In colloquial parlance, the 1000-year-oldcity of Cuttack is often referred to as a city with "Baban Bazaar, Teppan Galee", meaning the city of 52 markets and 53 streets. Every Odia kid, when they start to learn the Odia alphabets, must go through the "Odia Barnabodha," the bible. to learn Odia. After completion of the alphabets, the first Odia sentence he or she writes is "Kataka Nagar Dhabala Tagar." That is why Cuttack has always remained in the hearts of every Odia in the state and abroad. The "Khati Culture" of Cuttack is a unique lifestyle where an interactive session, ranging from politics to international events, from cinemas to sports, is held every day in small groups of young ones to old ones, even professionals in different localities of the city, preferably near a "Chai-Paan" stall. These Khatis gave birth to many eminent personalities who have excelled in different spheres of life. In fact, the Khati Culture of the city is, to some extent, like the "Coffee House Culture" of 17th- and 18th-century England. I always feel proud to be a resident of Cuttack, the second-oldest capital city of India after Ujjain. Having lived in the city for the last 60 years, I have a very emotional attachment to the city, and my friends from other places fondly call me Katakia. Here, most of my dreams in life have been realized. Here, I achieved eminence in my life. It is here that I have developed widespread contact with people from different walks of life, far and wide. Established in 989 AD, the city has gone through a massive transformation during the last 50 years. The city landscape has undergone tremendous change and grown much beyond what I could have imagined in my childhood days. It has grown from a small place to a metropolis with a population of more than 12 lakhs. In fact, the city is growing every day. Cuttack, though one of the important Sakti Pithas of Odisha since time immemorial, the history of celebrating Durga Puja, i.e., the present form of worshipping of "Mrinmayee Murti" (clay idol of goddess Durga), goes back to the 16th century. To be honest, whenever it comes to the celebration of the Durga Puja festival, everybody talks about Kolkata. But very few people know that the celebration of this festival in the 1000-year-old city of Cuttack is much older than that of 300-year-old Kolkata.