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ODISSI RANDHAN KALA
By Prasanna Kumari Devi
Published by Agraduta, Cuttack
This book serves as a reliable reference manual
for traditional cuisine of Orissa in Oriya language. The author has made sincere endeavours to cover recipe of as
many oriya foods as possible. For example in the chapter on 'Saaga' (leafy vegetables) recipe of 22 types of saaga including Kakharu
saaga, sajana saaga and kalara patra are presented. The foreword: 'Our Food Culture' contributed
by the eminent author Mahapatra Nilamani Sahoo is an added attraction of the book.
GRUHINIMANANKA JANIBA KATHA
By SwarnaPrabha Ray
Published by Naba Diganta,
Binod Bihari, Cuttack
It contains
several household tips that a housewife would find immensely useful. It covers topics such as 'Tips
Relating to Food Items' (How to preserve a cracked egg, for example) 'How to mend an error?' (If you add excess salt to the
curry, for example) "Protection of Domestic Items" (The rubber lining of a presure cooker, for example) so on and so forth.
A quite handy book in its category available in Oriya language.
GRUHINIMANAKA GHARA KARANA
By Bijaya Laxmi Patnaik
Published by Press communication of India, Bhubaneswar
This is another book of the kind mentioned above
which has gained popularity among housewives. Besides the usual household tips, it also includes a 'Medicines in Your Kitchen'
section and highlights the usefulness of several common items available in every household in treatment of common ailments.
The information and tips available in the book would be useful to women in their daily chores.
SWASTHYA DARPAN
By Dr. Yogamaya Patnaik
Published by Friends Publishers
Cuttack -2
Wriitten by the renowned lady physician of Orissa, Dr. Yogamaya
Patnaik, it is a systematic presentation of advice on several physical (and even mental) ailments we might be facing.
'How to Reduce Weight' is an interesting chapter in the book where the author suggests that we should keep our friends and
relatives informed about what we do not like to eat, so that we would not be compelled to eat those items out of
courtesy.
ORISSA
By Dr. Shreeram Chandra Dash
Published by Publications Division, Govt. of India
New Delhi
The book in English covers various topics ralating to the
state of Orissa. One could acquaint oneself with the historical background of the state, its geography, art, culture, various
tribes, literature, and industries, among others. A chapter on places of tourist interest also gives a brief overview
of the places that a visitor to the state would love to visit.
SRI JAGANNATH DHAM, PURI
By Santi Lata Kantha
Published by Sadgrantha Niketan, Puri
This book may prove to be handy guide to
the visitors to the Jagannath Temple in Puri. It briefly introduces all temples and important places within
the grand temple complex which no curious visitor would like to miss. The writer also covers the
typical rituals and festivals of the temple that are celebrated throughout the year. A few other
places of tourist interest within the city of Puri are also explained.
HEALTHY ORIYA CUISINE
By Bijoylaxmi Hota & Kabita Pattanayak
Published by Rupa & Co, New Delhi
This recipe book seeks to present the Orissan
style of cooking in a crisp manner. A laudable
attempt has been made by the authors to capture the essence of Oriya cuisine and show how it contributes
positively to one's holistic health as well. A few non-Oriya recipes also appear to have crept into the book in
the process of covering assorted foods of Orissa. We suggest that the authors should think of modifying the lay
out of the book in subsequent editions.
PURBA: FEASTS FROM THE EAST
By Laxmi Parida
Published by iUniverse
Lincoln, USA
Here we have an authentic cook book covering almost
all aspects of Oriya cuisine. The author has presented the culinary art of Orissa with such a cordial approach that her
narrative with a personal touch makes the recipes quite enjoyable to go through. One can sense a
thorough research on Oriya kitchen as one browses through the book. The only thing we wonder is why the
author excluded the word 'Orissa' or 'Oriya' from the title of the book.
LEARN ORIYA IN A MONTH
By Rajan Panda
Published by Readwell Publications
New Delhi
We mention this book here in response to queries being made by some visitors
of our site regarding availability of a suitable book for learning Oriya language which could be of use to the non-Oriya
speaking students. This book may prove to be a supportive tool to those who wish to get acquainted with the
basics of the language. However the author has approached the task throgh theoretical grammar, which may pose a little
difficulty to serious learners of the language.
SATYAM BRUYAT
By Shyamsunder Agrawalla
Published by Spectrum
Bhubaneswar
The book marks a successful approach by the author
to present snippets of our day-to-day life with a touch of wit. He analyses in a pleasant manner the underlying
truth behind various aspects of our behaviour and attitude in life. Although the writer is new to the world of Oriya writing (which
doesn't however mean that he is a young writer) the grasp and confidence with which he has presented
his subject in simple prose makes it a compulsive reading. The high quality of printing and production
ensured by the publishers is also note worthy. The success of the book can be gauged from that within only
five months of its first edition the publishers are now in the process of bringing out its second edition. A
rare feat, we should say, considering how difficult it is these days to find readership for Oriya books. To
sum up, if you haven't read it so far, you are missing something.
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Click on the links below to visit the other pages of our site:
Post your problems for counselling
A calendar of traditional Oriya festivals
Recipe of dishes from Oriya kitchen
Presenting an outstanding woman personality
Find here some of our previous editorials
Participate in a discussion or start a new topic
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OUR REGRETS
We have been receiving requests from some of the visitors of this site to send them
copies of the books which are covered here. But we regret that we are not in a position to supply any of these. Our motive
here is to introduce some good and interesting books with brief reviews of the same. The visitors who wish
to get copies of any of these books are requested to enquire with the leading book sellers in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar
or contact the publishers directly.
The publishers wishing to submit their books for review may please
contact us at our email id: oriyanari@yahoo.co.in .
