Rebati

Rebati (Oriya: ରେବତି) [Fakir Mohan Senapati: STORIES ,Author: Fakir Mohan Senapati ,Translated by: Paul St-Pierre, Leelawati Mohapatra, K K Mohapatra ,ISBN No: 81-89040-00-6 ,Price: Rs. 75.00, Publisher : Grassroots ,Bhubaneswar : http://www.grassrootsbooksindia.com/frontend/book.php?autcode=1&codetype=U] , the famous Oriyashort story by Fakir Mohan Senapati, is considered as the first Oriya modern short story [History of Oriya Literature : Dr. Mansinha , Mayadhar ; Published by Sahitya Akademy,Delhi] , though Fakir Mohan’s autobiography tells a different account [Atma Charita ( Autobigraphy of Fakir Mohan ) Published by Orissa Sahitya Akademy,Bhubaneswar] . According to the autobiography, Fakir Mohan had written a story “Lachhmania”, published in the journal Bodhadayini in 1860, edited by himself in Balasore . If either Fakirmohan or his progeny had preserved his short story, “Lachmania” , Fakirmohan would certainly been credited with having pioneered the genre in Indiain Short Story instead of Rabindranath Tagore . But as ill-luck would have it, except for a bare mention in his autobiography, the story cannot be traced, and thus his “Rebati” (1898) is widely recognized as the first Oriya short story [Fakir Mohan Samiksha: Mohanty , Surendra ,Published by New Students Store,Binode Behari,Cuttack] .

Infobox writer
name = Fakir Mohan Senapati


caption = Fakir Mohan Senapati
birthdate = birth date|1843|01|14|df=y
birthplace = Balasore , British India
deathdate = death date and age|1918|06|14|1843|01|14|df=y | occupation = Novelist ,Short Story Writer, poet, , philosopher, Social Activist
nationality = British Indian
period = Nineteenth century

Fakir Mohan Senapati (1843-1918), the prime figure of modern Oriya Fiction ,was considered the Vyasakabi or founder poet of Oriya language. Fakir Mohan was born and brought up in the coastal town of Balasore and known primarily as the father of modern Oriya prose fiction.He was a pioneer to introduce the Social Realism in literature at least 25 years before British Rule and much before the October Revolution of Russia .He was also one of the leading writers to attack the British Rule through his poignant satirical remarks.During nineteenth Century beginning Orissa suffered decisive defeats at the hands of the Bengalis , who were the supporter of British Rule and the socio-economic structure of orissa was declined to make the state a dark region , Madhusdan Das (popularly known as Madhu Babu in Orissa ) , Fakir Mohan , Radhanath Ray and some of the personalities who fought against the attempts of the Bengalis to marginalize even replace the Oriya language,culture and even History by Bengalis.

“Rebati” :The Theme

Rebati is the story of a young innocent girl whose desire for education is placed in the context of a conservative society in a backward Orissa village, which is hit by the killer epidemic cholera.The story itself also opens a third dimension , when it deals with the silent love affair between Rebati & a school teacher . By displaying a forbidden desire for learning,Rebati , the female protagonisrt of the story , seems to invite misfortune on herself and her community. Fakir Mohan's “Rebati” became an icon and her story an allegory for female education and emancipation. The story is too easily celebrated as an example of Fakirmohan’s reformist zeal .

Role of “Rebati” in the development of feminism

From Rebati to Sarojini Sahoo , the cultural scenario of Orissa has been changed a lot . In 1871 for the first time a school for Hindu girls was set-up at Cuttack in the house of Abhinash Chandra Chattopadhyaya. [ Utkal Deepika, Vol 6, No. 38, Sep 30, 1871 ] . Even after the school ran for 10 years at Cuttack city, only four Hindu girls could be enrolled.The role of Fakir Mohan Senapati,Sudhal Dev, the Raja of Bamanda and T.E Ravenshaw,the then Commissioner of Cuttack (Orissa) were significant . Among the women personalities, the efforts of Reba Roy and Rani of Khallikote in spreading female education in the beginning of the 20th century was indeed heartening. The most laudable effort was the Utkal Mahila Conference held in Berhampur in 1924 . Gandhiji’s visit to Orissa for the first time in 1921 obviously had its effect. Smt Rasamani Devi, Salaral Devi, Kuntala Kumari Sabat, Sarojini Chowdhury took pioneering interest in establishing this Participation of many Oriya women in the historic Karachi Congress session in 1931 paved the way for greater role in national movement. The spread of the Civil disobedience movement in Orissa was mostly due to the All Orissa Women's Council which had members from different parts of the state with Kuntala Kumari as its President. They declared the 5 rights of women -over their body, over the possessions of their husbands, over their own husband and children and over their religion. Women like Rama Devi, Malati Devi, Annapurna Devi,Godavari Devi worked for the socio economic upliftment of the Oriya women .especially of the rural women. .After the independence women such as Shubhadra Mahtab, Malati Devi, Rama Devi, Sarala Devi, Satyavati Devi continued to work for social transformation .In later period ,the entry of Nandini Satpathy who hailed from a political background and had been a student activist and who rose to be the Chief Minister of the State turned the scenario total different from that of 1898 , when Fakir Mohan had written the story “Rebati”.In literary field, the women participation was not remarkable up to seventies of last Century.Though .Kuntala Kumari Sabat,Bidyut Prabha devi, Binapani Mohanty and Nandini Satpathy were few names can be uttered,After Seventies , some female writers like Sarojini Sahoo , Jayanti Ratha,Susmita Bagchi.Yashodhara Mishra, Hiranmayee Mishra, Chirashree IndraSingh Supriya Panda, Gayatri Saraf., Mamata Chowdhry are few fiction writers emerged , among whom Sarojini Sahoo played a significant role for her feministic and sexuality approach in fiction. [ [http://sarojinisahoo.blogspot.com/ Sense and Sensuality] , accessed 15 March 2008]

Role of “Rebati” in the development of Oriya short stories

Not only in women education, women’s writing or feminism , but also the story “Rebati” has influenced a lot to the short story writers of Orissa in later period .In early Eighties of last century Jagadish Mohanty , wrote a story based on the protagonist character “Rebati” . [ “Album”-Short Stories Collection by Jagadish Mohanty,Publishrd by Grantha Mandir, Binode Behari ,Cuttack] and it made a new tradition .Since then hundreds of stories were written on the women’s agony ,where “Rebati” represents the women’s fate in changing scenario of time .Asit Kumar Mohanty, later edited all the stories , along with both Fakir Mohan and Jagadish’s “Rebati” in two of his collection under the same title [ “Rebati”-Edited by Asit Kumar Mohanty and published by Friends Publishers,Binode Behati,Cuttack] .

ee also

*Oriya Literature
*Oriya language
*Six Acres and a Third

References