My thoughts on Novel "Shasti" by Kanhu Charan Mahanty.

At first, I would like to thank the government of Odisha for providing a platform like "Odia virtual academy". I read this noble on that platform.

I had a great time reading this book. It was a time-travelling experience to the mid 19th century rural Odisha. It has vividly portrayed the society of that time narrating the way it was grappling with caste and religion. It reminds one, of the dark middle age of Europe where Christianity reigned supreme even above the value of human rights. Vivekananda had once said, "It is an insult to a starving people to offer them religion". This statement best suits the society depicted here.

The novel narrates a bone-chilling narration of famine, outbreak of diseases & the value of life in the pre-independence era. It ends with a strong message for social reform. The writer has portrayed his desire for a class-less/caste-less society free of any hierarchy, through his lead protagonist Sanei Parida.

Most of the characters in the novel are very real, you can find such persons in your surrounding. Three characters from this novel stand out leaving a solid impression.

The first & the most iconic character in this novel is the character of the lead antagonist, Chintei soi. The most dangerous villains are the ones who don't look lethal. Chintei preferred mind power rather than man-power. He believed in "Hata re na Mari bhata re mariba"( beating someone not by hand but by killing his/her livelihood). He is a person with great patience; so he waits for the right time to make an assault. During the famine, when most people in his village sold their house, farmland, he made a big fortune. With his rhetorics, he could manage to create the impression that he is helping people & he is equally helpless. He made good use of religion to prove his point. He knew very well how to use religion & money to maintain his dominating position.

If I have to give a comparison then he is very much similar to Ramadhir Singh of Gangs of wasseypur.

The second most iconic character of this novel is Dhobi, the lead female protagonist. She is a very simple village girl, very soft & compassionate. She doesn't get to marry the man of her choice, sanei Parida. Instead, she sees the destruction of his family during the famine. Later on, she gets married but her marriage doesn't last long. She becomes a widow.

Her character resembles Jaya Bachchan from the movie Sholay. In Indian society, a widow is supposed to renounce all earthly desires & live the life of a monk. That's very unfair. In the last scene of the movie Sholay,  Amitabh Bachchan was cremated. Jaya Bachchan watches this from the window of Thakur's house. The man he liked is burning into ashes. The camera turns towards Thakur's house, Jaya Bachchan closes the window. That scene was very iconic & metaphoric. She closes the window of her life forever.

Something similar happens to Dhobi. Her silent love story doesn't materialize because the social norms reign supreme over Individualism. She fights with her father to stay in her in-law's house, helps downtrodden people. But at the same time, she fears their judgment. She lives her entire life in dilemma & regrets.

The lead protagonist of the story is Sanei Parida. For a big part of his life, he had no control over his life. He & his family suffers from famine & also the wrath of Chintei soi. He loses his family, returns to his village much later only to be abandoned. Dhobi comes to his rescue. He gets a life. He wishes to marry Dhobi. For that, he again embraces the rude society & it's norms. But that doesn't materialize. In a sequence of events, he rebels against the social norms, adopts downtrodden people & lives with them.

He becomes a social reformer. But his speciality is that he is not a highly educated elite person like Raja Rammohan Ray or Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar. His social reformer instinct comes from his own struggle & observation of life. He feels that caste, religion, customs are bondage to mankind. He also breaks the myth of Chintei soi that man is a slave of money. He rejects Chintei's final offer & prefers to choose a path of uncertainty & bewilderedness.

The novel shasti is a wonderful social commentary chronicling its time. It would remain a bright spot in Odia literature.

--ଗୁप्तेs

19th Jan 2020