The late author Leela Majumdar once said Dhiren Bal reminded her of her brother Sukumar Ray A cat called Bhutu, his parents, and his friends live in a picture-perfect village somewhere in Bengal. All of them have neat little houses in their neat little village, all
A poor Brahmin driven out of his own home by a ghost who impersonates him. Four friends who learn the art of transforming bones into living, breathing beings. A clever barber who ‘bags' a ghost and makes it do his bidding. All this and much
When you consider the history of Bangla prose, how many of you think of the name Dom Antonio de Rosario? A Portuguese name, evidently, though the man behind the name was purebred Bengali. The son of a rich landowner in Jessore in what is now
Rabindranath Tagore was fascinated by the concept of death. He was curious to explore life after death. His preoccupation with death goes back to a series of traumatic events of his life. Tagore was 14 when his mother, Sarada Devi, passed away. Later in life
On the outskirts of Jalpaiguri town, stands the famous temple of Devi Chaudhurani, the ‘bandit queen’ immortalized by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. It is believed this is where Devi and her mentor, Bhavani Pathak, who led a gang of dacoits, offered prayers to Goddess Kali. After
Nimai Bhattacharya always had his male protagonists as journalists. He was a reporter himself for years and never called himself an author, though most of his published books were best sellers and many of them turned into movies. But why? For Nimai Bhattacharya never had
Teesta, why are you a prisoner? When will you be free? that’s what Hussain Muhammad Ershad of Bangladesh had once said. But the gushing mountain river Teesta found its best description and its tale of death in veteran Bengali author Debesh Roy’s Teesta parer brittanto.
Dalits in West Bengal? Well, we always thought Bengal was far more advanced than any North or West Indian states of the country where casteism is still practised. However, Bengal also produced one of the most prominent Dalit feminist writer, who brought to light the
In 1924, when Rabindranath Tagore fell ill en route to Peru, he was forced to disembark in Buenos Aires. This sudden break in the journey, opened a new vista for Tagore. He was to meet Victoria Ocampo with whom a new relation would open up
Despite being a practicing Brahmo, Rabindranath Tagore never left any stone unturned in trying to delve into all kinds of religious teachings. The rational and humanistic aspects of the teachings of Lord Buddha hence attracted the creative genius of Tagore. He said in one of