Spanning poetry, fiction, essays, and drama, ‘The Big Book of Odia Literature,’ edited by Manu Dash, brings Odia literature to a wider audience like never before
In more ways than one, The Big Book of Odia Literature is epoch-making. Odia literature has never before been showcased in English translation on this scale. This is not just a matter of its ‘hyperbolic’ title — this 728-page tome largely lives up to its claim. Elegantly brought out by Penguin Random House, this monumental work, edited by Manu Dash, encompasses five centuries of cultural production, covering poetry from Sarala Dasa (15th century) to contemporary poets, short stories from Fakir Mohan Senapati (1843-1918) to Paramita Satpathy (b. 1965), and essays from Gourishankar Roy (1838-1917) to Ganeswar Mishra (1942-2015). The anthology also includes the first-ever play written in Odia, Babaji (The Monk), as well as Chief Guest, a significant play by Biswajit Das (1936-2004).
Setting his vision, editor Manu Dash writes in his note: “Looking back, we find the Odia short story is about 125 years old, the essay about 150 years old, and the play nearly 146 years old. (However) Odia poetry, mainly written by Sarala Dasa, is approximately 600 years old. This volume curates writings culled from the above four genres that have borne witness to the journey of Odia literature from its inception to the contemporary period.” This makes it a major literary documentation — one of its kind to have emerged in several decades. The very fact that it went into a second reprint in less than a year of publication explains its credibility and the curiosity it has generated.
An eclectic and inclusive anthology
Like all regional literatures, Odia literature finds its roots in mythology and mystic as well as sensual and erotic poetry. The triangular ‘Radha-Krishna-Jagannath’ cult profoundly influenced devotional songs in various rhyming patterns and form, while Buddhism infused early Odia poetry with mystic imagery, leading to what came to be known as sandhya bhasa or ‘twilight language.’ A striking aspect of the anthology is its linguistic inclusivity. It includes not just ‘Odia’ but a vast array of dialects spoken across Odisha, featuring poems from Sambalpuri-Kosli, Santali, Oraon, Khadia, Kui, Mundari, Sadri, Paraja, Kondha, and Sandha. The anthology also includes pieces originally written in English by Odisha-based writers and non-Odia scholars with a special interest in Odia literature and culture, such as John V. Boulton (1934-1992).
Eclectic and inclusive, this important anthology brings together stories, poems, essays, and plays by Odia writers, showcasing the rich linguistic heritage and cultural history of the Odia people. It celebrates a wide array of literary works that mirror the region’s deep-rooted traditions and aesthetic sensibilities — ranging from classical antiquity to the contemporary era — cataloguing shifts, movements, and landmark upheavals that have shaped the collective psyche of a people from the eastern coast of India. This is a land known for its life-corroding cyclones, droughts, and poverty, and its people have long been stereotyped as somewhat low-key and indifferent to their own cultural wealth.
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With Adivasis forming 23 percent of Odisha’s population, it is both timely and essential that their literature is well represented in this anthology. Flourishing across Odisha’s hinterlands and standing in contrast to mainstream Odia poetry — often adorned with complex metaphors and abstract imagery — Adivasi poetry is strikingly lucid, lyrical, and deeply rooted in the land. So much so that, beyond evoking the scent of mohua and sal leaves, their poetry and songs resonate with birdcalls, the rhythms of drums, the sounds of flowing streams, the jingling of bangles, and the haunting music of the flute: “There, beyond the river, under the Kadamba tree, / love plays the flute. / Toot tootle… tootle too... / He plays the flute. / Toot tootle… tootle too.” Their daily struggles, infused with an innate playfulness, come alive in an anonymous Kondh poem, translated by Sitakant Mahapatra: “In an old man’s life, / joy withers. So long as life lasts, / and hearts beat, / come, let’s enjoy, / let’s play.”
