Changing Village, Changing Life

by PrafullaMohanti (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  1991

  $7.14

  Nagpur is small Hindu village in Orissa, India, about 250 miles south-west of Calcutta. It stands halfway between the main Calcutta-Madras road and the coastal town of Paradip on the Bay of Bengal. Mohanti is a native of Nagpur and in 1973 he wrote My Village, My Life , which painted a vivid picture of the village and its inhabitants. At that time the life of the village, which had evolved over centuries, seemed unchanging and unchangeable, but the last decade has brought immense changes. Electricity, Coca-Cola, a cinema and modern medicines have all arrived, though there is still no running water. Most importantly, a road has been built connecting iron mines inland to the port of Paradip, and this slices the village in half.

• Used

  Hardcover
  1990

  $4.38

  In his book My Village, My Life , first published in 1973, Prafulla Mohanti, born and brought up in the Indian village of Nanpur, but with wide experience of living and working in the west, drew a portrait of his native village, and a way of life largely unchanged for centuries. Now, more than ever convinced that village India is the real India, he has taken another look at Nanpur and this time has found a very different picture - that of a world in which political change, the influence of the media and increased economic expectations have caused the old values to start breaking down. The author shows an India in which poverty, unemployment and corruption are widespread, but at the same time he gives an inspiring portrayal of determination in the face of adversity. In his earlier book, he tells the story largely through the words of the villagers themselves, and allows the reader to experience directly their dreams, anxieties, disappointments and hopes, as they struggle to retain their identity in a changing world.