Balanak Bonihar O Pallavi (The peasants on the banks of river Balan and Pallavi) is a short story collection, written by Dr Binod Bihari Verma, on the village life of Mithila on the banks of the Kosi River and its tributaries.
Overview This short story collection has fourteen short stories centering on the village society of Mithila. The focus of the stories and the protagonists are from the middle and lower middle class of the population. It deals with their social interactions, their dreams and aspirations, and their interaction with the predominant forces of their environment namely, the rivers.
Explanation of the Book's title Balanak Bonihar O Pallavi means the tiller by the river and Pallavi, a common feminine name neing a metaphor for the agricultural produce of the farmer. It is the title of the first short story in this collection and is reflective of the general theme of the stories.
Critical reception has the following review:
Characters Most of the short stories have certain similar central characters, these are: Balan: The "river" or the flood waters Sounse: Gangetic river dolphin, Platenista gangetica, which populates Kosi and its tributaries, now a species on verge of extinction Oxygen, Hydrogen: Representing the chemicals Various human characters having different names although representing similar socioeconomic strata: Rannu Sardar Sulochana Saheb Gonour babu Real life characters: Prof Upendra Thakur Prof Radha Krishna Choudhary
Major themes Life on the banks of rivers in Mithila Environmental pollution Lot of the women in Mithila Marital relationship in the rural poor The annual cycle of flooding and the devastation Unemployment Curse of the Dowry system in Mithila
Allusions and references River: Kosi River People: Prof Upendra Thakur Prof Radha Krishna Choudhary
Stories Balanak bonihar o pallavi Kunti karna o parshuram Sulochnak chatisar Saheb Brahma - bisun - rati Ham pan khelonhh Fulak katha Antarmukhi vasundhara Kasha k ful Machhak piknik Jivan - nao Ka purush Gonour babu Aakash ful
External links University of Washington Library entry of Balanak Bonihar O Pallavi