KENDRAPARA: Several residents of villages in Kendrapara have named their newborns after the cyclone and its impact to remember nature’s fury that lashed the district.
Babies, born on October 25, in the midst of the cyclone have been named Dana, Paban (wind) and Barsha (rain) by their parents. Jharana Mallick (25), wife of Sangram Mallick of Sandhapali village in Pattamundai block gave birth to a baby boy at the district headquarters hospital on Friday. The couple named their son Dana to remember the cyclone.
Similarly, Sagarika Sahoo(25), wife of Malay Sahoo of Gobindapur village in Rajnagar block gave birth to a girl at the community health centre on Thursday. The couple named the girl ‘Barsha’ to remember the torrential rain that pounded the block while they were rushing to the CHC from the village. “Though Barsha is a common name for girls, I decided to name my daughter as she was born in the midst of the cyclone”, said Sagarika.
Kalpana Behera (24) of Balabhadrapur in Mahakalapada block gave birth to a boy on Friday at the community health centre of Mahakalapada. She too named her son Dana. The district had faced the fury of the super cyclone 25 years back. But since the storm did not have a name, parents had named their newborns Barsha and Paban then. Several babies were named Fani when the cyclone hit the coast in 2019, said Biraja Pati, a social worker of Kendrapara.
CDMO Dr Anita Patnaik said 147 women delivered babies between October 21 and 25 in hospitals in the district. “All the newborns and mothers are doing fine,” she said.