Balanak Bonihar O Pallavi

Balanak Bonihar O Pallavi (The peasants on the banks of river Balan and Pallavi) is a short story collection, written by Dr Binod Bihari Verma, on the village life of Mithila on the banks of the Kosi River and its tributaries.

Overview
This short story collection has fourteen short stories centering on the village society of Mithila. The focus of the stories and the protagonists are from the middle and lower middle class of the population. It deals with their social interactions, their dreams and aspirations, and their interaction with the predominant forces of their environment namely, the rivers.

Explanation of the Book's title
Balanak Bonihar O Pallavi means the tiller by the river and Pallavi, a common feminine name neing a metaphor for the agricultural produce of the farmer. It is the title of the first short story in this collection and is reflective of the general theme of the stories.

Critical reception

 * has the following review:"His stories focus on human values and are full of tenderness and pathos."

Characters in "Balanak bonihar o pallavi"
Most of the short stories have certain similar central characters, these are:
 * Balan: The "river" or the flood waters
 * Sounse: Gangetic river dolphin, Platenista gangetica, which populates kosi and its tributaries, now a species on verge of extinction
 * Oxygen, Hydrogen: Representing the chemicals
 * Various human characters having different names although representing similar socioeconomic strata:
 * Rannu Sardar
 * Sulochana
 * Saheb
 * Gonour babu
 * Real life characters:
 * Prof Upendra Thakur
 * Prof Radha Krishna Choudhary

Major themes

 * Life on the banks of rivers in Mithila
 * Environmental pollution
 * Lot of the women in Mithila
 * Marital relationship in the rural poor
 * The annual cycle of flooding and the devastation
 * Unemployment
 * Curse of the Dowry system in Mithila

Allusions and references

 * River: Kosi river
 * People:
 * Prof Upendra Thakur
 * Prof Radha Krishna Choudhary

Stories

 * 1) Balanak bonihar o pallavi
 * 2) Kunti karna o parshuram
 * 3) Sulochnak chatisar
 * 4) Saheb
 * 5) Brahma - bisun - rati
 * 6) Ham pan khelonhh
 * 7) Fulak katha
 * 8) Antarmukhi vasundhara
 * 9) Kasha k ful
 * 10) Machhak piknik
 * 11) Jivan - nao
 * 12) Ka purush
 * 13) Gonour babu
 * 14) Aakash ful