OB Special

Some journeys take us to a destination. Others quietly change the way we see life. One such journey happened nearly fifteen years ago, when four of us were travelling to...

A few days ago, while ordering coffee at a well-known café, I reached into my wallet and placed a currency note on the counter. The cashier smiled, pointed towards a...

For countless Odias, the annual Rath Yatra at Puri is not merely a religious festival but an emotional homecoming. Millions travel in crowded buses and trains, jostle through the sea...

We spend much of our lives listening to the world around us, but how often do we pause to listen to the voice within? Four months ago, a close friend...

Bhubaneswar: State-sponsored financial transfers have become the primary currency of modern Indian governance, celebrated through expanding registries and record-breaking outlays. In Odisha, this model is anchored by the Subhadra Yojana,...

For most of my life, I believed I understood what it meant to act in my own interest. Like any responsible parent, I worried about earning enough to provide financial...

Kataka: The establishment of the Orissa High Court stands as a defining chapter in the state’s constitutional and judicial history, a monumental shift driven by a quest for administrative efficiency,...

Children often dream of becoming doctors, engineers, IAS officers, or IPS officers. My childhood dream, however, was rather unusual—I wanted to become a roaring drunkard. I must have been in...

Every year, finance ministries across India unveil record budget outlays, heralded by massive media announcements, escalating target sheets, and swelling beneficiary databases yet, for the ordinary taxpayer, these fiscal declarations...

“Ratnamala, when are you joining politics?”

For over three decades, I have been asked this question at business gatherings, industry forums, social events, and even by close friends.

Sometimes it is asked...