Sakshi gopal

by Manoj Das

Mahindra and Vasanti want to marry. But Mahindra is only a poor orphan, and Sukhvir, the richest man in the village, wants to marry Vasanti too. During a pilgrimage to a temple of Krishna, Vasanti's father, Raghav, realises Mahindra's qualities of loyalty and integrity and asks him to become his son-in-law. Mahindra is overjoyed but his happiness is shattered when Raghav, swayed by Sukhvir's wealth, breaks his promise. Mahindra calls the village council but no one believes him. In despair, he prays to Lord Gopal to bear witness to Raghav's promise.This is a folktale from Orissa where the Sakshi Gopal temple, in Puri, marks the occasion when Gopal stood witness (Sakshi) so Mahindra and Vasanti could marry.

32 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 2, 2003

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

[Ravi Kumar Dandapani]

nice