Sounding The Boards, Loud And Clear!

Bhubaneswar, and Odisha by extension, is perhaps one of the last bastions in the country where hockey gets more eyeballs than cricket and hockey players remain bigger stars than cricketers.

- Uthra Ganesan

For a city that is equal parts old and new,Bhubaneswar has a character that sym­bolises both its aspects. The people are warm but the city itself is toowell­planned, specially the newer areas, and is devoid of the uniqueness that marks its older sibling Cuttack. What stand out all around, how­ ever, are the huge hoardingswelcoming the world to the city for the HockeyWorld Cup, the biggest sporting event ever in the state.

ComeNovember 28 and theOdisha gov­ ernment would be hoping all its efforts in making the event a huge spectacle come together. Andwhen it does, as it is likely to, a large part of the credit would go to the people of the city who have proven their love for the sport twice over already in the last four years.

Bhubaneswar, andOdisha by extension, is perhaps one of the last bastions in the country where hockey gets more eyeballs than cricket andhockey players remain big­ ger stars than cricketers.

The state government has done its bit to further stoke interest and excitement. Large, front­page advertisements across every national and vernacular publication, exhibition matches featuring some of the legends of the game, hockey clinics across schools in the city andoutside, hoardings in every nook and corner of the city featuring top Indian hockey stars, huge ‘Heart beats for hockey’ installations at the airport itself and all along the route to the Kalinga Sta­ dium and interactive activities to involve the public — the amount of traction it has tried to provide for the event has been unprecedented.