
‘River of Stories’ is considered as one of the first instances of Indian graphic novels written and illustrated by Orijit sen in 1994. The story is the result of Sen’s participation in the Narmada Bachao Andolan, a protest by the tribal communities against the construction of the Sardar Sarover Dam on the Narmada in Madhya Pradesh. In the hands of Orijit Sen emerges the new genre of graphic novel in Indian context which acts as a resistance against the destructive government policies. Orijit Sen had his influences from his childhood’s comic books like Phantom, Tintin, Amar Chitra Katha, Nonte Phonte . Later he
came across Art Spiegelman and Robert Crumb. He learnt a lot from reading their stories, observing their styles and even copying them. His style of depicting stories is inspired by Mughal miniature painting as well. But it was his travels with his cartographer father that had an enduring impact on his narrative technique of River of Stories.
The story depicts a beautiful amalgamation between the protest of the tribal community against the government and the story of their myths. The narration continously goes back and forth in time, strating with the invocation of the deity Kujum Chantu who according to their myth holds the earth and the creation. And then it jumps into the contemporary time
portraying Vishnu, a young journalist from Delhi, going on a journey to Ballanpur to become the voice of the protesters and the locals, following the way that Sen himself may have taken while researching.WIth black and white visual images Sen brings in the tribal tradition of oral storytelling by the character Malgu Gayan holding the musical instruments like the rangai who sings the story of the creation of the river Rewa. Malgu represents an omnipresent moral character for the story, a magnetic presence spearding the worlds of myth and reality. As we realise the full scope of theoppression of the locals, justified in the name of vague-sounding visions of progress; the importance of Malgu’s initial story about the deity Kujum Chantu and the creation myth dawns upon us. The farcical confrontation
between Malgu and an politician at the end of the book depicts the distinction between the modern industrial world with its complexities and the simple life of the indegenous people in the midst nature.