Preface
History may be servitude. (Four Quartets-T.S. Eliot). H May May not be true, when it is wedded to the alchemy of creative imagination and its fact incarnate an aesthesis that lights and delights beyond measure. Consequently its readers roam in a realm of supernal liberation. In fact, history metamorphosed into historical novel can liberate mankind when presented by a master-spirit (novelist). Odia literature is so fecund and auriferous that it has given birth to one heroic soul, the celebrated Dr Pratibha Ray. If we go by Thomas Carlyle's definition of hero as eternal light fountain, (Hero and Hero worship), then the esteemed literary genius Smt. Ray indubitably fits with it. So says the notable critic Jatindramohan Mohanty, 'She has written extensively novels, short stories, travelogues etc., and is established today as a very substantial writer of Odisha. Pratibha, like Binapani, has been deeply involved with social factors and attitudes, and her insight is as probing and sharp. But she has a larger dimension in the sense that she has divergent readership.' (History of Odia Literature, 2006, p. 618). As a matter of fact, this human Pratibha is what the great Sanskrit rhetorician of Odisha, Viswanath Kabiraj says, 'Naba naba unmeshasalini prajnya.' In other words, she is an ever-flowing and never-failing fountain of the power of invention. The pageantry of her fictions is both fabulous and fantastic. Her Maharani Putra, (a historical novel in Odia language), translated into English by Rabindra Kumar Nayak is timely and deserves accolade. This novel merits translation in the sense that the rebellion it relates is a brilliant pointer to the indomitable promethean spirit of the really marginalised, dispossessed, dehumanized and denigrated 'amrutara santaans' (The Dynasty of Immortals, as Prof. Bidhubhusan Das says, in connection with Gopinath Mohanty's Amrutar Santaan). These tribals are, in fact, 'Dalits', who, in spite of their innate naivety and unpretentiousness are condemned to a death-in-life existence because of the predatory nature of the so-called higher castes. Once, monarchy was instrumental in such anti-human depredation. The tribals of Kendujhar were no exception to it. Prey to monarchy, their existence was hellish. Therefore, they had risen in rebellion more than once. Dharanidhar, a tribal youth of this region and the protagonist of Pratibha's classic Maharani Putra is historically significant. Leading the rebellion of the tribals such as Bhuyans, Juangs, Santals of the surrounding areas of Kendujhar in 1891 against the then atrocious monarchy, he demonstrated how Nature's offspring-credulous and credible, virtuous and valiant, loving and lovable, and 'more sinned against than sinning,' were also ignited souls; they were meek and mild no doubt, but they were also virulent and volcanic in the teeth of outrage whatsoever. Dharanidhar is a colossus whom history salutes and Mother Earth hugs as one of her rare sons and who typifies Netaji's clarion call 'Let's create history, let others write it.' The novelist has employed the omniscient method to narrate the evolution of Dharanidhar as son of Nature, as leader of the tribals, as the Maharani's Son and as the ill-fated leader betrayed by Phakirmohan, Dewan of the king of Kendujhar, as prisoner incarcerated in Cuttack jail, as devotee singing devotional songs in front of the temple of Lord Jagannath at Puri and as sannyasi spending his last days at Aali and finally breathing his last there on 16 May 1914. Thus a hero disappears not in the limbo of oblivion, but remains redolent in the Hall of Fame of History. Pratibha's novel turns Apollonian with supernal aplomb as she pays homage to Dharanidhar. 'People believe that Dharanidhar has not died. Brajasundar Dev might have thought that there was no need of a temple for one who was alive. Because, when the hailstones fall upon the tank in dark like the never-ending miseries of man, his voice is heard from among the heaps-Let me rot in hell, but let the world be redeemed.' What a grand end! A majestic organic plot of epical dimension impregnated with a unique poetic-philosophical style-the style at times rising to an incantatory crescendo has been handled so absorbingly and dexterously by the peerless novelist that it casts a hypnotic spell on the reader. Translating such a historical novel is not everybody's cup of tea. A mind elastic and a heart susceptible can venture to shoulder the onerous task of translation because translation is the only means of providing us a release from the narrow prison-house of different languages and affording a fresh view of oneness, unity and commonality. 'All literature envisions and aspires to such an "ideal." This 'common ideal', of course, be the source of that nebulous "unity" we talk of. Literary translations into and from Indian languages can help us to unravel, capture and preserve this ideal.' (R.N. Srivastav, Making of Indian Literature, p. 5). Translator Rabindra Kumar Nayak has been imbued with the superb ideal of presenting a regional ethos that has a national or even transnational bearing which goes a long way in sensitizing human consciousness about 'what man has made of man' (Wordsworth) which is both baneful and boorish and which must be done away with lock, stock and barrel.
About The Book
This novel The Maharani's Son (Maharani Putra) by Pratibha Ray is based on the historical agitation by the marginalised Dalits, spearheaded by Dharanidhar Naik, himself a tribal, against the tyrannical monarchy of Kendujhar, a feudatory state in Odisha in the last part of the nineteenth century. The post-colonial fictionalisation of this rebel hero's life and achievement gives an eloquent tongue to the feeble. smothered voice of dissent against exploitation. This novel, based on such a rebellion, is expected to contribute to Dalit literature in the Indian context today. The novelist has employed the omniscient method to narrate the evolution of Dharanidhar as son of Nature, as leader of the tribals, as the Maharani's son and the ill-fated leader betrayed by Phakirmohan Senapati, Dewan of the king of Kendujhar, a prisoner incarcerated in Katak jail, a devotee singing devotional songs in front of the temple of Lord Jagannath at Puri and a sannyasi spending his last days at Aali and finally breathing his last there on 16 May 1914. Thus, a hero disappears not in the limbo of oblivion, but remains redolent in the Hall of Fame of History. This novel is a rare creation of Odia literature in which the two charismatic leaders, Phakirmohan Senapati and Dharanidhar Naik shine with their illuminating vision and magnificence.
About The Author
One of the most popular and prolific writers of Odisha, Pratibha Ray, born on 21 January 1944 is an academician and writer of Odia novels and stories. For her significant contribution to Indian literature, Dr. Ray received the Jnanapith Award in 2011. She was awarded Padmabhusan in 2022 An academician by profession and a writer by choice, Dr. Ray, undoubtedly, is a household name in Odisha. As a committed academician, she has been involved in active research. Her boldness, courage and commitment to work with the savage and aggressive Bonda tribe is really commendable. As a doyen of Odia literature, Pratibha's excellence in both novels and short stories impresses the discerning reader. Her creative oeuvre is effulgent in the elaboration of the aesthetic values of life, in the grand display of social scenario, rich in tradition and history and that characterises her vast domain of fictionalisation.
Rabindra Kumar Nayak, born on 19 April 1965, is a Reader in English. Anandapur College, Anandapur, Kendujhar. Odisha. He is a bilingual translator and has been active in the field of translation for the last 25 years with more than 30 books to his credit, published by leading publishers of Odisha, State Museum and National Book Trust, India. He also writes poems and essays both in Odia and English. His important translated works include Thais, a novel by Anatole France, Kamasutra by Maharshi Vatsyayan, Bidroha 1857, Usna Deena Dirgha Raati, an anthology of African Short Stories, Paandavapura, a Malayalam novel by Sethu. Tolstoy's luan Ilichnka Mrutyu and Eric Fromm's Bhalapaaibara Kalaa.
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