Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, June 9: Noted mythologist and management guru Devdutt Pattanaik said here Tuesday the ‘concept of heroes in mythology is a borrowed concept and not endemic to India’. He was speaking at the 84th birth anniversary of former Orissa Chief Minister Nandini Satpathy at Soochana Bhavan.
“Many people see the actors of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana as heroes and villains. This is a wrong practice and in fact not endemic to our culture and ancient texts. Words like heroes and demons emanated from Greece,” he said and added: “The whole world is a stage and we are merely its actors. Whatever happens are all consequences of one’s karma. What we give is what we get. One can expect the outcomes depending on his or her own actions.”
Speaking about his journey from a physician to a best-selling author, speaker and TV personality, Pattanaik referred to his grooming in cosmopolitan Mumbai, that hosts a multi-culture society. His family has its roots in Orissa. “I was brought up in Mumbai amid people from diverse cultural backgrounds. People from Maharashtra, Orissa, Karnataka, Punjab, Uttarakhand among others stayed in our locality. It was actually the food and kitchen that brought us all together and closer,” he said, stressing the importance of food in national integration.
Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb, the first servitor of Lord Jagannath, released a book brought out by Dharitri on the occasion of Nabakalebara. The Maharaja praised the initiatives of the daily in bringing out the book, a compilation of articles and photographs. The book was launched in the presence of Gajapati Maharaja, Pattanaik and Dharitri and Orissa POST Editor Tathagata Satpathy amid a huge gathering of viewers.
Deb said, “I am overwhelmed to see the response of the people who gathered here to celebrate the birth anniversary of late Nandini Satpathy. I congratulate the initiatives of Dharitri in coming out with the book on Nabakalebara comprising articles and photographs rela
ted to the grand festival. I hope the people from the state will love to read this book.”
Among those present were Adyasha Satpathy, CEO, Dharitri and Orissa POST; state BJP president KV Singh Deo; leader of Opposition in the state assembly Narasingha Mishra, former Congress MLA Suresh Routray, senior government official Usha Padhee, city police commissioner RP Sharma, and additional DGP Vijay Kumar Sharma.
The auditorium where the programme was organised was jam-packed with dignitaries from various walks of life gracing the occasion. In the morning, a photo exhibition on Nabakalebara and associated rituals was opened for the public at Soochana Bhawan.
