Description
- Pub Date : April 2022
- Author : Jagadish Mohanty; Himansu Mohapatra & Paul St-Pierre (Trs.)
- Publisher : Penguin Modern Classics
- Category : Fiction
- Binding Type : Paperbak
- NO. OF PAGES : 264
- Mrp : 399
ABOUT THE BOOK
Battles of Our Own (Nija Nija Panipatha) by Jagadish Mohanty
(1951-2013), was published in 1990. It is set in the coal mining area
of western Odisha, where the author worked all his life. The conflict
between the coal mine administration and the trade union in an
industrial setting gives the novel its plot, characters and atmosphere.
The conflict-ridden world of a colliery makes it an exemplar of the
'industrial novel' in Odia and perhaps in Indian literature. The setting
of the novel makes it unique, setting it apart from the majority of
mainstream Odia novels of the time, with their polite and placid
settings and their themes of romance or social success.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jagadish Mohanty (1951-2013) was an influential Odia writer whose
most productive years were from the 1970s through to the 1990s,
although he was active right until his untimely death at the age of sixtytwo.
A trend setter in Odia short fiction, he mediated the existentialist
experience of angst and alienation, thereby giving Odia literature the
much needed international exposure. Two finest short story
collections out of his thirteen are Dakshina Duari Ghara (South-Facing
House), published in 1979, and Album (1981). The two are also
available in English translation. He wrote five novels, including Kanishka
Kanishka (1986), which explored the moral dilemmas faced by ordinary
individuals in their quest for an authentic existence. Nija Nija Panipatha
(1990), translated as Battles of Our Own, is a unique Indian example of
the industrial novel.
