Chapter Updates: OSA NE : FALL 2020

OSNE celebrated Saraswati Puja on Feb 08, 2020 and it was encouraging to see a record number of member participation.

There was a swab drive organized to help our own OSNE member Mr. Mahesh Pati. It was a last minute effort and we are  thankful for  the volunteers’ and the donors’ help towards a noble cause.

OSNE scheduled an interactive conference call on March 22,2020 with the members to address any and all questions that they have. The panel consisted of our very own members Dr. Sidhartha Pani, Dr. Madhusmita Mishra and Dr. Sourya Mahapatra.

OSNE participated in IAGB Republic Mela on January 25,2020 and performed an Odia Folk Dance. They were applauded for their wonderful performance which was choreographed by Guru Jayashree Mohapatra. OSNE also had a booth showcasing Odisha.

On May 23,2020, OSNE hosted its first virtual concert with singers Shasank Sekhar and Arpita Choudhury on Facebook Live. The purpose of the event was to show support to the frontline workers while promoting our fellow odia artists. The live event went on for more than 2.5 hours with the singers singing an array of melodious odia as well as hindi songs.

OSNE in collaboration with OSA responded to Chief Minister Mr. Naveen Patnaik's call for all Odias to sing "Bande Utkala Janani" as a way of thanking our COVID warriors by making it a community event. On May 30, 2020, Singers Rituraj Mohanty, Shasank Sekhar, Arpita Choudhury, and Biswajit Mohapatra joined in with OSA members to put together an event to show respect to our frontline workers and COVID warriors.

OSA members sang the state anthem along with the artists which was followed by a presentation from different chapters of OSA. Afterwards the artists connected with a few members through Zoom call. Satya Tripathy, Assistant Secretary General of UN also joined the meeting and spoke about the current state of the world and environment.

Virtual Ganesh Puja celebration happened on August 22nd followed by an online cultural program and Zoom Gapasapa. Dr. Budhinath Padhy and Kalyani Apa performed the Puja rituals at their home which was on Facebook Live on OSNE’s page. Although the traditional home cooked odia food was missed by everyone, the virtual Gapasapa made up for some of it.

Odisha Society of New England celebrated 74th Independence Day with a virtual event called “Ama desha ama mati, ame sabu Ekathi”. It was opened by Indian Consulate General, New York, Mr Randhir Jaiswal with a congratulatory message and was followed by another heartfelt message by MP Amar Pattnaik of Rajya sabha after opening speech by OSNE President, Debadutta Behera and Secretary, Manabesh Das.

This was an all rounded event with soulful singing by Shasank Sekhar and Arpita Choudhury, hilarious comedy by Pappu Pom Pom and mesmerizing dance by Harihar Dash. Ramesh on Piano, Suresh on guitar and RamKrushna on octapad were amazing. Somesh Satapathy from Somesh Studio made it possible for all the artists to come together and give such wonderful performances.

OSNE officials Debadutta Behera & Manabesh Das joined local community leaders and members in welcoming the new CGNY, Mr. Randhir Jaiswal. The CGNY has been kind enough to recognize OSNE and has advised to stay in touch for any and every community service needs.

OSNE celebrated Kumar Purnima on October 30 virtually with all its members. Chanda Puja was done by a few of our members from CT which was organized by Mrs. Mohasweta Barik. Cultural programs followed after the puja and OSNE original gitinatya “Debaloka re Corona” written by Tapasi Mohapatra premiered on YouTube. There was also a Zoom Gapasapa session with OSNE as well as some OSA members and invited artists like Amrita Bharati, Shasank Sekhar, Sangeeta Mohapatra Kar, Biswajeet Mohapatra and Pravat Singh.

On November 14th, OSNE hosted the award winning movie “KOKOLI” on YouTube. The movie has a social message about climate change and depicts its effect on the fishing community of coastal Odisha.  It was followed by a zoom event with director of the movie, Mr. Snehasish Das and invited artists Adyasha Das, Susmita Das and Shriyansh Dash.

Kathakaar audiobook along with OSNE is releasing the audiobook of Barrister Gobinda Das’s  famous novel “Amabasya ra Chandra” on November 28th. The release will be followed by a Zoom event at 10:30 AM EST with the reader of the audiobook, Mrinalini Padhi and chief guest Padmashri Smt Pratibha Ray. Our own members Manorama Choudhury, Tapasi Mohapatra and Ashok Panigrahi have been associated with kathakaar audiobook in presenting some of odia classics.

On 19th December, 2020, OSNE is hosting a musical evening at 7:30PM EST with renowned singers Rituraj Mohanty, Sonam Dash, Biswajit Mahapatra and dancer Harihar Das. The event is an attempt to reflect back on the resilience and solidarity of this community and to stand with and help our fellow Odia artists in these difficult times.