I never considered myself a writer of short stories because I do not think that I am capable of creating a story on my own. Story means a conversation or narration. This is how in the past the story tellers in our country used to tell stories. They never created a story. I am a storyteller of that kind. The subject of a story mostly comes from what one saw or experienced. That subject is cooked on the fire of imagination adding some spice called language. My imagination works to ripen the unripe or to make the situation or character interesting for the reader. For example, in the story ‘The River of Music’ the character Ramesh is actually me. Only the child lover of Romu could be my imagination. Who remembers the details of the young days which made an imprint in the one’s subconscious? Similarly, in the story “Darbari Kanada” it was a friend’s experience, and I used my own knowledge of Raag Darbari Kanada. In some stories a character could be an amalgamation of three or four persons I knew.

The primary objective of a storyteller is to entertain the listener or reader. The readers consider the incidents and the characters their own and share their grief and happiness. It is exceedingly difficult to disobey the command of Goddess Saraswati. Many writers of fame have completely been controlled by it. In our school textbook there was a lesson which was the English translation of Rabindranath Tagore. The main character was a miser called Jagannath Kundu. Who forever showed some miserliness like not sharing a toffee or such things immediately was conferred the title ‘Jagannath Kundu’? This is called a successful story. Am I Rabindranath or Maupassant that I can be expected to create such characters or stories? My expectations are extremely limited. If the large-hearted readers read these stories, I will be grateful. I only hope that you read these stories and do not feel disappointed and bored.

Life has many facets, many colours. It has black and white, but more of grey. Hence, we cannot depict life devoid of grey.

I have tried to mix all colours in this collection. The final decision is yours.

– Umakanta Mahapatra