Odias living in North America celebrate their culture and heritage every year in a grand convention during the 4th of July weekend. These conventions organized by the Odisha society of the Americas (OSA), the oldest community organization outside Odisha, are always fun.
The OSA, an ever growing 1100 family organization, brings people of Odia origin together dispersed all over the world. The three day long 45th OSA convention (July 3rd – 6th, 2014) held at Hotel Sheraton, downtown Columbus Ohio, just ended with the celebration of Lord Jagannath’s Bahuda festival at the local Sanatana Hindu temple. It was a memorable event attended by more than a thousand Odias from every part of North America and was held at a historic theater in downtown Columbus. There was a sizable presence of distinguished guests and visitors from Odisha, such as Ashok Panda, the honorable minister of Culture and Tourism; popular Odia Novelist Bibhuti Pattnaik; the artist and activist, Padmashree awardee, Kailash Meher; the legendry Rudrakshya dance company led by Guru Bichitrananda Swain; Debasrita Mohanty, the famous Odissi dancer and choreographer; internationally acclaimed sand sculptor Sudarshan Pattnaik; and one of the best music groups led by Abhijit Majumdar among others.
The professional music group consisting of Mr. Abhijit Majumdar (music director), Ms. Tapu Mishra a playback singer, Ms. Sohini Mishra a playback singer and Indian Idol semi finalist playback singer Mr. Bishnu Mohan Kabi, entertained the audience throughout this event.
The convention began with the Odisha Development Day, on 3rd July. Ashok Chandra Panda , Minister of Tourism & Culture, Odisha, was the Chief Guest and gave the Key Note address on investment opportunities in Odisha with special emphasis on the tourism sector. This event was organized in two panels. The first panel session focused on various entrepreneurship opportunities in Odisha. A group of young successful entrepreneurs from Odisha, Ayaskant Mohanty, Annada Padhi and Satyabrat Ratho gave their views and ideas on setting up start-ups and businesses in Odisha.
This session was attended by prominent entrepreneurs from Odisha as well as from North America. Leading Professionals and Business leaders from the Odiya Community residing in the United States and Canada, participated in the discussions. The second panel was devoted to Higher education opportunities in Odisha.
Leading American academics and administrators highlighted their collaborative research and teaching projects involving various American and Indian universities with a special emphasis on how to involve the students and faculty from various universities in Odisha.
Besides a myriad of cultural activities showcasing dance, drama, Odissi Champu and Chhanda music, there were important symposia dealing with issues such as Odia speech and debate, entrepreneurship among the young Odias, health care, Womens forum and Youth identity. For example, one seminar focused on youth, titled "Who am I? Who are we?
Conversations on Identity and Belonging" attracted a huge number of teen and post teen youths in the diaspora to share their life experiences and their search for identity during unsettled times of their life.
Another seminar of interest was on health where a second generation Odia cardiologist presented his path breaking research on cardio health care especially for South Asians. A major highlight of this year’s women’s forum was a moving presentation on women’s health and well being by the octogenarian Odia psychiatrist, Dr. Prasanna Pati who came to the United States in 1952. Another highlight was a seminar celebrating the centenary of legendary Gopinath Mohanty, the best Odia novelist of the 20th century. A book release session showcased the recent published books written by the members of our diasporic community.
The defining feature of this year’s Odia convention was the noticeable participation of the young and the old of our community. There were a sizable number of senior Odias from different parts of the country and we were impressed by their devotion to the OSA convention. Many of the older Odias reported getting a kick from participating in this convention where the continuity and change of our Odia culture is displayed through food, language, clothes, dance, drama, music, seminars, symposia and other activities.
Behind this successful convention lies the selfless effort of a core group of volunteers led by the convener, Satya Pattanaik, who have been working tirelessly for more than a year. Unlike any other community of immigrants, we Odias are annually getting together under the same roof dining, dancing, intellectually enriching ourselves and celebrating our achievements in different walks of lives. This has been so integral to the building of our community, widely dispersed in North America.
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