Ad from Jana sāhitya, journal of Odiya fiction. [Cuttack, Jana Sāhitya Prakāśana] 1966. From the University of Chicago Library.

Ever since Google Translate eliminated its Odia support, I’ve had a difficult time attempting to transcribe and translate Odia covers. Thankfully, Subhashish Panigrahi kindly translated these for me. Subhashish is an Odia and Indian language localization advocate at Wikimedia and Mozilla, and is involved in numerous open-source and knowledge-sharing organizations and causes. (He and I met up briefly in Bangalore when I visited in 2011 – I can’t believe how much good he has done in the world since then… I am in awe.)

The little butterflies (?) are hovering around a curly, cursive Odia title, ଇନ୍ଦ୍ରଧନୁ ସାପ୍ତାହିକ Indradhanu Saptahika, the name of the magazine.

On each leaf of the plant is is the name of a books the publication house publishes. I found these very difficult to read, given their handwritten nature and the hatching halftone effect, which adds a layer of difficulty for a non-native reader like myself. Subhashish assisted with this:
* Chitrapuri
* Janma Sahitya
* JIbanaranga
* Lalachabuka
* Malaya
* Niankhunta
* Mousumi
* Chandrika

The vase has the name of the publisher “Reader’s Corner” with it’s address: Station Bajara, Cuttack

Thank you, so much, Subhashish 🙂