It was a nostalgic moment for the Odia community residing in Dubai, UAE, as they gathered at the foot of Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, on Thursday morning and celebrated the Utkal Divas on the foreign land.
The Odia families who congregated at the foot on Burj Khalifa celebrated Odisha’s formation Day by singing Kantakabi Laxmikant Mohapatra’s ‘Bande Utkal Janani.’ Later, they relished on Odisha’s much-loved traditional delicacies Arisa Pitha, Aloo Dum and Baraa. The celebration was apparently a humble gesture from the Odia people who have been residing in the UAE for almost a decade now, expressing that they missed their motherland and are yearning to visit once the Covid-19 pandemic situation normalises.
Richa Samantray, an Odia entrepreneur settled in the UAE for the last 10 years, had volunteered to prepare the Odia delicacies for the day’s special occasion and that gave her immense joy, she said.
Another Odia Priyandarshee Panigrahi, who is working with an FMCG company, said that reciting ‘Bande Utkal Janani’ at the venue was a unique experience for him. Adding to the list, Rajesh Tripathy, who has been working with a large global business school, expressed that the celebration was symbolic and inculcated a sense of patriotism and fraternal bonding among the fellow Odias residing in foreign land.