5 Ways to Manao* your Special Someone!

Sometimes a "sorry" is not enough... Then what is? #sorry

 

Right. "Sorry" is an ubiquitous and taken-for-granted word. Unless you back it up with some heartfelt action, you have no chance to win the other's heart.

So what are my five big ideas to achieve more than the effect of 'sorry' and indeed mend every crack in the relationship?! Here they go:

SURPRISES 

 

April 1st is #UtkalaDibasa!

April 1st happens to be a very special day for over 5 Crore (50 million) people belonging to the eastern state of Odisha in India. This was the day - 1st April 1936- that Odisha was born as a state. Odisha's people are also called Odias. Today Odias are dispersed across India and the world, in this increasingly globalised era and all celebrate #UtkalaDibasa or Odisha Day with great joy and reverence. Odia is the language of the people of Odisha. This ancient, rich and great language has recently been announced as the Sixth Classical Language of India and the very first Indo-Aryan language which has been granted this highly esteemed status. Odissi is the classical dance of Odisha- one of the most subtle, beautiful, graceful dance forms of India.

On auspicious #UtkalaDibasa I convey my best wishes to all Odia brothers and sisters..Source

Odisha since historical times has had several names- Udra Desa, Kalinga, Utkala, Odisha. Hence April 1st is popularly called Utkala Dibasa : 'Utkala' name was popular during 19th and early 20th centuries when Odia freedom fighters took up the cause, and 'Dibasa' means Day. Famous patriotic song written by Kantakabi Laxmikanta Mohapatra 'Bande Utkala Janani' was made the state anthem upon Utkala's independence on April 1st, 1936. For full lyrics, click here.

Love is in the Air...and in the Sand! :)

Do you know about "The International Sand Art Festival" organised by Odisha Tourism every December by the golden sands of Chandrabhaga Beach in Konark, Odisha?! In case you do not know, please read my previous post in which I relive my enchanting experience of this unique festival.

On the day I visited there, amongst the exquisite thirty sand-art exhibits, I encountered a beautiful sand-art by a French Sand Artist. 

Let me tell you at the outset that I've always associated France with Romance! What with the French Kiss and all that! And Paris is the City Of Love after all!

So, I was not at all surprised to see the theme of the French artist's sand-sculpture! It was L-O-V-E all the way!

International Sand Art Festival, Chandrabhaga Beach, Konark, Odisha

The Konark Sun Temple is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is situated about 70 km away from Odisha's sprawling and beautiful capital, 'Temple City' Bhubaneswar. Every winter, around the first week of December, Odisha Tourism organises two conjoined events of great importance in Konark, namely The International Sand Art Festival at Chandrabhaga Beach of Konark and The Konark Dance Festival with the splendid 13th Century Konark Temple as the backdrop of divine Indian classical dance performances.

I had the great fortune of attending the 2012 edition of both these events at Konark which were held from December 1st to 5th. I went on only a single day (2nd December) yet was able to fully immerse myself in the grandeur of these events such that it has remained etched in my mind ever since. This post is dedicated to reliving my International Sand Art Festival experience, and I'll present my Konark Dance Festival experience in an exclusive post, which it rightfully deserves.

I've preserved the fab invite too!

 

An invite to mesmerise the depths of your soul!

Internationally-renowned sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik, recently awarded with Padma Shri, has been the Brand Ambassador of this major festival- a congregation of sand artists from around the world. Around 30 sand artists from Japan, France, Korea, Germany, Norway and of course India had put up their exquisite sand arts in a row that day. I was actually dumb-struck as I was seeing sand-art in front of my eyes, LIVE, for the first time in my life! A less-known fact (quoting from the invite) is that: prevalence of sand sculpture in Odisha dates back to the 14th Century. No wonder, the golden sands of Odisha's pristine 450 km coastline surely provide the perfect canvas to build the most breath-taking sand-arts in the world!