Biraja Mahapatra, who as a part of his work has asked a large number of people about the idea of national pledge and pledge festival as an effective tool against corruption and terrorism, has come out with the book titled "My Call" giving a call for the national pledge.The book was released on February 16, 2009 at the Constitution Club, New Delhi. About 200 legal luminaries and media-men, who had participated in the book-release function, also recited the pledge in unison.The book attributes the lack of Indian-ness amongst the Indians to historical reasons in the chapter "Is India still divided?". The reason why emotional integration has taken back seat even after sixty years of independence has been dealt with in "Bridging the divide between India and Bharat".While India is strengthening itself as a vibrant democracy, we have been taught to hate politics and this mindset prevents good and honest professionals from entering into politics. The author says, "Hating politics is a crime against democracy". While describing the present scenario of corruption and terrorism in India, the author wonders why not our god-fearing nature be used as an asset to create a sense of hatred against corruption and terrorism. The book has been published by Akshaya Media, C-62, South Extension, Delhi.


The Author:
Biraja Mahapatra is a practising lawyer in Delhi High court. Born on June 6, 1966 in village Sarangadharpur in Orissa's erstwhile Puri District, Mahapatra started his career as a journalist with a vernacular Oriya daily "Sambad" from Bhubaneswar after completing his Master's in History from Utkal University in November 1987. He worked for Sambad and its sister publication Sun Times till August 1994. During the period, he acquired a degree in law (1991) and a diploma in Mass Communication from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Dhenkanal, Orissa. In September 1994, he joined the Press Trust of India as a journalist and quit as the news agency's Principal Legal Correspondent in 2001 to practise law. Mahapatra has also been associated with editing various magazines and journals since his college days. Mahapatra has a penned a collection of poems in Oriya titled "Dinalipi Ra Gitalipi". In 1982, he started Palli Nilay Sahitya Samsad, a literary organization in his native village Sarangadharpur with an idea to develop it as a knowledge centre for local students and interested people. He is the brain behind the Build India Group and one of its founder members.


A PDF Download of the book is available here.