Marking the 25th round of My #100WikiDays Writing Adventure on Odia Wikipedia

It was a dream to publish the 1st article on Wikipedia, but in September 2014 it happened on the English Wikipedia and then after a few days, my focus shifted to Odia Wikipedia. And I feel it is important to mention here that my first article was deleted from both English and Odia Wikipedia due to a lack of knowledge about notability (just the newcomer things), basically ignorance of the guided editing in wiki terms.

Since December 2014, the journey has continued on Odia Wikipedia and Wikisource. And then, Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata became the apple of my eye. But the frequency of my writing got a boost, after I came to know about #100wikidays campaign from a fellow Wikimedian Sailesh Pattanaik in March 2017 and a beautiful journey started for 100 days to create and translate articles about 100 women. 

I took the first step on 8 March 2017 (International Women’s Day) and it ended on 15 June 2018. (Day-2 of Raja Parba that holds the most religious value in respect of femininity in my state.)

During that first round of #100wikidays, there was communal violence, that caused a ban on the internet in my district for 48 hours. During the Curfew-free time (2-3hrs max/day), I borrowed a bike from our neighbor and went to the borders to get an internet connection to write the article for those 2 days.

Going an extra mile, the evolution started after a break of 28 days. I started writing again on 13th July 2017 and it’s still continuing. This is my 10th year in the Wikimedia movement and on 6 February 2024, I completed this #100wikidays challenge successfully for the 25th time. 

Yes, 25 is the number to celebrate the silver jubilee in years, but I thought, why not 25 times? So, cheers to my #100wikidays silver jubilee round, with some highlights of my contributions below. 

1.  #100WikiWomenDays

Yes, we often talk about the gender gap, so we were organizing article writing competitions in March. That’s why Sailesh suggested that I try creating articles on 100 notable women. After this, I participated in different writing competitions during February and March to write dedicatedly on women. Also, November is the month for Asian month and during that time, I had also created a few articles on Bangladeshi actresses.

2. #1WikiYear

Restarting the writing again, I started writing articles on the Odia film industry (movies, actors, directors, musicians, singers, etc.). As per my plan, I had to complete everything within 1 year, but it took a few more days.

3. Politicians

There are more than 1500 articles about Odia politicians on Odia Wikipedia and I have created  1209 (till 6 February 2024). Articles about the elected members of the Odisha Legislative Assembly (MLAs) and members representing Odisha at the Indian parliament are there with detailed information collected from the State Govt. of Odisha websites (shared under CC/SA 4.0), books, newspapers, etc. These articles not only enriched the wiki environment in terms of content but also in terms of readership. 

4. Getting Recognition

Of course, writing is not my job, I do it out of my passion to read and know more about my culture, history, politics, movies, science, technology, etc. But, when someone recognizes me for this work, it inspires me to do it in a better way. In July 2019, I was talking with a journalist about my magazine, and she asked about my work and I explained about the #2WikiYears journey. She loved the idea and published an article in a regional English Newspaper. After that, a few local Odia language newspapers, and TV channels covered my literature journey along with Wikipedia experience.

This journey on Wiki has been more than just writing; it has been a valuable learning experience in time management. It has now become a part of my daily routine, and through the Wikimedia movement, I have had the opportunity to connect with remarkable individuals from diverse communities and countries at meetups, workshops, and conferences. The insights and wisdom shared by these individuals have left a lasting impact on my life. As I commemorate my decade-long involvement with Wiki, I look forward to the day when I can celebrate the true ‘Silver Jubilee’—my 25th year on this Wik journey. I am incredibly grateful for the support and encouragement from my friends across different communities.