the local zoo which was under renovation and took day trips to nearby attractions like the Hirakud Dam and the cable car ropeway that gave tourists views of the entire district. It was a slow day that gave me some time to plan ahead for my visit to Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary.
Debrigarh
I’ve always wanted to do a jungle safari and Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary in near Sambalpur offered the opportunity to do so. The area has one Royal Bengal Tiger, 82 leopards and several other animals such as Indian bison, spotted deer, wild boars and langurs. Standing at the tourist information desk was like being in a casino, I could bet on a safari ride but there would be no guarantee of sighting anything. It would be a 30km joyride through the jungle in an open jeep in either case, and I was game.
My eco guide Shishira, who would be driving, was extremely patient while answering my questions and had a wealth of information about forestry and animal behaviour. He had received extensive training for over 3 months and researched further during his free time on Youtube. He drove slowly through the forest and had a sixth sense that allowed him to spot animals quite far away in an instant.
As it turned out, we did not spot any tigers or leopards but did manage to see bison, spotted deers, wild boars, peacocks and langurs. The prospect of spotting a wild cat kept me on high alert for the 2–3 hours it took for us to get to the end of the trail and back. If anything, it makes me want to do more of these safaris in the numerous national parks around India where one can readily spot tigers, jaguars, wild elephants and leopards in action.
The awareness of our inability to fend for ourselves in the presence of wild animals is extremely humbling. In the Indian spiritual tradition, there’s a period of time where people can go into Vanaprastha, a stage of life when a person dwells in the forest and lets go of the material world. Many of us aren’t equipped for that possibility yet
I was nearing the end of my trip to Orissa and had consciously skipped some of the popular destinations like Puri, Cuttack and Konark. I wanted to see the less explored parts of the state and knew that I will be back to do a follow up story soon.
What I’m curious to see is how the current state government impacts Orissa in the 5 years it will be in power, compared to the 25 years or so the previous government retained autonomy over the state. It is a significant period of growth and transition for the state and I’m keen to see how things change over the next few years. It is too early to jump to conclusions and make judgements, but I’m optimistic about the future of Orissa, a story I want to be a part of in my own little way.
