Brief Note on Oriya (Odia) Short Stories
Brief Note on Oriya (Odia) Short Stories
The master writer of Orissa, Fakir Mohan Senapati laid the foundation of modern Oriya short story. He was called ‘Katha Samrat’. He used vivid and idiomatic Oriya language and portrayed Oriya village life as well as urban centers.
After Fakir Mohan, some important short story writers appeared in the scene, the most important being Laxmi Kanta Mohapatra. His short stories were ‘Budha Sankhari‘, ‘Adarsha Patni’ ‘Pratidana’ etc. In the early part of twentieth century, Godavarish Mishra wrote some short stories, important ones being ‘Bhaibhagari’, ‘Tola Kanya’. Godavarish Mohapatra was a successful story writer. His important stories include ‘Magunira Sagada’, ‘Nil Mastrani’, etc. His style was simple, yet forceful.
Oriya short story took a new but short turn after 1936 under the influence of Marxist Philosophy, particularly by Bhagabati Charan Panigrahi. This was, however, short lived. Various other short story writers later appeared in the scene and they were Pranabandhu Kar, Raj Kishore Ray, Raj Kishore Patnaik and Ananta Prasad Panda. Surendra Mohanty was a prolific short story writer in post independence era. His short stories disclose a deep sympathy for human misery.
Manoj Das is a talented story teller in Oriya. He is at ease both in English and Oriya. He often brings rudiments of folk- stories etc. and moulds them with superb ease. Important among his work are Laxmira Abhisar, Bhirna Manisha, Ananya Kahani. Kishori Charan Das is a very eminent writer of post independence period. His Anthology of short stories contains pieces such as Bhanga Khelana, Ranu Apa and Prayanti. Krushana Prasad Mishra and Achyutananda Pati are other prominent short story writers of post independent period. Rabi Patnaik, Akhil Mohan Patnaik, Chandrasekhar Rath, Bibhuti Tripathy, Binapani Mohanty, Uma Sankar Mishra, Hrusikesha Panda, Rama Chandra Behera, are other important short story writers of the modern period. Jagannath Prasad Das has written some unconventional short stories like ‘Ame Jeumane’.
Short story is now an established literary form in Oriya Literature and there are large numbers of writers in the field. But Oriya short story still lacks depth of range and rich realistic experiences of human life.
