The River Of Stories

by Orijit Sen

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Sardar Sarovar Dam project in Western India became the focal point of a massive grassroots protest. People from all over the country converged to voice their opposition to environmental destruction and the forced relocation of Adivasi communities, all being done in the name of irresponsible and poorly planned development.

Orijit Sen's account of the Narmada Bachao Andolan is drawn from his personal experiences from 1991-1993. Weaving together the history of the resistance movement with stories of local people and tribal folklore, River of Stories is an inspiring document of environmental activism, as well as an important milestone of Indian comics history.

"Today, almost three decades later, River of Stories continues to be current, urgent, and perhaps the most important story we need to hear and understand."

—Arundhati Roy, from the Foreword

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, India

58 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Marcy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such an important piece of work in general, but also a well-told narrative about why dams are so destructive. It's incredible that this story is almost 30 years old and it still holds up, unfortunately. The drawings are terrific as is the way Sen layers the story so readers understand the various problems with such policies - from displacing Adavasi communities to harming the environment and political corruption. It's a brilliant graphic novel and should be essential reading for young people!

[Diptarup Ghosh Dastidar · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a work of comics journalism, I find this book (hailed as the first Indian Graphic Novel) very interesting, especially with the colliding narrative voices of a fictional character and of reportage simultaneously telling the story of a river and of the communities living off it. The epilogue is the best part with its heavy irony on the situation o civilization and its vain boast of progress. What is it for after all?

[Natasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

River of Stories is considered the first Indian graphic novel, and it details the struggles of the people opposing the construction of the Sardar Sarovar dam on the river Narmada. Written in 1994, the book looks at the issue from the perspective of multiple stakeholders. It is through their lives and memories that questions on development and the price one pays for development come alive.
What is development? What is the price one should expect to pay for development? Who determines the compensation when development affects the lives of people who do not benefit from it? Are there alternate and more sustainable ways to achieve similar results? Is one style of living inherently superior to another? These are some of the questions that keep coming up while reading the book. Questions for which we have not found satisfactory answers even a quarter of a century after the events described in the book took place.
What I loved about the book was how the struggles of the present day are put in the context of timeless stories told about the rivers. Even the style is markedly different in the two timelines- one is fluid and timeless, the other stark and (almost) remorseless. Perhaps the single most powerful frame was the one where the bard sits on a high cliff, overlooking a road on which is a bus with two of the main protagonists- how insignificant the road looks from that vantage point, yet how unrelenting.
River of Stories is a remarkable book, and I am glad the author didn't make fundamental changes while revising it for the 25th anniversary issue.
The book was a gift from my dear friend Sita, who is responsible for introducing me to the wide wide world of graphic novels.

[Bhavya Burra · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5

Immensely important.

Largely considered one of India's first graphic novels, The River of Stories tells the tale of the Naramada Bachao Andolan with the perspectives of multiple stakeholders. A must read for people who are interested in the tribal movements and development. Beautifully illustrated and narrated.

[AMIR · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was finally able to read this classic graphic narrative (based on the Narmada Bachao Andolan) in December 2022. A new edition has been published by Blaft publications and those who want a copy can order from their site.
You wont regret your decision

[Himali Kothari · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story told through a blend of folk-fact-fiction, the author-illustrator tells a heart-breaking story of displacement. Set against the Narmada Bachao Andolan, the plot draws our attention to the fact that 25 years later, the same battles continue, and have sprouted in number.

[Sabu Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

A seminal work in Indian comic book history, the book is about the marginalized adivasis who were victims of the Sardar Sarovar Dam project. Though published more than 25 years ago, it doesn’t feel dated one bit.

[Ushnav Shroff · Rating 4 out of 5]

To think that was made months before my existence on Earth - such a beautiful, song-like dream.

[Aruna Kumar Gadepalli · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the 25th-anniversary edition with an introduction. Well-written book about the rivers, dams and the displacement that happens, etc.

[Anjali · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful look into the Narmada Bachao Andolan and the stories that never get heard.

[Debopriyo Moulik · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story flows like a river and reads like song. A must read for all.

[Dhwani · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such an impressive work of journalistic reportage, even more so for being in graphic form. The parallel story line of the folk stories of the river and the region is a powerful look into the minds and hearts of the adivasi people who have been silenced and ignored for decades.

[Aqsa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hailed as India's first graphic novel, Orijit Sen's River of Stories reads like Joe Sacco meets Amruta Patil. There's dense gritty reportage, taking you back to the stories of the oppressed illustrated in a Palestine or Footnotes in Gaza, but then there's a sudden turn into realism a la Aranyaka.

Originally published in 1994, the novel takes us through the Narmada Bachao Andolan (read: Rewa Bachao Andolan, the local name of the river), as seen through a Delhi-based journalist who's there visiting the valley for the first time after hearing about its consequences on his househelp. Tbh, I did not know much about Medha Patkar's andolan, and read about it more post reading it. As somone who works with the government and with the world bank, this provided a much needed perspective on where even The Bank can go wrong (read: in many many ways, of course).

I found the colloquial names of the places really interesting: Amarkantak became Ambarkhant, Vidhyanchals became Vindhu, of course Narmada as Rewa. I think this may have helped in escaping the censors of that time, to really be read as "fiction". It is about an anti-government protest printed on government money after all :-)

The book has had a life story much like a river, flowing, going out of print, only to emerge again during a good deason. It's a short book, you'll complete in a sitting or two, although some of the pages, especially those related to Malgu Gayan and his ideas are best enjoyed slowly... :-)

[bekhush · Rating 4 out of 5]

Devoured in an hour. Orijit Sen beautifully weaves the story of the Narmada Bachao Andolan, one of India's biggest environmental mobilisations in modern history. Depicting the folk origin story of Ma Rewa along with the perspectives of the adivasi communities along her banks facing displacement at the hands of Big D Development. A classic tale of "development, but at what cost, and for whom?" that unfortunately still resonates 30 years after it was first published.

Some of the art and writing is unforgettable.

[Sai Rahul Poruri · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Development for whom, and at whose cost?"

Living in mega cities, we don't ask this question this question as often as we should. This book, originally written in 1994, is still painfully relevant. If you've been following the work that Sonam Wangchuk has been doing in Ladakh, you will get a small idea of what an answer to this question looks like.

This book is mandatory reading for every Indian!