Navalikalu

Collection of 6 short novels :  Chaitraparvam, Tella Kaluva, Devulla Desam, Love in Goa, Ajanta, Ellora

Chaitraparvam: Set in the hills of Koraput district in Orissa, this short novel brings out the social and cultural aspects of the locals in the region.  The motivation for this novel came when Balivada went on government duty to set up an office there and observed these unique aspects.

Tella Kaluva:  On the bicycle ride from Madapam village to Srikakulam town,  the writer stops at a pond and observes a beautiful white lily and imagines that it is looking at him and swaying its head in joy.  Balivada creates a beautiful lady character with all the virtues of the white lily.

Devulla Desam(Land of Gods):  On the river Mandovi in Goa, is the island of Divar.  Once upon a time it has many Hindu temples.  During the Old Goa plague, many Christians moved to this island.  The Hindus migrated north taking the deities with them.  The writer researched the history of this island and covered the significant events and way of life during the Portuguese rule.

Love in Goa:  Once again, Balivada’s job took him to Vasco-da-gama in Goa.  Initially, he felt he was in a foreign land.  The Goan lifestyle, the climate, the scenic beauty enthralled the writer.  The respect for law and order inculcated under the Portuguese rule continued post independence.  The writer wonders if migration has diluted some of these good habits in a novel that describes the beauty all around and does adequate justice to the title.

Ajanta,  Ellora:  In the 7th century,  Buddhism was in decline in India.  Ajanta is a work of fiction created around the fall of the Ajanta University in this period.    Around the 8th century,  Buddhism saw a resurgence.  This is the time when the famous Kailash temple was built, carved out of a monolithic rock.  Ellora is a beautiful work of fiction around the construction of this grand structure.  As Balivada describes in the foreward of the book, a lot of research went into the creation of these two novels.