Sundargarh: With the advent of the social media, the world now has no barriers. And it because of its power, friendship blossomed between Ankit Pandia of Rangadhipa in this district and Englishman James K David who currently is a resident of Korea. It finally led to James visiting Ankit last month.
Three years back, Ankit and James became Facebook friends. They discussed on a lot of issues regarding India. The Korean also got to know about Odisha and the state’s rich heritage and culture.
Ankit professionally deals in making of various models of helicopters and rockets. He regularly used to post his creations on Facebook and James, an English lecturer, liked those. They started chatting on a regular basis. As James came to know more and more about the Odia culture, he expressed his desire to visit the state.
James flew down to Kolkata from where he boarded December another aircraft for Jharsuguda. Ankit was there at the airport to receive his friend. He took James by road to his village.
During his stay here, James had an exciting time. He visited various tourist spots like the Sarafgarh Dam, Hirakud Dam, and many other places. He was also bowled over after tasting the various Odia delicacies prepared by Ankit’s family members. What James particularly liked the most was red tea sprinkled with black salt.
James also celebrated New Year’s Eve with Ankit’s family and his friends.
Ankit’s father Chintamani Pandia, mother Bandana and sister Monalisa praised the humility of James. In fact Chintamani went on to call James ‘his second son’.
“I am very happy to come to Odisha. Here the people, the places, the traditions and the typical Odia dishes will always be in my memory,” James is known to have told Ankit’s family.
James left Friday for Korea. However, people are still talking about the bonding between the Englishman and Ankit. Friendship, they say transcends all borders and barriers. Well James and Ankit prove that to a nicety.
PNN
