An acclaimed and acknowledged fiction writer of exceptional caliber, Kanhu Charan has produced nearly fifty novels in his prolific period spanning a little over four decades. His constant struggle to rise to universal name and fame has not been without formidable challenges of a culture and society entirely drenched in superstitions, prejudices and other social taboos of a conservative race, frantically searching for a definition of its long identity in the wake of an emerging political and patriotic renaissance of the time. An ego-centric community life with new sets of social, cultural and economic values beautifully combined with the premeditated onset of western oriented industrial civilization finds a legendary expression in almost all his novels without any exceptions. Sandwiched between a desire to retain the pristine glory of fast disappearing era and an urge to relish the advantages of a hitherto unknown pace of civilization, Kanhu Charan has most successfully integrated the fruits of one with the promise of another. The political and social upheaval of a race trying to liberate itself from the shackles of barbaric oppression and tyranny may justifiably account for the creative caprices in his fictional universe.

Kanhu Charan was born on 11 August 1906 prior to India’s Independence from the British cobweb and remained alive for a period of more than four decades upto the time when he breathed his last on 6 April 1994; so he was one of the living witnesses to the tyranny and exploitation perpetrated on the masses in the pre-independent period; the freedom struggle movement spearheaded by Mahatma Gandhi, Gopabandhu Das and Madhusudan Das; social disparity and imbalance, coupled with superstitions held dear by the masses and above all the emancipation of the country from the ramshackle of British regime which subsequently paved the way for an open society, spread of liberal education, right to franchise. During his born day, a fast developing Oriya Society came to be set up which went hand in hand with the rapid strides taking place in social, political and psychological spheres. As one of the leading directors in the nation building programmes, he left no stone unturned to translate the dream of a new Oriya Society; so it was quite obvious to come across a multifaceted mindset in him. In order to revive and rejuvenate the past glory of Orissa, his novel Bali Raja mourns the impoverished conditions of the Oriya as a race.

Besides he has voiced against social ills and traditions through his monumental works such as Ha Anna, Sasti, Nispati, Tunda Baida, Abhinetri, etc., his other novels like Jhanja, Bajrabahu, Lalata Likhan etc., all written in the later phase of his life have gone a long way to bridge the gap in social and economic scenario. Above all, novels written prior to independence mirror the tyranny and oppression of kings and landlords of the time perpetrated on the poor, and the underdogs of the society; the novels written in the aftermath of independence faithfully reflect the dreams and aspirations of the teeming millions of the masses about their desire to usher in a new nation and the struggle against the superstitious mindset of the majority of the countrymen.

Mahatma Gandhi was, in the true sense of the term, the guiding star to Kanhu Charan in all his activities, be it literary, social, political, economic or other wise; his first and foremost mission was to disseminate the Gandhian principles among the masses. Most of his novels echo the voice of the Gandhian way; his novels as it were, are the hide and seek of light and darkness emitting the selfless services of Gopabandhu Das and the Bhoodan movement launched by Vinobaji.

      This time-transcending personality, Kanhu Charan had to his credit the laurels of state and national awards in his life time. His novel Ka has been turned into a film in Oriya language of the state and has achieved national accolades. Countless avid readers of the books written by him have been scattered all over the country and aboard.

Some of his novels clearly reveal the fall of caste discrimination, widening economic disparity between the haves and the have-nots, the acceptance of widow remarriage. In the changed social setup; nonviolence has been pushed to its background and replaced by violence and muscle power. With the spread of globalization and capitalistic culture highlighting the fellowship of lady-love in social life, we have lost our way. When the birth centenary celebrations in honour Kanhu Charan is under way, we have to take a bird’s eye view of the wide-ranging implications of the advent of newly wedded culture.