Overview

Bidesha O Anyanya Galpa is a collection of twenty-five short-stories. Evocatively narrated, they sparkle with compassion and humanity. Set in the largely unexplored terrain of rural Odisha this collection seeks to unlock the mysteries of human nature. Each story in this collection has a distinct and unique flavour. The broad vision of the writer, which blends tradition with modernity, enables him to explore the conflicts and complexities of a society undergoing rapid transformation. Poignantly rendered events and the emotions they arouse in the reader illuminate the essential connectedness underlying our lived reality. Almost all the protagonists of these stories, men and women, seem intimately familiar. Most of the situations and backdrops against which the stories unfold are contemporary. Close observation of characters and their interrelationships provide insights into their motives and often makes thereafter deeply nostalgic about the lost world of childhood. Despite the author's insistence that the stories are works of fiction, the vividness with which the characters and incidents are rendered makes one feel as if he has stepped into a vibrantly real world. In this collection, the readers hear the voice of a major Indian writer of short fiction.