Rebati (
Odia
Odia, also spelled Oriya or Odiya, may refer to:
* Odia people in Odisha, India
* Odia language, an Indian language, belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family
* Odia alphabet, a writing system used for the Odia languag ...
: ରେବତୀ), is a short story by
Fakir Mohan Senapati
Fakir Mohan Senapati ( Odia: ଫକୀର ମୋହନ ସେନାପତି; 13 January 1843 – 14 June 1918), often referred to as Utkala Byasa Kabi (''Odisha's Vyasa''), was an Indian writer, poet, philosopher and social reformer. He played ...
, published in 1898. It is considered first ever short story published in .
Theme
Rebati is the story of a young girl whose desire for education in the backdrop of a conservative Odia society in a backward village, which is hit by a
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
epidemic. The story itself also opens a third dimension when it deals with a very well bonded relation between Rebati and a school teacher. By displaying a forbidden desire for learning, Rebati, the female protagonist of the story, seems to invite misfortune for herself and her community.
Over time "Rebati" has become an icon and her story an allegory for
female education and emancipation. However the story itself does not advocate for or against these ideas. It is a story about helplessness before fate.
Role of "Rebati" in the development of Odia literature
The story is celebrated as an example of Fakirmohan’s reformist zeal. The story marks the beginning of a new crop of women writers in Odia language such as Sarala Devi, Kuntala Kumari Sabat , Kokila Devi etc.
It has influenced the short story writers of Odisha at a later period. In the early 1980s,
Jagadish Mohanty
Jagadish Mohanty (17 February 1951 – 29 December 2013) was a renowned Odia writer, considered as a trendsetter in modern Odia fiction, has received the prestigious Sarala Award in 2003, Odisha Sahitya Akademi Award in 1990 for his novel Kanis ...
, wrote a story based on the protagonist character "Rebati". and it made a new tradition. Since then hundreds of stories were written on women’s agony, where "Rebati" represents women’s fate in the changing scenario of the time. Asit Kumar Mohanty later published all the stories, along with both Fakir Mohan and Jagadish’s "Rebati" in two of his collections under the same title.
["Rebati" - Edited by Asit Kumar Mohanty and published by Friends Publishers, Binode Behati, Cuttack]
See also
* ''
Six Acres and a Third
''Chha Maana Atha Guntha'' ( or, ଛ ମାଣ ଆଠ ଗୁଣ୍ଠ, ) is a 19th-century Indian novel in the Odia language by Fakir Mohan Senapati (1843–1918), published in an English language translation by the University of California P ...
''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rebati
1898 short stories
Odia literature
Indian short stories