Fakir Mohan Senapati
Fakir Mohan Senapati (1843-1918) lived during tumultuous times. Orissa was taken over by the British in 1803, and was soon thereafter incorporated into a transnational economic system. Senapati`s consciousness of being an Oriya developed in a politicized context where an Oriya cultural identity (like many other minority identities in history) was at risk of disappearing. What drove him was less a desire for literary fame than the need to save and protect the language of the people around him.
Fakir Mohan Senapati was born in a Khandayat family in a small village ‘Malli Kashapur’ near Balasore town. His father died when he was at the age of one year and five months only. His mother also died after 14 months of the death of his father. His grandmother brought him up. He used to remain ill when he was an infant. His grandmother usually took him to the fakirs. His name was originally Brajamohan. His grandmother changed his name to Fakir as a dedication to the Fakirs she used to take him.
He took up his education from Barabati School of Balasore passing as a minor. Due to his poor financial condition he could not study further. At the age of eighteen he worked as a teacher in the Brabati School for a salary of Rs.2.50 per month. He also served in the collectorate of Balasore as a clerk for a short period. He later took up as a teacher in the Mission School of Balasore till1871. Besides being a teacher he was also devoted towards gaining wisdom. He also took part in the discussions of English, Sanskrit and Bengali literature and was able to prove himself a pundit. During this period he was acquainted with John Bims the then Collector of Balasore, also a pundit who used to write comparative grammar of different Indian languages. He took the help of Fakir Mohan to learn Oriya. John Bims getting well acquainted with Fakir Mohan’s caliber insisted him to be the “Diwan” of Nilagiri. He served as the Diwan of Nilagiri from 1871 to 1875 at a monthly salary of Rs. 1, 000/- after which he served as “Diwan” at various places of Orissa. He was Diwan at Damapada from 1876 to 1877, at Dhenkanal from 1877 to 1883, at Daspalla from 1884 to 1886, at Pallahada from 1886 to 1887, at Keonjhar from 1887 to 1892, at Damapada for the second time from 1894 to 1896. He stayed at Cuttack from 1896 to 1905 and was attached with various institutions of literature. He spent his last time at Balasore till death. He was married in the year 1856. He married for the second time in 1871 after the death of his first wife. In the year 1877 there was sad demise of his six-year-old son. He was blessed with a second son in1881. He lost his wife in the year 1894 who died of diarrhea. His marital life was not smooth and full of sorrows.
There was a measure of idealism that inspired him, no doubt, but Senapati had a very clear idea of the strategic interests of the various groups at stake. He understood clearly that the future of at least the Oriya middle-class was bleak if Bengali instead of Oriya became the official medium of communication in Orissa. Senapati`s concern with language as a social force - its seductive power, its authority, its abuses - clearly grew out of the struggles into which he had been thrust early in his life, the struggles to defend and save a language and a culture.
Fakir Mohan Senapati was intellectually restless and adventurous, and had the spirit of a reformer more than that of a writer in search of literary fame. He grew up in a part of colonial India that barely registered in the consciousness of the Viceroys and their officials. But it is from this particular vantage point that he created a unique synthesis of the traditional and the contemporary, a synthesis whose power and example are relevant even today. Senapati`s critique was never merely negative; it was based on a vision of human equality and cultural diversity, of a radical humanism that was fed by a variety of religious traditions.
He established a press at Balasore in the year 1868 by the name “Utkal Press”. He published various magazines from time to time in the name of “Bodhadayini”, “Nabasambad” and “Sambad Bahika”. He was the President of the annual conference of “Utkal Sahitya Samaj” held in 1912. He went to visit ‘Satyabadi School’ in1915 and was very much impressed of the works of Gopabandhu. The annual conference of Utkal Sahitya Samaj was held at Cuttack in March 1917 where he was the ‘President’. He gave birth to the modern Oriya literature. He wrote many stories, novels and poetry. His autobiography was Orissa’s first and foremost admirable self-character. He was the key creator of modern Oriya short stories and novels. He was one of the main leads among the other authors who wrote against the cruelty of British rule. He revolted against the conspiracy to suppress the Oriya language, which was going on at the time. Due to his steps for the establishment of Oriya press, publishing of Oriya books, newspaper and literature magazine, Oriya language could survive which would otherwise have been a history forever. His literature consisted completely of pure Oriya and melodrama, his unscathed image in the society and his revolutionary social ideology. He was an eminent laureate, writer, poet, editor, critic and administrator. He is remembered as “Vyasa Kabi”. His contribution to Oriya language and literature is unforgettable.
