Running out of ideas how to spend this long Holi weekend? We at Odisha Bytes have drawn up a list of possibilities for you, once you have run out of colours and water to splash at others and have had your quota of sleep.
An extended weekend in this don’t-know-whether-to-be-hot-or-cold weather is perhaps the best time to curl up with man’s, as also woman’s, best friend – books.
Amazon lists among its bestsellers Power of Your Subconscious Mind by Joseph Murthy, The 5 AM Club: Own Your Morning, Elevate Your Life by Robin Sharma and Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. Add to this some from the Hindu’s list of 10 best fiction books last year. There’s Half the Night is Gone by Amitabha Bagchi, Polite Society by Mahesh Rao, The Only Story by Julian Barnes, A Day in the Life by Anjum Hasan, All the Lives We Never Lived by Anuradha Roy, Red Birds by Mohammed Hanif, The Town That Laughed by Manu Bhattathiri, You Can’t Go Home Again by Sarvat Hasin, Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata and Latitudes of Longing by Shubhangi Swarup. You may not get enough time to order the books online, but there’s always the the buzzing book stores in the city.
While at it, we suggest you also look up Why I am a Hindu by Shashi Tharoor and The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells.
But if you want to stay away from books, a visit to Puri or Konark might be in order. Or perhaps, just a day out at the Nandankanan zoological or botanical garden, if not a visit to water parks can make your day.
Or just draw inspiration from that secretive friend who visits “some forest” and posts pictures on Facebook or Instagram, never once mentioning the name of the place.
If you are a movie buff, you can catch up on the latest movies. There’s Kesari, starring Akshay Kumar, based on the Battle of Saragarhi in 1897. Or Badla, a thriller suspense starring Amitabh Bachchan and Taapsee Pannu. That’s not all of course. There’s no stopping you staying indoors and watching Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Golmaal; Chupke Chukpe; Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane; The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, Born Free or French Connection all over again.
Want more ideas? When was the last time you checked out on the nearby florist? Or bought a few roses from there for your spouse? Or checked on the latest fare in the city? Did rafting on the Mahanadi, or pretended to learn driving on the marine drive from Puri to Konarak. Or take a cycle and pedal away to glory on the Ring Road in Cuttack. While there, you can even check on the progress of excavations that were on inside the Barabati Fort. There’s no dearth of the little joys of life that only a holiday gives you the opportunity to realise. So, what’s stopping you?
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