English
Bibhuti Pattnaik is a prolific writer of novels and short stories, teaches Odia literature and language in a college. The locale of his novels varies from the rural landscape to the royal palace or to the centres of modern civilization, their popularity depending mainly upon the romantic appeal. The prominent theme of his novels is often a deep emotional man-woman relationship, and varied experiences of love contribute to the intense fervour in his novels.
In every novel a tangled knot of human relationships is presented, exposing the various facets of human character, and he, adept in feminine characterization, explores the mind of woman to show her in various shades of light. Women characters like Nirupama represent the traditional Indian womanhood, whereas at the other extreme one finds Pratima Chaudhuri and Sushama representing a type of modern woman born of the new civilization in all its perversion of values.
This obsession with the false values of a philistine civilization develops morbidity syndromes, and it is
reflected in individual life. The theme is movingly treated in Keshabati kanya, Ei ma ei mati” Ei mana
brindabana and in many other novels. The novelist lambasts these values in Naikara nama shrabani where
Chaudhuri frenziedly runs after money and the traditional family life disintegrates. In characterization, Bibhuti Pattanayak focuses on the extremes in which human nature can live.
Chapalachanda based on the background of Praja Andolan (People’s Movement) in the princely states of Odisha exposes Bairiganjana, the ruler of Andharigada, a sadist and sex maniac and his Dewan, Bishweshwara Pattanayak who is perverted and avaricious. At the other extreme there is Shuryamaji, the harbinger of a new consciousness, the chivalric ideal. Then there is Muktamala, the queen, a moving study in feminine jealousy and sacrifice. Besides the romantic, the, novelist deals with various other themes as well. They include the feudal tyranny in Chapalachanda and the molestation of innocent village life by forces of new civiliza.
Odia Books By Bibhuti Pattnaik
Naikara Nama Shrabani
Andharigada
Chapalachanda
Premika
Chai Leutani Bela
Dhulighara
Adina Barsha
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