Fakir Mohan`s sense of humor and irony have remained unsurpassed in Oriya literature and it is his characteristic style which made him popular with a wide range of readers. He believed that Faith, Asceticism, Love and Devotion were four pillars that formed the base of "Dharma". His faith was derived from Islam, asceticism from Buddhism, love from Christianity and devotion from Vaishnavism.
Fakir Mohan completely discarded the traditional theme of romantic love between prince-princesses and wrote about common people and their problems in his novels. In contrast to the Sanskritised style of his contemporaries, he also used colloquial idiomatic Oriya in his writings with great skill and competence. If the works of earlier novelists seemed like prose renderings of medieval kavyas, Fakir Mohan`s novels were realistic to the core. He can be favorably compared with 20th century novelists like Premchand and Bibhutibhusan Banerjee.
Fakir Mohan is considered as the greatest prose writer in Oriya literature. But it is amazing to note that he hardly wrote any prose until he retired from administrative service. He translated Ramayana, Mahabharata and some of the Upanishads from the original Sanskrit for which he is popularly known as "Vyasa Kavi". He wrote poetry too, but the themes of his poems were not considered conventionally fit material for poetry. He used colloquial, spoken and rugged language of the common man, which no poet in Oriya had done for centuries. Fakir Mohan wrote four novels, two volumes of short stories and one autobiography. Besides that, he mastered the art of writing short stories for which he is also termed as Katha Samrat (Emperor of Shortstories) in Oriya literature.
Fakir Mohan Senapati (1843-1918) lived during tumultuous times. Orissa was taken over by the British in 1803, and was soon thereafter incorporated into a transnational economic system. Senapati`s consciousness of being an Oriya developed in a politicized context where an Oriya cultural identity (like many other minority identities in history) was at risk of disappearing. What drove him was less a desire for literary fame than the need to save and protect the language of the people around him.
Fakir Mohan Senapati was born in a Khandayat family in a small village ‘Malli Kashapur’ near Balasore town. His father died when he was at the age of one year and five months only. His mother also died after 14 months of the death of his father. His grandmother brought him up. He used to remain ill when he was an infant. His grandmother usually took him to the fakirs. His name was originally Brajamohan. His grandmother changed his name to Fakir as a dedication to the Fakirs she used to take him.
He took up his education from Barabati School of Balasore passing as a minor. Due to his poor financial condition he could not study further. At the age of eighteen he worked as a teacher in the Brabati School for a salary of Rs.2.50 per month. He also served in the collectorate of Balasore as a clerk for a short period. He later took up as a teacher in the Mission School of Balasore till1871. Besides being a teacher he was also devoted towards gaining wisdom. He also took part in the discussions of English, Sanskrit and Bengali literature and was able to prove himself a pundit. During this period he was acquainted with John Bims the then Collector of Balasore, also a pundit who used to write comparative grammar of different Indian languages. He took the help of Fakir Mohan to learn Oriya. John Bims getting well acquainted with Fakir Mohan’s caliber insisted him to be the “Diwan” of Nilagiri. He served as the Diwan of Nilagiri from 1871 to 1875 at a monthly salary of Rs. 1, 000/- after which he served as “Diwan” at various places of Orissa. He was Diwan at Damapada from 1876 to 1877, at Dhenkanal from 1877 to 1883, at Daspalla from 1884 to 1886, at Pallahada from 1886 to 1887, at Keonjhar from 1887 to 1892, at Damapada for the second time from 1894 to 1896. He stayed at Cuttack from 1896 to 1905 and was attached with various institutions of literature. He spent his last time at Balasore till death. He was married in the year 1856. He married for the second time in 1871 after the death of his first wife. In the year 1877 there was sad demise of his six-year-old son. He was blessed with a second son in1881. He lost his wife in the year 1894 who died of diarrhea. His marital life was not smooth and full of sorrows.
