This is a collection of 16 short stories written in Odia and translated into English by Mona Lisa Jena. All of the stories vividly bring out varied aspects of society. They merge the modern with traditional, the mystical with scientific, folklore with technology. The titular story is about a Kui folk singer, Dasuram, who sings of freedom from the shackles of poverty and oppression. He gets arrested on charges of being a Naxal and while in prison, invents a script for the Kui language.
The Goddess of Kara Dongri is about how Sudhansu is caught up in the fight about naming a temple in a village that he visited as a child during his vacation. He remembers a mountain made of white flint but cannot find it when he returns. He sees that the village has transformed from an idyllic haven into a busy one. Yet the folklore remains intact. The mountain of white flint may have been sacrificed to modernization but the stories of a deity residing there still float around, and to appease that goddess, a temple was built by the villagers themselves. The story succinctly captures the tenuous flux many places in India are caught between because of relentlessly moving towards modernization at the cost of environment and culture.
That House is a simple, almost fable like story about the follies of coveting perfection. Aruna and her husband scrape through and struggle to build a modest house in Brundabanur colony. Close by was a house that was never completed because the owner was a mistress who wanted to create a dream house which was not fulfilled because the house was empty and not occupied by a husband and a child. The story reiterates quite a lot of stereotypes associated with motherhood and role of a woman in a society especially the idea that a woman can attain happiness only when she marries and has a legitimate family. In the story, the woman is a mistress and hence is devoid of any true love which is the reason given to explain her imperfect house which though grand and complex, can never give her true happiness.
This Story Should not be Remembered by Manoj Kumar Panda pays homage to the timelessness of time itself through the character of Kandha Budha, who has become a living legend of his village. He has worked for two kings, Dalaganjana and Pruthwiraj; he has killed tigers with his bare hands, and had even caught the dacoit Bakharia Binjhal for the British government. The story remarks upon the continuity of time and of stories and the ironic existence of anything through these very stories.
This collection of stories often relies on motifs from folklore to create rich thematic narratives. For example, A Pitcher Full of Fish blurs the real and surreal when Sunei contemplates suicide out of frustration with her daily struggles and an abusive husband. But instead she finds in the mud pond so many varieties of fish that she catches them and dreams of making a delicious feast for her daughter. Sunei jumps in, catches as many fishes as she can. Her family comes looking for her but a pall of sorrow greets them. Was Sunei in the throes of happiness when catching the fish? Was she only day dreaming about them? Or was she so devoured by hunger that she was hallucinating and eventually fell into the mud?
Death by drowning is also reflected in two other stories, The Genius and The Shy Bride.
Sephania’s Ghastly Makar by Dipti Ranjan Pattnaik is a well nuanced story portraying the many confusions faced by Sephania due to his conversion to a new religion and the ensuing breakage of family ties.
The Adventure of a Little Kau Fish is a beautiful fable that portrays a brave kau fish who desires to see the world and so climbs up a tree determinedly, only to be defeated by pain and exhaustion and be horrifically devoured by the very fish in the pond that were, a minute ago, applauding his audacity. It is a grim comment on a dog-eat-dog world of ours.
Quite a few of the stories also speak of problems faced by women. Because the stories included in this collection traverse a large span of time, starting from mid 20th century to the current one, the reader can see the development in the representation of the female character. A few of the stories portray women as being victims of rigid social practices such as in Shiora Tree, but the modern stories depict them as independent thinkers who boldly take their own decisions when it comes to love such as presented in The Chemistry by Paramita Satapathy.
This collection gives a glimpse into the various complex facets of Odia society, delving into its rich tribal history and folklore and how that is precariously balanced against a mode modern background. The translator’s own essay at the end – The Odia Short Story, enables the reader to understand these representations even further, providing the reader deeper insights into the stories and their subject matter as well the growth and development of the Odia short story.