A Time Elsewhere

The book is also an engaging portrayal of the great intellectual and cultural ferment that marked the clash of the east and the west as figures from Oriya history who played crucial roles in culture and politics during that tumultuous time are brought to life. Fakir Mohan Senapati and Radhanath Ray, educationists and writers, lead the charge against the hegemony of the English and Bengali languages. Gourishankar Ray, who helped set up the first Oriya printing press, publishes the Utkal Dipika, a periodical which quickly becomes the conscience keeper for Orissa, and Pyari Mohan Acharya, expelled from school for defying the British authorities, writes Orissa Itihas, a history of Orissa.