There was a measure of idealism that inspired him, no doubt, but Senapati had a very clear idea of the strategic interests of the various groups at stake. He understood clearly that the future of at least the Oriya middle-class was bleak if Bengali instead of Oriya became the official medium of communication in Orissa. Senapati`s concern with language as a social force - its seductive power, its authority, its abuses - clearly grew out of the struggles into which he had been thrust early in his life, the struggles to defend and save a language and a culture.
Fakir Mohan Senapati was intellectually restless and adventurous, and had the spirit of a reformer more than that of a writer in search of literary fame. He grew up in a part of colonial India that barely registered in the consciousness of the Viceroys and their officials. But it is from this particular vantage point that he created a unique synthesis of the traditional and the contemporary, a synthesis whose power and example are relevant even today. Senapati`s critique was never merely negative; it was based on a vision of human equality and cultural diversity, of a radical humanism that was fed by a variety of religious traditions.
He established a press at Balasore in the year 1868 by the name “Utkal Press”. He published various magazines from time to time in the name of “Bodhadayini”, “Nabasambad” and “Sambad Bahika”. He was the President of the annual conference of “Utkal Sahitya Samaj” held in 1912. He went to visit ‘Satyabadi School’ in1915 and was very much impressed of the works of Gopabandhu. The annual conference of Utkal Sahitya Samaj was held at Cuttack in March 1917 where he was the ‘President’. He gave birth to the modern Oriya literature. He wrote many stories, novels and poetry. His autobiography was Orissa’s first and foremost admirable self-character. He was the key creator of modern Oriya short stories and novels. He was one of the main leads among the other authors who wrote against the cruelty of British rule. He revolted against the conspiracy to suppress the Oriya language, which was going on at the time. Due to his steps for the establishment of Oriya press, publishing of Oriya books, newspaper and literature magazine, Oriya language could survive which would otherwise have been a history forever. His literature consisted completely of pure Oriya and melodrama, his unscathed image in the society and his revolutionary social ideology. He was an eminent laureate, writer, poet, editor, critic and administrator. He is remembered as “Vyasa Kabi”. His contribution to Oriya language and literature is unforgettable.
Fakir Mohan`s sense of humor and irony have remained unsurpassed in Oriya literature and it is his characteristic style which made him popular with a wide range of readers. He believed that Faith, Asceticism, Love and Devotion were four pillars that formed the base of "Dharma". His faith was derived from Islam, asceticism from Buddhism, love from Christianity and devotion from Vaishnavism.
Fakir Mohan completely discarded the traditional theme of romantic love between prince-princesses and wrote about common people and their problems in his novels. In contrast to the Sanskritised style of his contemporaries, he also used colloquial idiomatic Oriya in his writings with great skill and competence. If the works of earlier novelists seemed like prose renderings of medieval kavyas, Fakir Mohan`s novels were realistic to the core. He can be favorably compared with 20th century novelists like Premchand and Bibhutibhusan Banerjee.
Fakir Mohan is considered as the greatest prose writer in Oriya literature. But it is amazing to note that he hardly wrote any prose until he retired from administrative service. He translated Ramayana, Mahabharata and some of the Upanishads from the original Sanskrit for which he is popularly known as "Vyasa Kavi". He wrote poetry too, but the themes of his poems were not considered conventionally fit material for poetry. He used colloquial, spoken and rugged language of the common man, which no poet in Oriya had done for centuries. Fakir Mohan wrote four novels, two volumes of short stories and one autobiography. Besides that, he mastered the art of writing short stories for which he is also termed as Katha Samrat (Emperor of Shortstories) in Oriya literature.
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