People forms the soul of any state. And I quite liked the people of Orissa as they were exactly the opposite of what I thought them to be. Frankly, I never thought that the people of this state will be so good. I always carried a notion that they don't welcome their guest and were quite rude.

It just happened that I came in contact with one of the Oriyan friend and I came to understand their nature much better. Through him I came to know about many of his group.

On my way to Orissa, I came to known many Orissan friends. One of them was Abhijit Mutopadhay. Actually, the story is quite simple. He runs a travel agency and thereby I came to know him. I had chosen many travel plans from his agency and it was his friendly nature which kind of brought me closer to him. We became good friends and visited places together. He used to detail me on everything he knew about the state.

He also organized a small get together for me. "Kemti Accha ?", said one of them . "Tame kan khaibaku bhala paiba?." (What will you like to eat?). He was well aware of the fact that I don't know Orissan language yet he kept on saying things in Orissi.

After some time, all of them started laughing and I was quite embarrassed. " Stop harassing him, Arjun" said my Oriyan friend - Abhijit.

" Hey! I am sorry if they bugged you as they are in habit of troubling others. But I would like you to learn some Orissan language, it might help you on your tour to Orissa. "

That was indeed a very good idea!.I thought. " Yes I would love to do that " I said.

He taught me some of the sentences in Orissa which were like.

"Where will this bus go? = A busta kuade jiba ?
What is the rent of this hotel? = A hotelra bhada kete ?
How much do I have to pay? = Mate kete tanka debku padiba ?
What is the distance between = Yaa madhyare durata kete ?"

Karan also told me about the various dance and art form in Orissa. And also enhanced my knowledge on the various cuisines- which included - dishes like Pitha or Cakes - Kakra, Arisa, Manda, Poda Pitha, Khaja and Sweets like - Chhenna Poda, Gulab Jamun, Rasi Ladu, Rasagola, Labanga Lata.