When an upper-caste mob sets fire to a Dalit settlement in Lathore village, Odisha, forty families become homeless overnight—refugees in their own land. Seen through the unflinchingly honest eyes of Makaru, a Dalit migrant settled in Raipur, returning to his ancestral village after years of exile, Burnt is a powerful meditation on memory, trauma and survival.
As he journeys by train to the place he had fled as a boy, Makaru also journeys deep into his childhood, tracing the roots of caste violence and resilience that have shaped his community, and confronting memories he wants to forget. The train—linking past and present—is a symbol of mobility and change, and a vital catalyst of Dalit self-awareness and emancipation.
Based on a true 2012 incident, Basudev Sunani’s Odia novel Padapodi—from pada or locality and podi, which means burnt—is an urgent reckoning with India’s caste realities. Sunani weaves an unforgettable tale of systemic oppression over three generations, while lyrically and vividly portraying the many life worlds of the Odia Gana community: their festivals, music and deities; the scars left by violence, migration and erasure; their humanity, humour and restraint. He celebrates the stoic dignity and fierce pride of a vibrant people battling subjugation even as they continue to hope, to dream and to remember.
A story of loss and resistance, despair and defiance that comes alive in Raj Kumar’s compelling and evocative translation, Burnt is a searing reminder that as long as caste endures, the fires it ignites will continue to raze histories and futures. Yet from the ashes, voices will always rise. This landmark novel by an award-winning writer is a must-read for lovers of Indian literature.
The Author:
Basudev Sunani, born in the remote village of Maniguda in district Nuapada, Odisha, is an award-winning poet, writer and cultural scholar who represents a strong, articulate and engaged Dalit presence in the world of Odia letters. His seven volumes of poetry include Cast Out: Poems of Anger and Angst (2021); two of his recent novels are Padapodi (2014) and Mashani Sahara Delhi (2021). He has published critical works, including Dalit Sanskrutir Itihasa (2014), Ambedkarism: A Way of Life (2012) and Dalit, Capitalism and Globalisation. Sunani’s poetry and prose have been translated into English, German, Aboriginal Australian as well as Hindi, Gujarati, Bhojpuri, Tamil, Marathi and Malayalam. He is the recipient of the Odisha Sahitya Akademi Award (2014), the Basanta Muduli Puraskar, the Gyanada Kabita Samman, and the M. Karunanidhi Porkizhi Award, among others.
The Translator:
Raj Kumar is Professor of English at Delhi University. His teaching and areas of research and interest include Dalit studies, Indian literature, autobiographical studies, postcolonial literature and Odia literature. He is the author of several scholarly works, including Dalit Personal Narratives: Reading Caste, Nation and Identity (2010), Dalit Literature and Criticism (2019), and Bama: Writer as Activist (2025), co-edited with S. Armstrong. His translations from Odia include Bheda (2017) by Akhila Naik, the first Odia Dalit novel.
Author’s Preface Translator’s Note & Acknowledgements Translator’s Introduction Burnt: Beyond Return Glossary