Volume II,Issue IV, March 2026
Volume-II, Issue-IV, March, 2026 |
Received: 24.03.2026 | Accepted: 28.03.2026 | ||
Published Online: 31.03.2026 | Page No: | ||
DOI: 10.69655/atmadeep.vol.2.issue.04W. | |||
স্মৃতি-সত্তা ও সময়ের
দর্পণ: ওড়িয়া ছোটগল্পের পঞ্চরত্ন
হায়দার সেখ, গবেষক, বাংলা বিভাগ, আলিয়া
বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়,পশ্চিমবঙ্গ, ভারত |
Memory, Identity, and the Mirror of Time: Five Gems of Odia Short Stories Haidar Sk, Research Scholar, Department of Bengali, Aliah University, West Bengal, India | ||
ABSTRACT | ||
The triumphant journey of Odia short stories began with the timeless writings of Fakirmohan Senapati, where social reform and realistic depiction of rural life were the main themes. However, a radical change can be observed in Odia fiction from the middle of the twentieth century. The storytellers of this time did not only paint a picture of the external society, but also took the complexity of the inner being of man, the crisis of existence and the indelible influence of time as the main subject of the story. The research paper under discussion has attempted to make a comparative dissection of human ‘memory’, ‘being’ and ‘time’in the light of five best stories of five prominent artists of Odia literature—Raj Kishore Pattanayak, Kishori Charan Das, Godavarish Mahapatra, Kalindi Charan Panigrahi and Surendra Mohanti. ‘Memory’ is the anchor of human existence, which binds him to the past. But time is like a flowing stream, which constantly changes the world known to man. When man’s ‘being’ or self-identity faces a crisis while adapting to this changing world, higher literature is born. In Raj Kishore Pattanayak’s story ‘Fanki’, we see how a simple mango tree becomes the holder of a family’s memories and how its fall in the storm of time highlights the uncertainty of life. On the other hand, in Kishore Charan Das’ story ‘Bhanga khelna’, a subtle analysis of child psychology shows how the artificiality of the adult world hurts the simple being of a child. Here ‘time’is a cruel craftsman who takes away the simplicity of childhood. Godavarish Mohapatra has skillfully depicted the degradation and struggle of being in the mirror of social reality in his story ‘Neela Mastarni’. The tragedy of an educated woman’s transformation from a teacher to a washerwoman proves how much social time and reform can degrade an individual’s being. Again, in Kalindicharan Panigrahi’s story ‘Mangser Bilap’, we see a unique moral evolution. There, rising above the relationship between animals and humans, at a special moment in time, how the primitive brutality of man is transformed into a new human being by burning in the fire of regret. Finally, Surendra Mohanty’s story ‘Kather Ghora’ is a tragic tale of searching for the nostalgia or scent of memory of the past while standing on the rough sands of modernity. | ||
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