There are many classics in Indian literature about which you hear while growing up.Being a Bengali,I have constantly heard about “Chacha Kahini” by Syed Mujtaba Ali,”Drishtipat” by Jajabar and a host of books by Tarashankar Bandyopadhyay including “Hansuli Baanker Upokatha” (an indicative ,not an exhaustive list)from my father.Of the three,Hansuli Baaker Upokotha is the latest one I finished.It is one of the novels covered in the collection “Sera Tarashankar” which I purchased more than a year but could read only over last week(another famous novel-Jalsaghar-made into a memoreable movie by Satyajit Ray ,is also a part of collection which i read just after I got the book last year..so much of “ray-effect”,one may say).
Tarashankar is one of the all time great Bengali novelist.His greatness lies in his coverage of the fringe elements of the society as prevalent at that point of time.He has covered some of these fringe elements in the society(the Kahars in this novel)with such an indepth that you wonder whether he has just observed them or is one of them.He can also be credited as one of first who took the span of popular literature out of the middle-class centricity which mostly formed the mainstay of first phase of Bengali Literature.
Hansuli baanker Upokotha is a novel set in a place situated almost at the middle of “Kopai river” where the river takes a slight turn.It describes the life of the people living in that area but as also the area with such a vivid details that it transports you back to a timeperiod some 60 years ago when the second worldwar was breaking out.The tussle between clinging to the tradition amidst the pull of the changing environment is brought out poignantly through the eyes of the Kahar residents of the area.
Kahars I dont know how many of you has an understanding of what this stands for.The first time I have heard this term was in a popular song from a popular Hindi Horror movie-Jaani Dushman.The song “Chalo Re Doli Uthao Kahaar…Piya Milan Ki rut Aayi” came out during my primary school days when we used to “listen” to songs and not “watching” them.That is, the age of the transistor,Vividh Vharati,Radio Ceylon and Binaca Geet maala..As such it used to give the listerner a lot of imagination to conjecture .And not understanding even a single word in that song will certainly lead to a jarring note in your imagery as the word “kahar” was causing to me.
Next time I encounter the word”kahar” when I,in my early twenties by then,was serving my rural posting as a bank PO at a place called Chainpur in Palamau(another place with a very romantic association with Bengali literature).But there I met the “Kahars” or the people with the surname “kahar”.Kahars were the “palki-vahaks” ie those who used to carry the “palki” or the “doli” on their shoulders and used to carry the “rich and the famous” to their destinations.
The life of the Kahars were undergoing a major change during the period covered in the novel.The life and times of the society in terms of tradition,obeisance to the societal hierarchy,religious belief,interaction with nature,infringment of modern governance into customary societal setup and its output in terms of interpersonal relationship was all going topsy turvy.The depiction of the same through the characters of “matabbar”(Banwari) and the young challenger(Karali)remained gripping throughout the narrative.
The impact of the worldwar on even such a fringe part of the society as the Kahars was substantial It poses questionmark about Globalisation being a new phenomenon.As also its effect on the deprived.
But as a Banker what surprised me most was the “banking” concept defined there in the novel.It spoke about a new way of lending by a marwari..who is only harsh about getting the interest component back on a weekly basis but is liberal on the instalment which can be repaid even at a halfyearly basis.Isnt it the way we are looking at defining our “NPA” definition nowadays in the modern banking.Three consecutive default in the interest repayment and the asset is a NPA…
Life,without a doubt,is a function of time.And Time,though depicted linearly , manifest itself cyclically.That is why a “upokotha” set in mid1940s sounds so familiar in late 2011.
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