Aama Odisha ~

a literary e-Magazine which aims at encouraging budding writers to explore their creative flair and providing them with an outlet to showcase their writing talents. At the same time, we are dedicated towards emanating knowledge and creating an ambiance of positivism, spiritualism, love, peace, and harmony.

It's birth ~

It was started by a group of young people from different professions and interests who used to meet online and chit-chat with one another in a community named "Aama Odisha" in the social networking site Orkut. Surprisingly, though none of those persons were associated with literature in any major way, their chit-chat ended up at this truly creative literary endeavour.

The journey so far ~

It has been a learning process since our inception and we have kept growing with each edition. There have been some glitches here and there but by God's grace, we have always been able to overcome them, each time. So we may all endeavour to cherish and keep alive our rich and noble language and culture and let us keep helping ourselves to make this purpose a success!

Cover page

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Cover page Artist- Mr Khiti Ranjan Ray

Greetings




We offer our worship and devotion to Lord Ganesha, who is unborn, absolute and formless; who is beyond joy, and bliss itself.....the One and the infinite; who is the Supreme without attributes, differentiation and desire; and who is verily the Supreme Brahman. 

We offer our worship and devotion to the Lord Ganesha, whose beyond attributes; who is the embodiment of intelligence and bliss, the Effulgent Spirit, the All-pervading, attainable through Knowledge; who is the object of meditation to the sages, Formless and Omnipresent like space; and who is the Supreme Lord, the Supreme Brahman. 

We offer our worship and devotion to the Lord Ganesha, who is the Cause of the world, the Primal Knowledge, the Origin of Gods, the Origin of Bliss, the Lord of Gunas, the Lord of heavenly hosts; who pervades the universe and is worshipped by all; who is the Lord of Gods and who is verily the Supreme Brahman. 




Sampadakiya

Bijaylaxmi Sarangi



Editorial

Bijaylaxmi Sarangi


We know from Hindu mythology that Gods and Demons together churned the ocean to get the nectar. As per the Vedic opinion, Gods represent the divine qualities and the demons the material qualities. Without the mutual efforts of both the forces, churning of the Ocean was not possible. Similarly in all the attainments, a coalition is established between the material and spiritual manifestations. In humans, both types of powers are present unremittingly. Material power is concerned with the senses and spiritual power with the consciousness. All the happenings in human life are the result of either equilibrium or disequilibrium of these forces.

Life has emerged from eternity. Humans possess that divine nectar within themselves. Knowingly or unknowingly all the humans are in quest of that nectar. But like a musk deer who is not aware about the scent in its own navel, human is ignorant about his eternal status. He gets surprised at many happenings in his mundane life. And sparsely can he believe that everything is the reflection of his own divine state. In this context a quote from Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda – Vol II P 249 can be sited. There is neither nature, nor God, nor the universe, only that one Infinite Existence, out of which, through name and form, all these are manufactured. How to know the Knower? It cannot be known. How can you see your own Self? You can only reflect yourself. So all this universe is the reflection of that One Eternal Being, the Atman, and as the reflection falls upon good or bad reflectors, so good or bad images are cast up.”

If the material manifestation of being (including the acts of senses) becomes a good reflector, life is made blissful. There are two pre-requisites for this to happen- the first being churning of wishes and the second one is churning of cognition. Churning of wishes means to classify, select and to awaken the wish. Churning of cognition means to awaken and sharpen the intelligence, thought, imagination and the power of reasoning. Success in these two areas elucidates all other successes.

There is a beautiful Zen story. It follows as - When a student asks Zen master about how he would prepare himself for his training, the Zen master replies, “think me of a bell. Give me a soft tap, and you will get a tiny ping. Strike hard, and you will receive a loud, resounding peal.” In this short story there lies a secret message for all. Here the Zen master wants to convey to his student that his hankering and efforts will determine how much he can get of his Guru’s help and cooperation and how much knowledge is he going to acquire. This message is applicable everywhere else. Achievement depends on the intensity of the wish. Wish and its intensity mostly guide the subconscious plane. This subconscious plane mostly controls the material and spiritual happenings in human life.

