The Somersault, by Gopinath Mohanty, performed by Kartic Bhargav

Naatak Radio

Sahitya Akademi Award winner Gopinath Mohanty is one of Odisha's most prominent writers. This week, we present one of his most famous short stories, The Somersault, in English. Jaga Palei becomes the pride of Odisha by defeating Ramlawan Pande of Bihar in the All-India Wrestling Competition, however success hasn't come easy for him. Will he continue to be the pride of the people of Odisha or will the next fight bright him back to where it all started. Somersault, in short is chronology of outcomes in a person’s life, which also includes how he is perceived at different junctures!
Gopinath Mohanty (1914–1991), winner of the Jnanpith award, and the first winner of the National Sahitya Akademi Award in 1955 - for his novel, Amrutara Santana - was a prolific Odia writer of the mid-twentieth century. Satya Prakash Mohanty, Professor of English, Cornell University says: "In my opinion, Gopinath Mohanty is the most important Indian novelist in the second half of the twentieth century."

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