Anita Agnihotri, winner of economist crossword Award, has written mahanadi which is as epical as the ceaseless flow of a great river. In this novel, The chronicle of the river is entwined with the people through vignettes of their dynamic lives that are infused with myths, legends and archaeological anecdotes. As a novel, mahanadi is as epical as the ceaseless flow of a great river.

The author sensitively evokes in graphic detail the reality of the lives of the people living on the riverbanks. The river mahanadi forms the crux of the narrative, being both the central character and the primary subject. One of the largest rivers of India, mahanadi originates from the foothills of the sihaoa mountain of Chandigarh and flows for a thousand kilometres through Chandigarh and Odisha, finally immersing in the Bay of Bengal at jagatsinghpur.

But its journey never ends, as it flows daily from the plateau to the forest to the ravine to the plains. It unites with the sea every day. At every new turn, it leaves behind scores of villages, towns and cities. The din and bustle of a mofussil town, the solitary life in a stand alone village, people struggle for survival, the episodes of their joys and sorrows, the sighs of the displaced people of sambalpur during the building of the hirakud dam mixes with the cries of the endangered people on the banks when the river overflows.

In this novel, The tale of the river is entwined with the people through vignettes of their dynamic lives that are infused with myths, legends and archaeological anecdotes. Characters like Malati Gond, neelkantha, kuber, Bhanu shitulia, Parvati and others might never meet each other, But the story of their lives will remain strung together by the common thread of the ever-flowing mahanadi. The chronicle of mahanadi is a journey through travails and misfortunes into life’s joys and mysterious beauty.