18 JANUARY 2026 at Hotel Akbari, Cuttack

The Researchers Association, Odisha, organised a National Seminar on the topic mentioned above on 18 January 2026 at Hotel Akbari, Cuttack, with Professor Bijay Kumar Das, the President of the Association, in the chair.

The Registration of the Delegates was done by Dr. Pravat Kumar Mishra, Dr. Braja Kishore Pall, Dr. Bilkesh Parveen, Dr. Premalata Rout, Dr. Sonali Das, and Dr. Ujjwal Dutta between 9 am and 10 am.

A photo exhibition was organised by Dr. Manmohan Mishra and Dr. Braja Kishore Pall. Inauguration Session 10:15 am. Professor Bijay Kumar Das delivered the Welcome Address. Dr. Shorosimohan Dan, former Vice Chancellor of Burdwan University, West Bengal, and Dr. B. Parvathi,former Professor of English, Andhra University lighted the lamp along with other distinguished Guests. Dr. Sonali Das, Associate Prof. English, F.M. University, Balasore, and Dr. Premalata Rout, Principal, Jagannath Higher Secondary School, Keonjhar, and Dr. Dolon Ray, HoD English, Chandidas Chetna College, West Bengal, introduced the Guests. Dr. Braja Kishore Pall, Principal Oupada Higher Secondary School, Balasore, read out the proceedings of the National Seminar held on 7 September 2025 at Hotel Akbari, Cuttack.

Inaugural Address

Dr. Shoroshimohan delivered the inaugural Address and emphasized the point that post colonial literature has become interdisciplinary.

Launching of The Critical Endeavour Vol 32 January 2026

The Journal was launched by Dr. S. Dan and Dr. B. Parvathi in the presence of Prof. Bijay Kumar Das, Dr. A.J. Khan, Prof.of English, Nagaland University, Kohima, Dr. Krushna Chandra Mishra, Prof. of English, Rajeev Gandhi University,Arunachal Pradesh, and Dr. Satya Sindhu Ghosh,former Associate Prof. of English, Khandra College, Burdwan University.

Special Attraction

The Journal, which was peer reviewed by Prof. C.R. Visweswar Rao, former Vice Chancellor, Vikram Shimapuri University, Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, who is now abroad in the USA. Prof. Rao analysed 19 articles, and 6 Book Reviews included in the current issue of the Journal. Well known contributors to this issue include the names of Professors and Editors, Rajnath,Prashanta K Sinha, Mohan Ramanan, C.N.Srinath, C.R.V. Rao, Sudheer Chandra Hajela, B. Parvathi, Ragini Rama Chandra, GRK Murthy, A.J. Khan, K. C. Mishra, and Sonali Das. Other contributors are S.S. Ghosh, Rajendra Kumar, Ujjwal Dutta, Ayesha Irfan, and Ivy Ghosh. The Editor of the Journal is also a contributor. Dr. Sonali Das presented the Peer review report by Prof Rao in all its details.

The books of R.W. Desai, Rajnath, Bijay Kumar Das, C.N.Srinath, N. Govinda Rajan and The Critical Endeavour Vol31 (2025) have been reviewed by C.R.V. Rao, Bijay Kumar Das, and T. Sriraman.

The inaugural session and Journal Launching was compered by Sonali Das. Dr. Jnan Ranjan Padhi, Associate Professor and Head, Department of English, Dera Natung Govt.College, Arunachal Pradesh.

Plenary Session

The Plenary Session was chaired by former Vice Chancellor Dr. Soroshimohan Dan, and the Plenary Speaker was Professor Bijay Kumar Das. He delivered the lecture under the caption, "Moving from Colonialism to Post-colonialism in the Twentieth and Twenty -first Century: Doing away the protean terms". His lecture was distributed in the form of a Booklet.

Paper Reading Sessions

There were four paper Reading Sessions in which the following four Persons Chaired the Sessions:

Session I was Chaired by Dr. Sonali Das.

Session II was Chaired by Dr. Satya Sindhu Ghosh.

Session III was Chaired by Prof.Krushna Chandra Mishra.

Session IV was Chaired by Dr. Jnan Ranjan Padhi.

There were 12 Paper Presenters: 3 each in every section.

Paper Reading Session I

1. 1. Dr. Dolon Ray spoke on Heterotopias of Mohun Biswas in V.S. Naipaul's A House for Mr. Biswas.

2. 2. Dr. Susmita Mohanty, Principal, SITT, Cuttack, spoke on Vikram Seth's Two Lives.

3. 3. Dr. Pravati Panda, Faculty Member, Satyasahi Women's College, Bhubaneswar, spoke on Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea.

The Chairperson, Dr. Sonali Das, conducted the question hour and admirably summed up the papers.

Paper Reading Session II

1. 1. Dr. Ujjawal Dutta (West Bengal) made an analysis of Nissim Ezekiel'sPoetry from the point of postcolonial theory.

2. 2. Dr. Mausim Mahakul, Netaji Memorial College, Cuttack, spoke on Caribbean Creole in V.S. Naipaul's Fictional Works.

3. 3. The Chairperson, Dr. Satya Sindhu Ghosh, conducted the question hour well and summed up the papers.

Paper Reading Session III

1. 1. Dr. Sonali Das presented a paper on Salman Rushdie's "Knife": Meditations after Attempted Murder in the light of Trauma Theory.

2. 2. Dr. Ramesh Chandra Pradhani (HOD English, P.S. Degree College, Balangir) presented a paper on Raja Rao's "Kanthapura" in the light of religion as Political Discourse.

3. 3. Mr. Laxmidhar Panda presented a paper on Arundhati Roy 's recent Memoir "Mother Mary comes to me" as a Postcolonial text. Prof. K.C. Mishra offered his comments and invited questions from the audience.

Paper Reading Session IV

1. 1. Prof. Ashok Kumar Mohanty presented a paper on Arundhati Roy's "Mother Mary comes to me".

2. 2. Dr. Natabar Jena( T.S.D. College,Ganjam) presented a paper on Rohiniton Mistry's "Parsi Identity in Family Matters".

3. 3. Dr. Manmohan Mishra (Retd. Readet in English) presented a paper on Sri Aurobindo's Select Poems in the light of Vedantic Spirituality.

The Chairperson, Dr. Jnan Ranjan Padhi, admirably conducted the paper Reading Session.

Valedictory Session

Prof. Ashok Kumar Mohanty Chaired the Session in which Dr. Jnan Ranjan Padhi and Prof. K.C. Mishra spoke about their impression of the day long Seminar.

Giving away the Participation Certificate

Dr. S. Dan and Dr. B. Parvathi gave away the participation Certificates.

Dr. Pravat Kumar Mishra, former Associate Prof. and Pricipal, Niali College, Cuttack, summed up the proceedings of the day long Seminar and proposed a Vote of Thanks.

Dr. Bilkesh Parveen interacted with the Media.

The Seminar was concluded at 5 p.m.

Images from Seminar