Ashwini Rath, a native of Odisha state, is the founder of cloud computing company Batoi and also is an author and poet. Rath also supports the government initiatives on technology and startups and has been honored with various awards including special recognition towards mentorship to startups and budding IT/ ITES entrepreneurs of the state and Top 20 Most Inspirational Personalities of Odisha (2019) by a leading publication in the state. He was also nominated to be on the board of the governors at Government College of Engineering (Kalahandi) by the state government.
Apart from his technological contributions and entrepreneurial achievements, what truly makes him stand out is his character as a writer. And within that role, Ashwini surprises by publishing books that are in two widely different domains. His book Cloud Computing – Facing the Reality is an academic book on cloud computing which is used to teach at different institutes. On the other hand, Rising Petals is an anthology of poems, bringing out a distinct creative side of his personality.
It is interesting to note that none of his current achievements tie back to what he was originally trained at. Ashwini is a theoretical physicist by education. As a researcher, Ashwini was deeply involved with the studies of the nonlinear statistical behaviour of strongly-coupled dusty plasmas before getting into cloud computing and Information Technology – first consulting and then founding Batoi. And now, with Rising Petals, Rath seems to have picked a new path altogether.
Despite being his first poetry publication, Rising Petals is far from disappointment.The poet has braved to pen down his collection of poems and put it out for the public. The themes of the poems are relatable and Ashwini writes with honesty and purity – something that reflects strongly in his works. But considering he is a native of Odisha, a translation of Rising Petals in Odia or newer work in the local language is now anticipated from the son of Odisha.
