NEWSLINKS
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTION 99
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

Rediff Shopping

Shop & gift from thousands of products!   Books     Music       Apparel   Jewellery   Flowers   More..      Safe Shopping

Patnaik yet to speakeasy in Oriya

M I Khan in Bhubaneswar

People may not believe that the English savvy socialite-turned-politician, Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, is serious about learning Oriya, the official language of the state, but his tutor thinks otherwise.

The tutor, Rajkishor Mishra, is confident that Patnaik will speak Oriya fluently, and read and write soon.

"I have the patience to teach him. Patnaik is keen to pick up the language as soon as possible," said Mishra, who has been at the job for three months.

A retired professor of English and former editor of Orissa Review, a magazine of the state government, he is using a unique style to help Patnaik learn Oriya. "There are no books or tape-recorder. I use phonetics," he told rediff.com.

Senior Biju Janata Dal leader and Minister of School and Mass Education Bhagwat Behra felt that Patnaik has been very serious about learning Oriya after becoming chief minister last March. "Patnaik, in a very short time, has started speaking to visitors in Oriya," he said.

Last month, at Paradip, for the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the Indian Oil Corporation refinery attended by Prime Minister A B Vajpayee, Patnaik addressed a public meeting in Oriya. Though his accent was bad, it was seen as the beginning of a calculated move.

However, opposition Congress leaders and others felt Patnaik was not serious. ''Even his English accent is not Indian. He has been fooling the people by promising to learn Oriya since he entered state politics," Congress leaders said.

Former chief minister and pradesh Congress committee chief J B Patnaik had stated that the people of Orissa were exceptional to accept a non-Oriya speaking person as chief minister. ''Will Andhra Pradesh or West Bengal accept a non-Telugu or non-Bengali speaking person as chief minister?'' he asked.

According to Mishra, Patnaik is first concentrating on spoken Oriya and will move on to learn the script. Patnaik attends the tutorials about thrice a week.

Patnaik's tutor does not receive remuneration. "I declined as it is my moral responsibility to acquaint the leader of my state with the language spoken by the people," Mishra said.

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report