Gourahari Das is a playwright, critic and poet. He has seventy-five books to his credit. Winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award for translation, his works have been adapted for television series, plays and films. A prolific translator of Odia literature into English, specifically short stories and novels, Manoranjan Mishra is Assistant Professor in the Department of English, Government Autonomous College, Angul, Odisha.
The author narrates an everyday story simply but effectively. The translator captures the tension as the story moves forward, fast paced, right from the word go. Draupadi, a mother who lives alone with her little school-going son, faces the challenges of doing all that is required of a single parent. Even mundane chores like running the household, taking her son to school and picking him after, cooking and cleaning, and working in an office, become a boring routine as she sorely misses her husband Debadatta who is posted in Sunderbagh, and longs to be posted in a big city so that he could keep his family and aged parents with him.
Middle of the week, in front of the school where she drops off her son every day, Draupadi witnesses the killing of an innocent bystander. The ludicrous ways of fate leave her in a dilemma—should she inform the police, or hold on to the safety of her little boy, her husband miles away in a forest battling his own demons? Does one dare explore the limits of courage when the stakes are life and safety?
From the pen of one of Odisha’s most inventive writers comes a novel of quiet perseverance and struggle for a better life within the parameters of genteel norms and bureaucracy. Taut with atmospheric tension in Manoranjan Mishra’s artful translation, The Labyrinth is an immersive tale of the price of one’s difficult choices in fidelity to familial responsibilities and the intimate, hallucinatory voice of conscience.
Conflict is the single common thread that runs through this simple story on family life. For Draupadi, it is a continuous turmoil, whether to confess that she was witness to a horrendous murder, and place all their lives in danger, or to carry on a life of subterfuge with her nerves on edge.
How the mind plays tricks in the most complex of situations is illustrated in this novel, which the translator has brought out effectively. Debadatta, who detested everything about the place he has been posted to, suddenly realizes he has formed an attachment to the same place he thought vile. ‘He looked at the tall sal trees dotting the roadside… he wished them well… let the sky take care of you…the Forest Department has become a puppet… forgetting their responsibilities….’
The last few pages of the book leave the reader as anxious as Draupadi herself. Her worst fears are realized. Pintu is missing and is nowhere to be found. The murderers have surely kidnapped him. The story ends with Draupadi picking up the receiver to call the police deciding to end the tortuous days by confessing all and doing her duty despite the consequences of the confession. With her husband beside her she is emboldened to take the right decision.
The author brings out admirably the see-saw of emotions that rock ordinary lives and affect their well-being.
Sabita Radhakrishna is columnist, journalist, playwright, textile revivalist and award-winning cookbook writer. Her novel Looms of Arivoor is based on facts and focuses on the travails of the handloom weaver. Sabita has translated An Autobiography of an Actor: Shivaji Ganesh from Tamil to English.