Travelling to a new place is like going to a restaurant and trying out a dish which you haven't tried at all in your life. You might have heard great positive reviews from your friends and relatives. Since then, all you would have wanted to do is to sink your teeth at least once and find it out for yourself as to what exactly had made so many of your friends to describe so joyously about the viand. So, the next time when you walk into a restaurant and quickly scan the a la carte and see that the particular item is available on the card, without any hesitation, you simply order it without even considering its price. Then, it will take close to eternity for the garcon to bring the delicious dish to your table. The wait. The anticipation. The expectation. It keeps on mounting until the waiter serves the food to you. Your eyes glow up very brightly when they keep the item in front of you. Finally, when you manage to have the first bites of the raved cuisine but have an anti-climax ending to this patient saga, you know it was not what you had expected based on the pretty perceptions that were creatively created by your near and dear ones. Yet you still love the anti-climax because it was a twist which you never anticipated. It was a welcome surprise rather than a shocking or a horrible ending to you. So, you go ahead with gusto and relish every last bit of the delicious dish.
This is the same scenario with places too. You plan to go to a place which you have been hearing since your childhood in Geography textbook, TV or newspapers. To make matters even good, some of your best friends might be hailing from that particular place and would have given a detailed account of their hometown. With all the mental impressions formed in my mind for the last 18 years , I landed finally in Bhubaneswar for my friend's wedding. A car picked me up to Cuttack - my ultimate destination point. Just like Pondicherry or Chandigarh, Bhubaneswar is a well-planned city which could be evidently seen from their layout of roads to their distinctive and systematic well-maintenance of roads and infrastructure. A quick one hour drive takes you to Cuttack which makes you to wonder whether you have travelled back to at least 50 years in time!
Cuttack- the erstwhile capital of Orissa, apologies Odisha, handed over its capital reins to Bhubaneswar as soon as we had our independence. From the famed Barabati Stadium where International Cricket fixtures are held time to time to Barabati Fort to Netaji's birth house, you would have surely and luxuriously heard about Cuttack. But, what you see in stark reality is completely in contrast from the painted picture of the second most important city in Odisha.
The congested roads. The seemingly rickety and ramshackle buildings. The lethargic pace of the people. When most of the places in India clamoured for growth and development, it was then very obvious why Cuttack did not have its much-needed and anticipated growth. Enquiring a couple of local people who have been in the place for more than 50 years, they were of the opinion that people still shared the same old school of thought to preserve their history and that they see new developments as serious detriments to their culture. Also, people feel so much jealousy when others are on the right track of progress that they are overwhelmingly consumed by the very act and fact of it that they fail to perform proactive progress in life. Furthermore, the geographical location is such that it does not permit the place to expand horizontally. These factors directly attribute for the city's lack of development and infrastructure.
However, the backwardness had also has its own charm. You can truly feel and have a connect with nature for every step you take and make. The people were very contented and satisfied with what they had and looked happy, at least on the surface. It was as if they were living one day at a time! They were also kind and helpful when you needed help. God-fearing and Superstitious is not wrong but it should not be at the cost of a city. Cuttack has a wonderful food life with extremely tasty native delicacies. The Silver city can indeed become a gold city provided the people make some giant strides in their mindset that not all development and advancement is bad. The sooner they come to terms with this reality, the better it is for them to move leaps and bounds and be a true game changer in Odisha for being the second most important in the state.
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