(a chronological diary of a child's nostalgic memories), all published by Streetlight.
Mohanty's latest work is marked with outstanding brevity and lucidity for the author believes works of fiction should be as simple and concise as possible so as to touch the heart and psyche of common man.
While comparing his book with the humility, ephemerality and submissiveness of a paper boat, he feels that books are not meant to be preserved in drawing room cupboards or library shelves but to be read again and again to its quintessence until ingrained in our intellectual consciousness.
The book is more of a psycho-philosophical treatise on inter-personal relationships and nostalgic reminiscences exuberant with aesthetic sensibility and literary ingenuity triggered by nature's efflorescence. The stories are based on the variegated themes such as love, romance, longing, passion, dalliance as well as painful experiences caused due to separation. Some stories are also reminiscent of one's good old days intertwined with the exuberance and flamboyance of nature and seasons. There is a couple of children's stories also.
Even a lay reader with no feel for literature will be able to recognise how these stories though framed in the simplest of vocabulary, manage to articulate thoughts and feelings of a sublime kind.
The author should be complimented particularly for the aesthetics in his expression and the depth of his quest. He succeeds in his endeavour for a synthesis of truth, love, beauty and harmony. Not very often we come across a work so intense, passionate, thoughtful and running on many levels simultaneously.
The author is unpretentious and equanimous in portraying the various facets of love and relationships. He encapsulates human emotions very artistically, aesthetically and, of course, optimistically. Credit goes to the author for successfully capturing the spirit, essence and subtleties of love. Every one fond of fiction would love Mohanty's stories which also interestingly comes with an audio book (by Sarthak Music), a concept introduced for the first time in Orissa, perhaps in the whole country as well on an experimental basis. The stories have been aptly narrated by renowned elocutionists of Orissa with background music by Sarat Nayak which is worth listening in an intimate, solitary atmosphere.
There is a distinct psycho-philosophical flavour in the stories of Mohanty. Going through them, anyone is capable of getting transported into nostalgic experiences of love and relationships. Mohanty's stories appear to be born out of an extremely personal experience.
There is no specialized vocabulary that can articulate abstract, extra-sensory experiences such as what a writer experiences when he is inspired. At the level of experience, everything is in a state of unity. But the moment a writer descends to the ordinary mode of existence and tries to express in finite language his infinite experiences, creativity emerges at its best navigating through streams of consciousness, realism and surrealism.
