These two 2024 Odia books—Sabu Modare Jeeban, an inspiring short story anthology, and Maple, a touching novel—highlight the strength, love, and hope of differently abled individuals, challenging stereotypes and celebrating their resilience through empowering narratives.
Sabu Modare Jeeban (ସବୁ ମୋଡ଼ରେ ଜୀବନ ): An Anthology of Selected Inspirational Odia Short Stories on Disabilities
Edited by Biraja Routray
Most often, in the unaccommodated conservative mindset around the world, disability is considered as a curse to society. Even, the very Indian traditional mindset has viewed persons with disabilities with all negativity and as the unwanted members of the society as well. Characters like visually challenged ‘Dritharashtra’, physically challenged ‘Sakuni’ of the Epic Mahabharata, ‘Manthara’ of the Ramayan and multiple differently abled ‘Ashtavakra’ have been portrayed with negative and satirical personalities in our mythology. Our so- called civilization has travelled a long distance in between, in the path of Ancient to Medieval and Modern, but the negative attitudes associated with stereotypes about people with disabilities are not fully rooted out from our thought. These exclusive selected short stories compilation “Sabu Modare Jeeban”, is of a different taste. All of its stories portray one or more differently abled characters as a symbol of positive inspiration instead of a character of mercy or a victim of misfortune or superstitions. A total sixteen numbers of different Odia short stories starting from eminent story teller Chandra Sekhar Ratha, Prativa Ray,Rama chandra Behera to young writer Sunanda Pradhan, all the stories end up with a hope and positive conclusion. Treating characters and selecting stories far from the traditional trend of adjourning a differently abled in the prism of negativity is the hallmark of this unique story book.
Edited by Wellknown Storyteller Biraja Routray Published in 2024 by BLACK EAGLE BOOKS, Dublin, USA. Also available in amazon and flipkart.
MAPLE (ମେପଲ୍) : A Novel by Snigdha Nayak
Love is such a powerful transformative tool, which can turn a wheelchair into wings….. can infuse an umpteen horse power even in the immobile. The novel “Maple” written by Snigdha Nayak is a palpitated romantic testament of an episodic journey of a quadriplegic mathematician Kartik from a state of desperation to aspiration. With a wider story horizon stretching from a remote village of eastern Odisha to the southern city of Ontario, Cannada. The novel delves into the rehabilitation world of differently abled, which runs initially with the friendly relationship of two persons with spinal injury undergoing treatment in a hospital rehab center in Ontario. The relationship between Kartik and a Canadian woman Mewhies gradually transforms into a strong bond of love and also culminates in a live in relationship. The Novel opens with the deep sorrowful depiction of a person Kartik, who finds a ray of hope in his devastated hospitalized wheelchair bound life after coming across with Mewhies. Their growing love, mutual understanding and area of differences which ultimately end up with separation. For Kartik this unforgettable loving phase remains with him forever as an aroma of his life. The uniqueness of this novel is that it depicts a love story of two differently abled persons of different part of this globalized world, which is quite unnoticed and sidelined in the mainstream love story.
Published in the year 2024 by Paschima Publication, Bhubaneswar. Also available in amazon and odishaestore.
Comments
Manoj Kumar Biswal
It is the most valuable newspaper that change our PwDs life.