Rebati’ was the first truly iconic short story written in Odia language in 1898 by the father of modern Odia literature, Fakir Mohan Senapati.
This story was written against the backdrop of the cholera epidemic that devastated the family of the protagonist. The human drama depicted in the story of course far outstripped its epidemiological cause. The Dhauli Books has published a book entitled ‘Rebati: Speaking in Tongues’ that features translations of the story in 36 languages of the world.
This covers 23 scheduled languages and two non-scheduled languages of India and twelve foreign languages such as Germany, Japanese, Russian, French, Spanish, Polish, Hebrew, Turkish, Sinhalese, Balochi, Uzbek and Pujabi-Shahamukhi besides Nepali and Urdu.
Most of the Indian as well as the foreign translators are acclaimed authors in their respective languages. Forty-one persons from 13 countries have translated ‘Rebati’ with 24 Indian and 12 foreign translators having given their best.
Manu Dash, editor of this anthology, says this anthology is the first such attempt in the publishing history, and, has been prepared, keeping research scholars, professors of literary studies and students of comparative and world literature around the globe in mind.
This, he says, makes the anthology a veritable collector’s item. He adds that as an author in Odia language and literature, this attempt is an expression of his fervent desire to showcase the rich legacy of Odia literature in the national and international arenas.
He conveys his gratitude to the translators, the writer of the foreword, Chandrahas Choudhury, and Prof Himansu S Mohapatra and Debendra K Dash for writing a scholarly introduction to this anthology.
The reputed critics, authors and luminaries who have written about this book include David Crystal, author of ‘The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language’, Satya P Mohanty, Professor of English at Cornell University, USA, Justice Dipak Misra, poet and former Chief Justice of India, Sitakanta Mahapatra,
eminent poet and Jnanpith Awardee, Satya Mohanty, poet and former Secretary, Govt. of India, Shanta Gokhale, acclaimed author and critic, Namita Gokhale, acclaimed author and founder director of Jaipur Literature Festival, Prafulla C Kar, Director, Centre for Contemporary Theory, Baroda, Prof BN Patnaik, well-known linguist and former professor of English at IIT, Kanpur, Jatindra K Nayak, former English professor, Utkal University.
Internationally-renowned artist and painter Jatin Das has made a portrait sketch exclusively for the book, which is scheduled for release on Monday (June, 14), the day to be observed as the 102th anniversary of Fakir Mohan’s death.