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SABU SMRUTI MADHURA
By Geeta Hota
Published by Orissa Writers Co-op. Society Ltd., Bhubaneswar
This engaging autobiography by one of Orissa’s leading woman authors and editor
of the eminent literary journal Amrutayan, covers the journey of a school
girl to the inspiring heights of ideal womanhood. The book initiates a passionate discourse on tradition and modernity. It
takes recourse to three key objectives: (1) re-invention of our rich tradition; (2) locating the conspicuous chasm between
the past heritage and the contemporary milieu; (3) reviving the constructive potential of tradition for reconstructing a prosperous
modern life.
The author vividly documents her memory concerning the journey of Oriya
as a language, identity and tradition. True to the spirit of a critical observer, she opines that a shift has occurred in
our priority, taste, values and individuality. The sacrificing/ altruistic zeal of the architects of modern Orissa is missing
in the youth of recent times.
Written with patriotic verve and sheer truthfulness,
the book is indicative of the writer's sensitive zeal to illustrate the grandeur of Orissan values. The contents of the
book are absolutely grounded (event-based, experience-based) and the piece emerges out of her real life engagements with diverse
realms of society: language, region, art, education and politics that make the reading a relishing experience.
JAGYASENI
By Pratibha Ray
Published by Adya Prakashani, Tulasipur, Cuttack-753008
Jagyaseni is a masterpiece that has endeared it self to Oriya readers, especially the women among
them. This rendering of a well-known piece of epic in a fictional structure has uniqueness of its own.
To put it straight, this is the story of Draupadi, the wife of the Pandavas narrated by her
in the first person. However it is not as simple as that. One re-discovers the character of Draupadi in the rendering of the
glimpses of her life. As one browses through the book, page after page newer and newer facets of the life and dilemmas of
Draupadi begin to unfold.
It is a fine presentation of the woman within the Draupadi as she faces the various predicaments
in her relationship with Yudihsthira, Arjuna, Krishna and other protagonists of the Mahabharata. We could rather call it the
presentation of the character of Draupadi with a feminist undertone. A woman reader would easily identify the inner realities
of her own existence in the writer’s portrayal of Draupadi.
This much-acclaimed book is credited with the prestigious Bharatiya Jnanapith - Murti Devi Award.
It has been widely translated into many Indian languages, besides English.
KABULIBALARA BANGALI BADHU
By Susmita Bandopadhyay
Translated into Oriya by Binapani Mahapatra
Published by Kahani, Kalyani Nagar, Cuttack
It is the best autobiographical novel one could read in recent times. The protagonist of the book
is an Indian woman who went to Afghanistan and fell in love with an Afghani guy over there. They eventually got married. This
is what has really happened in the personal life of the writer, Susmita Bandopadhyay. What happened next? This is what
constitutes the captivating phase of the book.
Set in the modern-day reality, the book delves deep into the dilemmas of a woman caught in the
vortex of inter-cultural and inter-social relationship.
Though presented as a fiction, one observes here a
thinning down of the line between autobiography and fiction. It is a handy relief to those who complain that today’s
fiction is getting detached from reality.
Originally written in Bengali, this book has been translated into oriya by Binapani Mahapatra in
such a manner that here translation gives way to transcreation. This is one of the reasons why the book promises a captivating
reading.
GAMBHIRI GHARA
By Sarojini Sahoo
Published by Time Pass, Bhubaneswar
Gambhiri Ghara is one of the much acclaimed novels of Sarojini
Sahoo. It was first published in a magazine in 2005. The next year it appeared in the book form and was an
instant success. It's Bengali translation has also gained immese popularity among the Bengali readers.
The
novel deals with the process of evolution of infatuation into love. It begins with questioning the mere physicality
of a man-woman relationship and transports the reader into the higher planes of platonic love.
Kuki,
the central character of the novel, is a Hindu woman from India who falls (and then rises) in love with a Muslim artist of
Pakistan. The unusualness of the socio-cultural background of these two characters is portrayed in a sensitive and convincing
manner to reach a conclusion that such barriers of background may never bar the free flow of love between two hearts.
One
comes across two sets of roles that Kuki plays in life - one that of a lover, and the
other, a wife. She subtly balances these two attributes of her character while at the same time higlighting the
superiority of a wife in pragmatic world.
When
we talk of cross-border protagonists may terrorism remain far behind? Yes, the writer aptly brings this into question
as an analytical treatment of the factors behind terrorism is inter-woven into the main theme.
The
novel is as powerful as any of Sarojini Sahoo’s popular short stories. Like in her all other masterpieces, here
also she does not betray the distinction of her being the leading feminist writer of Orissa.
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NEELA NIRABATA
By Sanjukta Mohanty
Published by M/s Jagannath Ratha Publishers & Book Sellers,
Cuttack
The novel seeks to explore an in-depth understanding of women’s reality:
their sorrow and subjugation, sensitivity and sensibility. Being a woman, the novelist is starkly alive and sensitive to the
plight of single women in the society.
In patriarchy where marriage and motherhood are eulogized as cultural ideals
for women in general, staying single is a harrowing experience for every Indian woman. Delving deeper into the issue the writer
analyses the vulnerable existence of a single woman – an existence which is replete with a series of trials and tribulations.
Keeping this theme in the background, the novel blends two dimensions: women’s emotion, passion, love and aspiration
on one hand, the complex patriarchal milieu on the other.
Although the novel has a spectacular beginning, the author could have maintained
its depth, coherence and strength till the concluding point. It appears that the sequence of the plot could not be sustained
till denouement.
However, this is a meaningful story with a strong feminist message which no serious reader of Oriya fiction would
like to miss. We look forward to many more of outstanding contributions
to the world of fiction by this prolific writer who has already authored eighteen books.
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