The ‘soul’ and ‘interiority’ of Odia
Coming to mainstream Odia poetry, one can discern how Satchidananda Routray, by intermingling the personal with the political, ushered in modernity by demystifying the ‘halo’ of erotic sensuality surrounding the Konark temple:“I have seen under those stones / Countless hearts of artisans silenced and buried. / Nobody has counted how many of them, / like donkeys, have carried loads of stones, / bending their backs, / having their spines damaged.”
This paradigm shift in perspective helped many of us see Konark afresh, in a new light — one that was much needed. Odia poetic imagination, by its very nature, tends to be more meditative and contemplative than explicit, more subdued, subtle, and oblique than demonstrative. The tone of dissent and protest is not overtly loud, yet it remains powerfully clear. As such, Odia poetry serves as an emotional chronicle of the region’s sentiments, rendered with poignant authenticity.
Poet Ramakant Rath raises an existential question in his poem Arithmetic: “Now, tell me how many nights I have given you. / Does the woman who would finally turn into space / still exist after subtracting her tears from her smiles / undulating on her pulsating lips?” Echoing Eliot-like modernism, the inimitable Guruprasad Mohanty writes: “The doves of my eyes strike against / the steel of the sky, / and repulsed, return to earth… / as you retrieve the ruined body of April / drifting helplessly in the whirlpools of sand.” (The Dove of My Eyes)
What makes this anthology a daring feat is the fact that it bears testimony to Odisha’s socio-cultural vibrancy over the centuries. This is the first anthology of its kind to capture the ‘soul’ and ‘interiority’ of a classical language and its people. It brings to the limelight illustrious Odia literature that had never been adequately translated into or circulated in English. Selected couplets from Bhagabata, a much-revered poetic treatise by Jagannatha Dasa (1491-1550), prayers by Dinakrushna Dasa (1650-1710), and Salabega’s Ahe Nila Shaila (O Blue Mountain) are included, showcasing Odisha’s deeply syncretic traditions. Salabega, a Muslim devotee of Lord Jagannatha, exemplifies the ‘syncretic’ values and pluralism of his time.
A crucial addition to pan-Indian literature
The short story section features works that many of us grew up reading in our school and college syllabi. However, encountering them in English feels somewhat odd, given the charm of reading and imagining them in the pristine soil of the Odia language. The editor has chosen to tread a different path by selecting Fakir Mohan Senapati’s Ananta, the Widow’s Son instead of Rebati, the latter being the oft-repeated usual suspect in most anthologies.
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All the translators have done a commendable job in capturing the essence and spirit of the original texts. Stories that have shaped the Odia psyche and emotions for over half a century have found a place in this volume. Known for their poignancy and ability to evoke deep empathy — almost to the point of being tearjerkers — stories like Kalindi Charan Panigrahi’s Bewailing Flesh, Godabarish Mohapatra’s Nila, the School Teacher, and Pranabandhu Kar’s A Leaf in the Stream stand out.
There is much more to this book than just poetry, fiction, and drama; it also boasts a strong selection of essays by highly respected critics, including contributions from two non-Odia scholars, one of whom is John Boulton, an English academic. In his critical essay, eminent political thinker Kishen Patnaik (1930-2004) makes strong and pertinent observations about what really ails the Indian intellectual.
He doesn’t mince words: “He is a rootless personality — he wasn’t brought up in the tradition of this country, and he hasn’t grown up in its soil and air.” Further, he is at his acerbic best and unsparing when he states: “Instead of confronting the moral downfall of society and the individual, they have been preyed on by it.” The essays are insightful in that they trace the trajectory Odia literature has taken over the centuries.
Though the focus appears somewhat skewed toward the ‘ancient’ at the expense of the ‘contemporary,’ The Big Book of Odia Literature has all the hallmarks of a great literary anthology. Both comprehensive and colossal, it is a labour of pure love — culminating in a veritable treasure trove of literary works that capture the ‘roots’ of a classical language like Odia. A crucial addition to the corpus of pan-Indian literature, its publication marks a watershed moment in the annals of Odia language and literature.
