Shyamhari Chakra
Half-a-century old Odisha Society of Americas (OSA), the oldest organisation of its kind in the world, has mooted its World Web Festival on December 26 and 27.
The objective of the venture is to bring together similar Odia communities spread across the globe to celebrate and highlight Odisha’s culture apart from serving the cause of Odisha by the Odia diaspora.
The decision to host the first-of-its-kind global event was the outcome of the International webinar convened by OSA president Kuku Das.
“We have just initiated the process of bringing together all Odia societies across the world. We hope, this initiative would serve a greater cause for development of Odisha and Odia identity”, Das stated.
The two-day festival would showcase Odisha’s rich and vibrant cultural traditions of handicrafts, dance, cuisine, music art, architecture, language, literature apart from tourism.
The event would also feature a number of competition of culinary skills of the Odias in virtual mode.
A major component of the deliberations during the festival would be a brainstorming session on the possible role of the Non Resident Odias in helping Odisha in facing the multiple challenges in the post Covid era.
Among the representatives of various Odia co0mmunities who joined the webinar included President of Odia Society of Australia Dr. Nalini Pati, General Secretary of Odisha Society of UAE Pritish Dash, Cultural Secretary of Odisha Society of UK Dr. Bhagyashree Singh, Dr. Bijayashree Samal from Switzerland, Dr. Adrish Bhramadatta from Bangkok, Dr. Sital Kumar from Myanmar, Ramesh Biswal from Nigeria, Arun Kumar Praharaj from Bahrain and Debarshi Mallick from Indonesia.
