Enticing Fictions and Illustrative Creativity of Pratibha Ray
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February-March - 2014 Odisha Review Enticing Fictions and Illustrative Creativity of Pratibha Ray Santosh Tripathy In the post Kahnu - Gopinatha era and during the able to receive 'the Jnanapitha', the grand literary post-modern development of Odia literature award of India for her life-long creative Pratibha Ray stands out as an indefatigable genius perseverance and major contribution to Indian in the field of fiction making. Looked from different literature. Her fictions have designed to entice stylistic canons and diversity of thematic angles reader into spending impressive experience and she is regarded as the motive power of Odishan optimistic estimation. As a philanthropist her main fictional chapter (1975-2010). She deserves perspicacious creativity probes into six areas a prominent place as a philanthropic fictionalist in mainly to formate fictions, these are rural, tribal, the post-colonial Indian literature. Leaving behind urban, histromythic-circle and universal affection the traditional prose style she has textured a (or primitive colloquial, regional, national, dramatic-poetic and epistolary narratology in her international, cosmological and decolonial). It is fictions. Love of nature, love of culture and ritual, needless to say that Pratibha's greatest crative love of life and love of universal distinct race with achievement is in novels and short stories. Like its eco-humanitarian ideals are powerful entities Gopinatha, Kahnu Charan and Surendra she is found in almost all her novels and stories. She deeply entangled with socio-cultural realities and has written extensively novels, short stories, instincts. Pratibha is also quite prolific to provide biographies and travelogues and is established the necessary nourishment for the growth of post- today as a very substantial writer of Odisha. In independence and post-colonial Indian literature. her novels and stories the contemporary In the popularity-scale she is the most popular challenges of socio-ethic existence have been fictionalist today in Odisha as like as Kuntala, shaped evocatively with a probing spirit and human Kalandi, Kahnucharan, Gopinatha, Surendra, understanding. Her novelty mind is like a sensitive Basanta Kumari, Rajakishore and Bibhuti and antenna that almost always received the messages most of neo-idealistic fiction makers like Santanu, of an eternal and immortal life and projected the Chandrasekhar, Manoja and Gobinda. integrated feelings and aspects of human-race in a friendly speaking and solicitious way. Her novel making work started to be published from 1974 and by mid-eighties (1985- Beginning from early seventies as a 86) she was already established as a forefront versatile feminist writer Pratibha is writing writer. She was awarded Jnanapitha's, Murti Devi continuously for about 40 years and recently is Award for her stupendous deconstructive mythic 125 Odisha Review February-March - 2014 novel Jajyaseni in 1991. Her other effective and rustic issues of the race, corrosion of socio-polito well appealing novels are Barsa Basanta Baisakha system and human suffering with its transcendental (The Rain Spring Summer, 1974), Parichaya (An prevention. Mostly Ray's short stories is based identity - 1978), Punyatoya (The Hallowed River on a humanitarian notion and dealt with social - 1978), Asabari (The rhythm asabari, 1980), situations in connection with human behaviour. Nilatrushna (The Blue Thirst, 1981), Sila Padma Besides these intensity of emotion with (The Stone Lotus, 1983), Uttarmarga (The philosophical state of mind is a hallmark of her Salvation Way-1988), Adibhumi (The Primal stories and her framework of rural lores, legends, Land / The Primitive Land - 1993), Maha Moha idioms, beliefs and insight of good faiths help to (The great fascination / The great lust - 1997), provide a romantic touch to readers. As a whole Magnamati (The Sunken Earth / The regenerative a refined reader may be noted three aspects in earth, 2005) and Maharaniputra (The queen's son, her stories : firstly a seraphic attitude towards 2008). negative feelings and ominous of life, secondly a strong feministic commitment towards reality and Next to novel the literary genre that thirdly a sympathic universality. emerged in richness in the creative world of Pratibha is short story. In response to this effective Unlike her great predecessors and genre the achievement of Pratibha's creativity is contemporaries (in Odisha and abroad) Pratibha remarkable. Thematically her stories are often has used her novel-creativity for didactic concerned with middle class life and its manifold purpose. Till date she has framed 21 novels, out problems, issues and individualistic psyche. These of which 10, gained