There is a high tide of feelings within me that touches the past, the present and dreams of a glorious future for Orissa on this day. I have seen the life of Orissa, touched and felt its different soils, winds and innumerable stories attached with them in every district of the state. This is what makes the human being, that is me, an Oriya.

Pondering upon memories and observing the present, I often see how the excitement to hear the aaima kahani (stories from grandparents) have shifted to the thrill of connecting with friends on social networking sites. The post office and trunk call days have long been forgotten with the advent of modern technology, especially mobile phones. This is such an advantage for the people of the state. Sadly, the visionaries who would have used it in the best ways for the state and its people are not with us anymore. But the youngsters whom we have today must wake up to the benefits of technology and make a stronger bonding all over the state, even in the remotest corners.

What I mean would be clear when we visit the past that led to the formation of an identity for the people who live on this piece of land, what we proudly call Orissa.

After the British conquered many regions of this state in 1803, a serious threat to the Oriya identity lingered. Not only these foreigners, but many other communities from India also declined to accept Oriya as a language, forget about Oriya culture. But this threat brought to the forefront many luminaries who realised we are a bunch of people with common cultural practices, all of who, irrespective of caste, creed or even religion, identified this is the land of Lord Jagannath, of pala and daskathia, of Gita Govinda, and the bara masa tera jaata traditions.

Not all people could think this way because of their situation of poverty or lack of education. But these visionaries travelled throughout the state and brought people from different areas of the state closer by letting each group know they were important for each other.

Every Oriya must have a bit of this creative art; it could be in the form of poetry, story writing, acting, painting, sports or any other medium, but behind which there must be a wave of thinking, prompted by emotions of the heart.

Why should there be an unnecessary and unnatural communication gap between the people of one state? If an intercity train cutting through Puri, Cuttack, Rourkela and Sambalpur was introduced only in 2000, how much more time will we take to reach and understand each other?

But the delay on part of the state is no excuse. We, the people of Orissa, for our love towards each other, must know our diversity and appreciate it. I would appeal to the young and smart, tech-savvy and intelligent generation that they must not delay further to know Orissa. Only then they can revive the cinema, theatre and all cultural and creative media, from which they have cut-off themselves despite the strong communication facilities of today.

(As told to Namita Panda)