Six and a Third Acres (A Novel)

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About the Book Six and a Third Acres was the first modern Odia novel, and has remained at the heart of Odia literary excellence ever since. It was published as Chha Mana Atha Guntha in the literary monthly Utkal Sahitya between 1897-99. Over a century after it was first published, this sombre tale continues to attract readers because of Fakir Mohan Senapati's innovative technique, indelible characters, wit, imagination, and tremendous insights into the rural milieu.

The novel is about village politics, caste oppression, malpractices, and land-grabbing under the zamindari system in colonial Odisha. Ramchandra Mangaraj, a sly zamindar of the village of Govindpur, is notorious for taking over the lands of poor peasants and farmers. This time, his avaricious gaze falls on a small patch of land- six and a third acres-belonging to a humble, god-fearing weaver couple. Unable to fight the zamindar's devious schemes, the couple succumbs to the harsher realities of caste-ridden village life....

This exceptional new translation by Leelawati Mohapatra, Paul St-Pierre & K. K. Mohapatra breathes new life into one of the most brilliant novels in Indian literature.

About the Author Fakir Mohan Senapati (1843-1918) was an Indian novelist, short story writer, poet, philosopher, and social reformer. He is regarded as the father of modern Odia literature

Acknowledgements The inspiration for this new translation came from many friends- too many to be named individually-who believe that all classic texts should be translated more than once; the more translations, the merrier. Examples were mentioned of Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis, Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary, Alexander Pushkin's Eugene Onegin, even of Miguel de Cervantes's hefty Don Quixote and of Leo Tolstoy's even heftier War and Peace, among others. (To these friends of ours size matters little, whether the text is slim or swollen!) All these works have had more than ten translations into English each, Pushkin topping the chart at forty- five. In comparison, Fakir Mohan Senapati's novel would have to have some more translations to join the exalted league; as of now, with six versions, it's still among the most translated Indian novels, like Premchand's Godan and Rabindranath Tagore's Gora.

We are deeply indebted to professors Debendra Dash and Prafulla K. Mishra for their patience and generosity in explaining the subtle nuances of the Persian words and Sanskrit shlokas peppered throughout Senapati's text. They couldn't have been kinder.