The Life and Times of Banka Harichandan

Dipti R Pattanaik, Himansu S Mohapatra

• Publisher: S&S India
• Year: 2023
• eBook ISBN: 9789392099977
• Edition: 0
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Literature General
• Index: Literature

A tremendous portrait of the hopes and horrors, the threadsof delicate perception and the pangs of fear and illusion, of a growingboy'slife in a provincial town in Odisha.Banka Harichandanreturns us to the uniqueatmosphere, at once particular and universal, of our own childhood.
-Chandrahas Choudhury, Author of Arzee the Dwarf and My Country Is Literature Dipti Ranjan Pattanaik creates a masterly tale of coming of age in Odisha'spious, rustic, heartlands. Deftly translated into English from Odia, "The Life
and Times of Banka Harichandan" carries the reader into a delightfullyimmersive experience of young Banka's heady confrontation withadolescence—and with the relentless world of grown-ups…. Dispassionateand compassionate at the same time, 'Banka Harichandan' is a heart-warmingtribute to the eternal reenactment of growing up.
-Paul Zacharia, Author of Bhaskara Patellar and Other Stories and The Reflections of a Hen in Her Last Hour and Other Stories
In this tour-de-force of a coming-of-age narrative, the story of anordinary but precocious boy named Banka Harichandan is told afresh, using a mixture of childhood perception, idiolect, and anecdotes.The stories evoke a child's restless and questioning mind constantlypushing against the restrictive limits of his placid and conformist times. Presented in a series of discrete tales, the narrative—best thoughtof as a 'composite novel'—takes the reader on an odyssey throughthe whole gamut of emotions that light up the passage from innocenceto experience in a small-town, lower-middle-class setting. Unfolding ata leisurely pace and studded with epiphanies, The Life and Times ofBanka Harichandan is a remarkable contribution from Odisha toliterature centred on children.

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Preface
• Introduction by Himansu S. Mohapatra
• An Inauspicious Morning in the Life of Banka Harichandan
• A Stint in Hell
• Dwarf
• First Separation
• Alone
• Resolution
• Timetable
• Monitor
• Initiation
• Rain Cycle
• The Account of a Pilgrimage
• On the Edge
• Acknowledgements
• About the Author and Translator
• Copyright