post news network, Bhubaneswar May 7: Article 19 of the Indian constitution gives an Indian citizen the right to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India and practise any profession, or carry on any occupation, trade or business. Orissa has been the new home of many Indians since independence. The oldest among the many settlers that this reporter spoke to hails from the northwestern part of undivided India, which is now Pakistan. She, along with her family came and settled in Orissa way back in 1949. There are others as well, though not from the place she hails. While some came from the southern shores of the country, others came from the western and northern parts of India.
With the raging debate going on in various forums about making Oriya the official language of the state administration – Oriya, of late has been accorded the classical language status – in order to better preserve and promote the language, Orissa Post spoke to some of the non- Oriya people who made this state their home, post independence, to find out what it took them to learn the native language and embrace the Oriya culture. Excerpts:
I shifted to Orissa in 1991. I hail from Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh. Prior to learning Oriya I was well versed in English, Hindi and Sanskrit, the languages that I learnt in school. It took me around six months to learn the language. Out of curiosity, I also tried to learn how to write Oriya and learnt it in a couple of days. For any outsider learning the language is not a Herculean task. Oriya can easily be learnt. Similarity between the Oriya and Hindi scripts also helped me learn more easily. Later on I translated a few Oriya books into Hindi and also adapted a few Oriya documentaries made for the Doordarshan into Hindi.
Ram Kishore Sharma, assistant director, Vocational Rehabilitation Centre for Handicapped (VRCH)
I came to Orissa in 1994 from Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh. I never took any special classes to learn Oriya. Although it took me around two years to learn the language, but later it helped me in a big way to communicate with the people here. Actually, I learnt a major part of the language while interacting with the carpenters, who were putting up my cabin in office. Other labourers also helped me in getting acquainted with the language. Moreover, my constant interaction with several Oriya students also helped.
N Venkata Sastry, director, corporate relations, KIIT
I came to Orissa from Nagpur in Maharashtra in the late 1970s as I was married to an Oriya guy. It took me merely two months to learn the language. The most crucial role in my learning Oriya was played by my neighbours and the people living in this state with whom I interacted. My everyday requirement to communicate with the local people and constant interactions with them made me well versed in the language. Now, I can read and speak in Oriya and can easily communicate with the people living in this state. I never took any special classes to learn the language.
Revati Pany, industrialist
My family hailed from that part of the pre-independence Punjab, which now is in Pakistan. We shifted to Orissa around 1949. Earlier I was well versed in Punjabi, English and Hindi. Later on, in the course of time, by simply intermingling with the local people and constantly listening to the conversations here I learnt the language. Now I can read, write and speak in Oriya. Interestingly, I can now speak Oriya better than Punjabi! What I have observed is people with Hindi background can learn Oriya without much hassles.
Asha Hans, ex-director, Women Studies, Utkal University
I belonged to Kolkata, where I got well versed in Bangla, which in turn helped me to grasp Oriya easily. I never took any formal training in the language. Interaction with the local people mainly helped me to learn faster. Moreover, watching numerous Oriya movies and talking to many local people in office immensely helped me in mastering the language. Now I can speak, read and write in Oriya with ease.
Namrata Chadda, member, Juvenile Justice Board
I belonged to Chandigarh and my mother tongue is Punjabi. I came to Orissa in 1990. As an IAS officer we are, at our academy, trained the language of the state where we work. I got a couple of months’ training. Later on, my interaction with the people also helped me in sharpening my local language skills. Now I can easily speak, read and write in Oriya and that has helped me a lot in my professional life.
Arti Ahuja, health secretary