‘Mind’ is very powerful because it rules over all the senses. Its speed is incomparable. Also it is very supple. So it’s very difficult to control mind. But with the help of reasoning, mind selects the apt desire. It in turn requires wishing with a greater intensity and degree, what emerges naturally and chiefly is awakened from mind. Intellect is one among the four attributes of ‘consciousness’ as per the Vedanta Philosophies. These are ego, intellect, mind and memory. As per the Sankhya philosophy, intellect is of two types, viz. permanent and impermanent. Permanent intellect is of eternal being, the supreme soul and impermanent intellect is of humans. (Purnachandra Bhassha Kosha) As butter is found when curd is churned, observation and working on impermanent intellect gives rise to permanent or supreme intellect.

The power of desire makes every impossible possible. A skeletal body comes out victorious and becomes more lively fighting with death; all the unfavorable situations become ladder of success only by the intensity of wish or desire. How does it happen? The strong wish becomes a prayer. This prayer is nothing else than meditation that clarifies the existence of God within oneself. To think of the subject of desire continually is meditation and prayer. The hunger to achieve the same elucidates and sharpens the intelligence and ultimately results in success. The source of every happiness begins from one’s own self. So human has the right to know that state of eternity within himself. For this to happen, let churning of desire and churning of cognition be the intents of all beings. Let mutual functioning of both the material and spiritual powers illuminate every life.

Artist "Padmaja Madhu"


Art by- Padmaja Madhu

Artist Padmaja Madhu is a Mumbai based self taught artist. She originally is from Bangalore. She has a brilliant feat at murals, miniatures and fine arts simultaneously. Since her very childhood she has been greatly influenced by the Tanjore style of mural paintings at temples of Bangalore. Her mural arts being mostly pictures of Hindu Gods and Goddesess thus basically showcase her love for Tanjore art. The versatility of Padmaja's talent is apparent by the fact that apart from doing large wall paintings she also paints lovely miniatures with fine details. She has a great sense of choosing colours, medium and theme for her paintings. Her efforts in exploring various areas of art make her special. The paintings of Monet and Van Gogh are her prime inspiration while talking of fine arts. She expresses herself through impressionist, expressionist as well as abstract approach to painting. She holds that the road to artistic evolution lies in diversity in media, style and subject matter. About her special penchant for art she holds that, art has put her on the path of joy and self discovery.

Other art works by the Artist...






Artist Gracy Mathew


Artist Gracy Mathew is a retired officer in Reserve Bank of India. Art and photography has been among her greatest passions. She stays in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala with her husband K.V. Mathew. She does paintings using various mediums like oil, acrylic and watercolour. She has participated in several group exhibitions including one conducted in Philadelphia USA, and has own the viewers’ choice award. Mother Nature is her greatest inspiration. Her artistic life has been shaped and nurtured by her sensitive vision in understanding beauty of nature. Apart from the happiness and satisfaction of being involved in family and social bondings her passion in art is the greatest source of contentment and joy in her retirement life.


Selective art works of Artist Gracy Mathew






Artist Abhilash Menon



Artist Abhilash Menon is a versatile self taught artist having great skill in painting, photography, digital art, animation, creative web designing etc. simultaneously. He is born in Calicut in the divinely land of Kerala and is currently based at Mumbai. His water colour paintings are very impressive. He also skillfully creates pencil portraits, acrylic paintings and digital images. The themes usually he chooses for his art works carry some special message for all. He is an avid admirer of nature. The scenic beauty of kerala has been the greatest inspiration for his artistic life. As a passionate photographer he captures all the picturesque views he comes across. His special insight into beauty that the nature imparts and his analytical mind makes him a talented artist. 

Some of the selective art works by the artist-






Bishesha Prasanga














Tuaan Tuieen Pitha Bhandara



Photo Courtesy- fullorissa.com











Dhrutaraashtranka baanaprastha






Sri Purushottama Murtitatwara krama bikaasa

Padmanabha Mahapatra