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SABU SMRUTI MADHURA
By Geeta Hota
Published by Orissa Writers Co-op. Society Ltd., Bhubaneswar
This
engaging autobiography by one of Orissa’s leading woman authors and editor of the eminent literary journal Amrutayan,
covers the journey of a school girl to the inspiring heights of ideal womanhood.
The book initiates a passionate discourse on tradition and modernity. It takes recourse to three key objectives: (1) re-invention
of our rich tradition; (2) locating the conspicuous chasm between the past heritage and the contemporary milieu; (3) reviving
the constructive potential of tradition for reconstructing a prosperous modern life.
The author vividly documents her memory concerning the journey of Oriya
as a language, identity and tradition. True to the spirit of a critical observer, she opines that a shift has occurred in
our priority, taste, values and individuality. The sacrificing/ altruistic zeal of the architects of modern Orissa is missing
in the youth of recent times.
Written with patriotic verve and sheer
truthfulness, the book is indicative of the writer's sensitive zeal to illustrate the grandeur of Orissan values. The
contents of the book are absolutely grounded (event-based, experience-based) and the piece emerges out of her real life engagements
with diverse realms of society: language, region, art, education and politics that make the reading a relishing experience.
JAGYASENI
By Pratibha Ray
Published by Adya Prakashani, Tulasipur, Cuttack-753008
Jagyaseni is a masterpiece that has endeared it
self to Oriya readers, especially the women among them. This rendering of a well-known piece of epic in a fictional structure
has uniqueness of its own.
To put it straight, this is the story of Draupadi, the wife of the Pandavas narrated by
her in the first person. However it is not as simple as that. One re-discovers the character of Draupadi in the rendering
of the glimpses of her life. As one browses through the book, page after page newer and newer facets of the life and dilemmas
of Draupadi begin to unfold.
It is a fine presentation of the woman within the Draupadi as she faces the various predicaments
in her relationship with Yudihsthira, Arjuna, Krishna and other protagonists of the Mahabharata. We could rather call it the
presentation of the character of Draupadi with a feminist undertone. A woman reader would easily identify the inner realities
of her own existence in the writer’s portrayal of Draupadi.
This much-acclaimed book is credited with the prestigious Bharatiya Jnanapith - Murti Devi Award.
It has been widely translated into many Indian languages, besides English.
KABULIBALARA BANGALI BADHU
By Susmita Bandopadhyay
Translated into Oriya by Binapani Mahapatra
Published by Kahani, Kalyani Nagar, Cuttack
It is the best autobiographical novel one could read in recent times. The protagonist of the
book is an Indian woman who went to Afghanistan and fell in love with an Afghani guy over there. They eventually got married.
This is what has really happened in the personal life of the writer, Susmita Bandopadhyay. What happened next? This is
what constitutes the captivating phase of the book.
Set in the modern-day reality, the book delves deep into the dilemmas of a woman caught in the
vortex of inter-cultural and inter-social relationship.
Though presented as a fiction, one observes here
a thinning down of the line between autobiography and fiction. It is a handy relief to those who complain that today’s
fiction is getting detached from reality.
Originally written in Bengali, this book has been translated into oriya by Binapani Mahapatra
in such a manner that here translation gives way to transcreation. This is one of the reasons why the book promises a captivating
reading.
GAMBHIRI GHARA
By Sarojini Sahoo
Published by Time Pass, Bhubaneswar
Gambhiri Ghara is one of the much acclaimed novels of Sarojini
Sahoo. It was first published in a magazine in 2005. The next year it appeared in the book form and was an
instant success. It's Bengali translation has also gained immese popularity among the Bengali readers.
The novel deals with the process of evolution of infatuation into love. It begins with questioning the mere
physicality of a man-woman relationship and transports the reader into the higher planes of platonic love.
Kuki, the central character of the novel, is a Hindu woman from India who falls (and then rises) in love with a Muslim
artist of Pakistan. The unusualness of the socio-cultural background of these two characters is portrayed in a sensitive and
convincing manner to reach a conclusion that such barriers of background may never bar the free flow of love between two hearts.
One comes across two sets of roles that Kuki plays in life - one that of a lover, and
the other, a wife. She subtly balances these two attributes of her character while at the same time higlighting
the superiority of a wife in pragmatic world.
When we talk of cross-border protagonists may terrorism remain far behind? Yes, the writer aptly brings this
into question as an analytical treatment of the factors behind terrorism is inter-woven into the main theme.
The novel is as powerful as any of Sarojini Sahoo’s popular short stories. Like in her all other masterpieces,
here also she does not betray the distinction of her being the leading feminist writer of Orissa.
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NEELA NIRABATA
By Sanjukta Mohanty
Published by M/s Jagannath Ratha Publishers & Book Sellers,
Cuttack
The novel seeks to explore an in-depth understanding of women’s reality:
their sorrow and subjugation, sensitivity and sensibility. Being a woman, the novelist is starkly alive and sensitive to the
plight of single women in the society.
In patriarchy where marriage and motherhood are eulogized as cultural ideals
for women in general, staying single is a harrowing experience for every Indian woman. Delving deeper into the issue the writer
analyses the vulnerable existence of a single woman – an existence which is replete with a series of trials and tribulations.
Keeping this theme in the background, the novel blends two dimensions: women’s emotion, passion, love and aspiration
on one hand, the complex patriarchal milieu on the other.
Although the novel has a spectacular beginning, the author could have maintained
its depth, coherence and strength till the concluding point. It appears that the sequence of the plot could not be sustained
till denouement.
However, this is a meaningful story with a strong feminist message which no serious reader of Oriya fiction would
like to miss. We look forward to many more of outstanding contributions
to the world of fiction by this prolific writer who has already authored eighteen books.
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