huge popularity for their also provided a deep and sympathetic outstanding and high literary merit. These are understanding of human life through psychological Barsa Basanta Baisakha, Nila Trushna, Ashabari, entanglement. Some of her stories are socio- Silapadma, Jagyaseni, Uttar Marga, Adibhumi, ethical, some are ritually mysterious and some are Mahamoha, Magnamati and Maharaniputra. feministic in appeal. She has written more than These are capable to serve unending and reliable 260 short stories and these stories have been strength of feeling of better human relationship in collected in about 20 collections, that include as : an immersing and perspective narrative Samanya Kathan (The little talk / The ordinary techniques. The worth excellence merits of these talk - 1979), Aikatana (concert sound - 1981), novels are humane-feminism, historization of Gangasiuli (mossflower - 1982), Ghasa O' Akasa contemporary realities and events, deconstructing (Grass and the sky - 1984), Abyakta (Latent the pre-mythic narratives and elements, spoken -1986), Itibrutaka (The annals / A juxtaposition of ritual tradition and modernity, Historic, 1987), Harita Patra (Gray Leaves, pseudo argumentative presentation, develop a 1989), Pruthak Iswar (separate God, 1991) hyper reality to great reality, demythilization of Bhagabanra Desa (The country of Lord / Lord's race-milieu-moment, re-production of new ethics country, 1991), Moksha (The Salvation, 1993), and appreciation of psycho-philosopic Ullanghan (The violation / The transgression, understanding. She is influential writer, whose 1998), Gandhinka Gan (The village of Gandhi, novels in a way created a taste for reading and 2003) and Story telling mode of Pratibha has co- accepting the novel-art in the last part of 20th mixed with the individual's intensive emotion, century, for which she is a household name in her 126 February-March - 2014 Odisha Review native land Odisha and having made a notable combines with the soil dreams and tragedies, journey from her obscure village 'Alabola' of native rituals and decades, cultural ambience and Jagatsinghpur district, to the hearts and minds of histrograpic aesthetics, legends and myths, temple readers of all over India. culture and folk motion, ethnological race and pastoral essence, national attitudes and existential The earlier novels (1974-82) of Pratibha modernity etc in a optimistic manner. She is suggest a sense of natural eroticism and romantic capable to experiment with different discourses, aesthetics. The appealing factors of novels of this themes and stuffs; such as socio-political, Anthro- period are able to proclaim about romantic scientific, histro-mythical, psycho-philosophical, realistic treatment. Here we can discuss two eco-geographical and even plots dealing with novels as example. evolution of mankind, women and their social The first novel is 'Barsa-Basanta- issues and psychics. In middle turns her novel is Baisakha'. The protagonist Sulagna has faced death with such type of issues as love, sacrifice, three types of victim and false promises. Society widow remarriage and caste restriction, inherent also detached her. The tragic plight of her life (due relationship, family ties and regret and to her erotic love) draws sympathy incites commentment. Her story telling and picturable resentment against those victims who look upon themes and its tolerant tone and compromising romance and love as commercial goods in the attitude have a great appeal to the middle class market. The second one is 'Parichaya'. In this sentiment. novel there is a conflict between the rural and Pratibha is best known for her three urban life style. Eternal love rather than body- prose-epic, i.e. Silapadma, Jagyaseni and enjoying-love has been skillfully and Uttarmarga. These three given a celebratic idea psychologically depicted in this novel. This type to reader that women is the greatest source of of her early novels has a flair for emotional, but chaos and disruption in the soceity. In these three her latter novels of middle phase (1982-88) show Pratibha is in quest of a value based humanistic a greater concern with socio-eco-ethical life. In society. The protagomist of these novels want to the novels of this chapter readers find social issues establish a new model of humanistic idealism in given a wide as well as diversified treatment and every sphere of life (regimal to universal). the formative talent of Ray seems to play a humane Compared with the males, women characters play game with contemporary existence and feminist dominent roles in these novels. Females are more background. Pratibha has a novelized universal emotional, more active-reactive and sympathic mobilize vision as well as a nativist mind. So far also and this complex lends some more weightage her novels help readers get in touch with