Bhubaneswar: Patriotic fervour filled the air at Jayadev Bhawan here as ‘Sambhabana’ observed Swadhinata-Swannakshetra Utsav ‘Jay Hind’, celebrating its foundation day and August Kranti Diwas on Friday.
The celebrations began with the auspicious lighting the lamp ceremony graced by an eminent gathering including Sambad group chairman Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, former Union Minister Braja Kishore Tripathy, litterateur Das Benhur, veteran journalist Sampad Mohapatra and chartered accountant Rajeev Sekhar Sahu. Sambhabana’s chairman chartered accountant Sarat Chandra Bhadra, its editor Deba Prasad Parija and trustee Smruti Mohanty also shared the dais.
In a highlight of the evening, senior journalist Sandeep Sahu was conferred the second “Kuldip Nayar Smriti Samman” for lifetime achievement, while young journalist Supriya Das received the “Sambhabana Swannakshetra Samman”.
The cultural evening struck an emotional chord with the audience. Commenced with singer Bipul’s rendition ‘Swargadapi Gariyasi’, the evening unfolded with a medley of stirring performances: Siddhant Satpathy’s soulful ‘Pashana Gharara Andhakare’, Chhanda Mishra’s ‘Aye Mere Watan Ke Logon’, Sourav Nayak’s ‘ Bahi Jaere Ganga’, Goutam Giri’s ‘Mera Mulk Mara Desh’ and Harapriya Swain’s ‘Har Karam Apana Karenge’.
The audience was further treated to patriotic songs like ‘Aye Mere Pyare Watan’, ‘Hay Prit Jahan Ki Reet Sada’, ‘Mera Rang De Basanti’, ‘Ei Aamari Gaon’, ‘Chhodo Kal Ki Batein’, ‘Sandeshe Aaten Hain’ and ‘Ei Desha Aamari Janmabhumi’.
Earlier, the event opened with a patriotic poetry session coordinated by poet Dr Debashis Mohapatra, where poets Bipin Mohanty, Minati Mishra, Umakant Raut, Surendra Panigrahi, Suresh Nayak, Sheetal Mishra, Rashmita Behera, Sarita Pradhan, and Lopamudra Mekap recited their works.
The event was seamlessly coordinated by Odiani Samiti President Saudamini Samal, Joint Editors of Sambhabana, Meenakshi Pattnaik and Prafulla Deo, programme editor Rashmita Rath, and committee member Rajashree Satpathy, among others.
