Siesta Country

No, Orissa and its pleasant capital are not to be so easily dismissed by those of usfrom the more cosmopolitan bits of India. Bhubaneshwar does however go a little quiet atcertain times of day. After 10 pm, you could shoot the proverbial cannon down the mainstreet, Janpath, and not hit a soul. Things tend to begin slowly too, well after sunrise.And most intriguingly, after lunch, there’s a distinct lull in the hum of urban life.A colleague from the fourth estate summed it up with a laugh. "In Orissa, we sleepafter lunch, we take a siesta!" A practise I’d always associated with theMediterranean rampant on the east coast of India. Now I know where Orissa’s andBhubaneshwar’s sleepy reputation comes from. I consider a post-prandial siesta theapex of civilised behaviour, the rest of India should learn from Orissa.