My Little India

by Manoj Das

Description of India based on author's journey across the country.

Genres: India

256 pages, Paperback

First published August 3, 2014

About the author

Manoj Das, a prolific author, is among India's foremost short story writers. He writes both in Oriya (Odia) and English, and is a Professor of English at the Sri Aurobindo International University, Pondicherry.

Manoj Das was born in a small coastal village named Shankari in Balasore district, Orissa State. Since 1963, he has been an ashramite at Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry. He is presently concentrating on writing novels.

Manoj Das is perhaps the foremost bilingual Oriya writer and a master of dramatic expression both in his English and Oriya short stories and novels. He says that:

"Characters follow the theme of a story, and the words are merely added by author to represent the thoughts of the character."

That is the precise reason why Das's characters in fiction are from so many varied backgrounds, and display many different dimensions of human nature. He is a philosopher, a thinker-writer whose works can be defined as a quest for finding the eternal truth in everyday situations.

Reviews

[Swateek]

Always been a fan of his short stories. Mr. Das's way of writing sometimes forces you to close your eyes to get the exact description of what he puts in so simple words. You relish the whole story like the last scoop of your favourite ice-cream!

I loved the story about the elephants, one which he describes in the story of Anamalai. That's a favourite from now on!

I regret not reading this in the original writing (Odia - Antaranga Bharata is the book) but still a good feeling of having finally completed. I hope to meet him one day when I visit Pondicherry.