Gopinath Mohanty's Paraja is one of the best novels written about the life of the tribals. In this novel he explores various aspects of the tribals inhabiting the forests and mountaneous regions of Orissa, and he very meticulously charts the various contours of the tribal life. Thus the book offers an authentic account of the tribal life with its purple patches and dark pools.

Parajas are a tribe which lives in the forests of Orissa in Koraput district. They live in close harmony with nature, and depend on cultivating a few patches of land, collecting honey and other forest produce and occasionally hunting animals. As such they live in poverty, and yet not without peace.

Except for a few, most of them are very innocent, gullible and illiterate. For them a small official like a forest guard was demi-god. His visit to the village kept everyone busy and...