Odia Books

Annadashankar Ray was born in 1904. At Dhenkanal in Orissa, secured first class Honours in English from Ravenshaw College, Cuttack, and passed the Indian Civil Service examination while still doing his M.A., topping the list of all successful Indian candidates in 1927. He sought voluntary retirement from administrative service in 1951 to devote himself fully to literary pursuits. In his political philosophy he has been a Gandhite, while in his literary outlook, he has been inspired by Rabindranath.

In his boyhood Ray became acquainted with the Vaishnavite lyrics of Jayadeva and Vidyapati through his parents. In later years three great Russian writers, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy and Chekhov, influenced him. A Bengali rendering of a short story of Tolstoy and an appraisal of Saratchandra Chatterji’s essay, Narir mulya,marked his debut on the literary scene.

Ever since he has grown more and more versatile as an essayist,novelist, short story writer, poet and a writer of travel-diaries and nursery rhymes. His first published work is Tarunya (1928), which gave him a footing as an essayist. It is noteworthy that he used to write initially in both Bengali and Oriya. Asamapika, published in a periodical in 1930 and Agun niye khela (1930) are his first novels while Rakhi, his collection of thirtythree poems, was published a year earlier in 1929. As a poet,he is both romantic and mystic. His other books of poems are Vasanta (1932), Kaler shasan (1933), Kamana panchavimsati (1934) and Nutana Radha (1943).

A significant breakthrough in his literary career came with his publication in 1931 of Pathe pravase, a brilliant travel-diary of Europe. It was serialized in the periodical Vichitra during 1927-29, and is a record of a young Indian traveller’s first encounter with the life and society of Europe, bringing to light the observations of a pensive but witty artist. Another travel-diary, Europer chithi (1943), is meant for children.Japane, his travel-diary of Japan, was serialized in the weekly Desh (1958), which won him the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1962. Fera is another such diary, also serialized in Desh (1965).

As an essayist, Annadashankar is urbane and sophisticated and combines in his style the qualities of two different kinds of prose, represented by Rabindranath and Pramatha Chaudhuri. Lucidity, brevity, rhythm, wit and humour characterize his prose. As an essayist his best known works include Amara (1937), Jiban shilpi (1941), Ishara (1943), Binur bai (1944), Jiyankathi (1949), Desh-kal-patra (1949), Pratyay (1951),Nutan kare bancha (1953), Adhunikata (1953) and Dekhashona (1989). He has also published critical appraisals of Rabindranath, Tolstoy and Gandhi in three separate works. Banglar renaissance is another important work, first serialized in the weekly Amrita in 1973. Lalan o tnar gan (1978) and Sanskritir vivartan (1984) bear testimony to his interest in folk songs and various aspects of our culture.

His fiction includes novels and short stories. Satyasatya, epic in form and intellectual in tone, is his most famous voluminous novel in six volumes Jar jetha desh (1932), Ajnatavas (1933), Kalankavati (1934),Duhkhamochan (1936), Martyer svarga (1940), and Apasaran (1942). India and Europe during 1927-29 constitute the local and temporal setting of this novel. Badal, the protagonist, is whimsical and pensive, while Sudhi probably is the author’s alter ego. Putul niye khela (1933) may be regarded as the concluding part of Agun niye khela. Na (1951) and Kanya (1953) are his two other novels.

Another voluminous novel is Ratna o srimati, the first part of which was serialized in Desh in 1957 and the third part concluded in the same weekly after a long interval in 1971. A more significant epic novel, which is thematically appealing and closer to our times, is Krantadarshi, a ‘novel of ideas’ in four volumes. The first part of the novel appeared in Basumati in 1981, while the fourth volume was published in 1988. It deals with the most crucial period of our history, covering the outbreak of the Second World War at the one end and the assassination of Gandhi at the other.

In his short stories, Annadashankar shows himself as a skilled artist. His best-known collections are Prakritir parihas (1934), Man pavan (1946), Yauvan jvala (1950), Kamini kanchan (1954) and Katha (1971). Though he has never seriously tried to become a playwright, Rater atithi (1954) and Chaturali(1955) adduce evidence of how he would have fared in this branch of literature. Annadashankar is also popular as a writer of nursery rhymes, limericks and doggerels, specimens of which are his Urki dhaner murki (1942), Ranga dhaner khai (1950) and Ata gachhe tota (1974).

In 1980 he was honoured with the Vidyasagar Smriti Award by the Government of West Bengal, and in
1989 he was made a Fellow of the Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi.He wrote some bibliography Buddhadev Bose, An Acre of Green Grass (Calcutta, 1948); Srikumar Banerji, Banga sahitye upanyaser dhara (Calcutta, 1962); Sukumar Sen, Bangla sahityer itihas.

Duhkhamochan
Martyer Svarga
Apasaran
Kalankavati
Ajnatavas
Jar jetha Desh

Man Pavan
Yauvan Jval
Kamini Kanchan
Prakritir Parihas

Adhunikata
Dekhashona
Jiyankathi
Ishara
Jiban Shilpi
Nutan Kare Bancha