Odia Books

Anantaprasad Panda was born in 1906.He is a popular novelist and short story writer, was born in a village called Kalyani in the district of Balasore. His childhood was spent in his ancestral home amidst rural surroundings. After doing his B.A. with Honours in English from Ravenshaw College, Cuttack, he became a Sub-Deputy Collector. Later, he worked for the State Cooperative Department and finally became its Joint Registrar. In 1953, he went abroad, travelled widely and on his return, wrote Pashchatya anubhuti, in which he recounted his experiences abroad.

Anantaprasad’s first short story, ‘Atripta basana’ appeared in 1925 in Utkal sahitya. His next story,
‘Basanta Tripti’, also appeared in it. The story created a sensation and from that moment he never stopped
writing. He wrote one story after another which were compiled later in such collections as Trin guchcha,
Sabhyatar tale, Manas bhuta, Barmaja, Naisha-sundari and Joga-rahasya. He also wrote novels which
included Bhagyachakra, Nua dunia, Kuli and Mukta akashar bihanga.

For his subject Anantaprasad turned to the cross-section of life in Oriya villages. His broad theme is the
varied, and sometimes contradictory, popular response to feudal exploitation and oppression. His stories are remarkable for their precision and centrality and the kindness with which their author treats every individual. In the stories such as ‘Sagada’ (The bullock cart), ‘Raj bhag’ (Royalty), ‘Goposahoor dokan’, ‘T.T.I’,‘Station Master’ and in the novels like Bhagyachakra (1928), the simple men and women folk of rural Orissa come to life in all their vividness and variety

Sagada
Raj bhag
Goposahoor dokan
Bhagyachakra
Manas bhuta
Bhagyachakra
Mukta Akashar Bihanga