Pratibha Ray – the Writer and Beyond

Patibha Ray is a well known name in the literary and cultural circles of Orissa. Her outstanding contributions to literature have earned her global recognition. To the readers of Oriya novels and short stories the persona of Pratibha Ray needs no introduction.

But what needs to be highlighted is the activist behind this literary persona. Endowed with a reformist mindset she is a passionate crusader against social evils prevailing  in our society. Those of us who are in regular touch with the news and events of Orissa still vividly remember how a few years back Pratibha created a stir in the national media by writing an article titled  “The Colour of religion is black.” It was her form of vehement protest against unjust behaviour meted out by the priests to the devotees visiting the Jagannath temple of Puri.

PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN SWORD

One hears and uses this proverb many times in speech and writing. But it was Pratibha Ray who proved it in deeds by writing an article against the unruly Pandas of the Puri temple. What prompted her action was that once when she visited the Puri temple with a lady friend of hers who had an extremely fair skin, the Pandas took the latter to be a westerner. As a matter of custom non-Hindus, especially visitors from western countries are not allowed entry into the temple. But in this case even though Pratibha’s companion was very much an Indian Hindu, the fair colour of her skin prompted the pandas to  suspect that she was a non-Hindu from an western country and they started misbehaving with her. She was showered with choicest abuses and ordered to leave the temple complex immediately.

The pleadings of Pratibha that the lady in question was not a foreigner fell on deaf ears. Her attempts at defending her friend earned her the wrath of the Pandas and she was also at the receiving end of their misbehaviour.

An acutely hurt Pratibha went back home to launch a scathing attack on the irrational practices perpetrated by the Pandas. And the medium of her attack was her pen. She wrote a moving account of her experience in a leading Oriya news paper – “Dharmara Ranga Kala” ( The Colour Religion is Black). It caught the attention of the national media and the government.

God could never close His doors on human beings of any particular caste, creed, religion or nationality, she argued. It’s only the self proclaimed custodians of religion who created such unjust customs. After all Lord Jagannath is lord of the entire universe. How could he be discriminating between one human being and the other? A large number of social activists, politicians and media-personalities joined Pratibha in her crusade. So much so that at one point of time it became a national issue.

A defamation case was slapped against her for daring to write against the Pandas. She faced it boldly. After a long-drawn battle the case has finally been dismissed by the court.

THE QUEEN OF ORIYA FICTION

Pratibha’s contribution to the genre of Oriya novel and short story is quite magnificent not only in terms of volume, but also in terms of its uniqueness. She has 20 novels and 22 short story collections to her credit. “Sila-Padma” and “Jagyaseni” are two of her widely read and much acclaimed novels. While the first one is woven around the folklores associated with the famous Konark temple, the second one is a reassessment of the character of Draupadi in the epic Mahabharata.

In her works of fiction Pratibha highlights themes concerning a wide range of human predicaments and social anomalies. It has made her readers identify their own thought process with the theme of her works.

Her outstanding contributions to literature have earned her several prestigious awards and recognitions. She has been conferred the Padma Shree honour by the Government of India, Moorthidevi Award by Bharatiya Jnanpith and the Sahitya Akademi Award by the Orissa Sahitya Akademi. Her works have been widely translated into English and other Indian languages.

While Pratibha is primarily recognised as a novelist and story-writer, what remains unknown is her poetic self. She loves to write poetry more than anything else. Poetry often slips into her fiction. “If you read my novels, you will find several lyrics there. In a sense every novel of mine is poetry,” she says.

A SCHOLAR AND ACADEMICIAN

Pratibha is an educationist by profession. She was a professor of education in the Orissa State Education Service. A few years back she took voluntary retirement from the service to join the Orissa Public Service Commission as a member.

She started her career as a school teacher and later taught in various colleges of Orissa for thirty years, before joining the Public Service Commission.

As a part of research activities related to her professional career, she conducted post-doctoral research on the criminal propensity of the Bonda tribes. She made an in-depth study of the life style and social structure of this tribe of aborigines. She travelled to the remote hills inhabited by the Bondas and stayed with them for two month to get a real feel of the situations they were living in.

Her empathy for the pathetic conditions prevailing among members of the tribal communities of Orissa has found expression in many of her stories and novels.

LADDER TO THE SKY !

While she was a child Pratibha once asked her father how many bamboos should be put end-to-end to reach the sky. To this her father (a science graduate of those days) replied that there was nothing like the  “sky” and it was but an infinite entity of nothingness (“maha-shoonya”). This impressed her and she formed her world-view and philosophy of human existence based on this unending process of nothingness that encompasses the entire universe. This further prompted her to question the divisions prevailing in society in the name of caste, creed and religion.  

She wrote her first poem at the age of nine. She has never looked back ever since and has enriched Oriya literature with her unparalleled strata of contributions. She ascribes the achievements made by her in the literary world to the support extended by her husband Mr. Akshyaya Chandra Ray and the inspirations received from her parents.

Oriya Nari wishes her many more glorious years of literary and social accomplishments.