ONE THOUSAND DAYS IN A REFRIGERATOR BY MANOJ KUMAR PANDA (TRANSLATED FROM THE ODIA BY SNEHAPRAVA DAS)

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BOOK NAME: ONE THOUSAND DAYS IN A REFRIGERATOR

AUTHOR NAME: MANOJ KUMAR PANDA (TRANSLATED FROM THE ODIA BY SNEHAPRAVA DAS)

GENRE: CONTEMPORARY SHORT STORIES

PUBLISHER: SPEAKING TIGER




BOOK REVIEW

I went in with the least expectation from this book because not very many books translated from the Odia are famous. But guess who surprised me with a collection of stories that are outrageously courageous, intricately woven, and written with brilliance and wit? If you had told me that a group of stories from Odia would make it to my best short story collection (along with the Heart Lamp) read this year, I wouldn’t have trusted you at first. But now I do. I have learnt not to judge by what’s a common notion. I am glad I chose this one for the #2025indiantranslationreadathon 


I would say this is the only anthology where every story had a brilliant arc, save but one which was good nevertheless, but just couldn’t stand up to its own contenders. My most favourite ones were ‘When The Gods Left’ and ‘Filling in the Blanks’ which explored how caste system oppresses fellow humans in the name of God, ‘One Thousand Days In A Refrigerator’ and ‘Sentenced To A Honeymoon’, dissecting the love-hate relationship between the husband and wife and insecurities in a marriage through eccentric concepts, ‘The testimony of God’ which speaks of how even God’s own testimony is not enough to provide justice for the downtrodden in this spiteful society and ‘A Letter from Mesopotamia’ which reflects the clutches of patriarchy over women in and out of marriage. 


The translation is one of the finest I have read in recent times and has done complete justice to the process itself. If you ever want to read a collection of stories that inspires, intrigues and leaves a lasting impression, then do not miss out on this one. 


This is a part of BlogchatterA2Z2026 challenge 

#penbooksandscalpel


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