Suchitra & Me...

It was sometime in 1984 that I understood the extent of "deewanapan" that Suchitra Sen had amongst my father's generation.Stardust,the film magazine,came out with a cover picture of MoonMoon Sen which was quite "hot" from that time's perspective.We were in Delhi then,visiting our Jethu's(Father's elder brother) place with the family of my Kaka(uncle,father's younger brother).Looking at the picture,my Jethima made a sarcastic comment on the type of picture Suchitra's daughter is getting clicked.And as such the discussion started veering towards the relative beauty of the mother and the daughter.In my mid teens and having acquired a provisional and tentative permission to venture into "boroder majhe"(amongst the adults)and participate in their discussions I ventured out to put my two pence of opinion.Which was Moonmoon is too beautiful.The reaction from my Kaka was so prompt and strong that I beat a hasty retreat.But kaka was unrelenting,with support from the entire +1 generation. Colorful teenage eyes and heart somehow couldn't accept the elders' decision;the colourful and exciting picture winning the day at my heart as a better representative of beauty. As your hair starts greying,your conception of beauty and your outlook for it also starts becoming "colour blind" The same happened to me.The black and white pictures and movies started making meaning .And i started revisiting many of the old movies that we have seen at Miloni club at HEC Colony in Ranchi.For the bengali diaspora there,occassional hit bengali movies,along with other activities, used to get organised,i presume to keep us exposed to Bangali-culture .Before that an announcer in a vehicle used to go around the township shouting in a "mike" something to the tune of "Aagami Shonibar/Robibar,Miloni Club Prangone ekti bangla Chayachobir aayojan kara hoyeche .Chobir naam "saptapadi" aar ete obhinoy korechen Uttam Kumar(3or 4 times ) ebong Suchitra Sen (3 or 4 times)."The stress on "Uttom and Suchitra" was very clear.As clear as its impact on my Mother and other Kakimas . We kids used to get tagged along.To be frank,we never used to be very excited towards it as we had our "eyes tinged with the colours" and heart yearning for the same ( http://biswojit.wordpress.com/2010/12/05/ranchi-reminiscient-montessori-maidan/ ).So,it was post my "wonder years" when I have started founding beauty in substance,apart from beauty as in beautiful that I started enjoying Suchitra Sen's movie as also started appreciating her sublime beauty.I started watching "Saptapadi" "Saat paake Bandha" " Pathe Holo Deri" and enjoying them.Not to say Aandhi & Debdas,which i watched after SRK's one and before seeing Barua's one.Incidentally I got some real insight on her from Pramathesh Barua's son when I was staying as a paying guest with his family.But those are not something to be discussed here. But my main connect to her happened when i found the way she has "frozen our memory of her".The way she conducted herself once she moved out of public life is what made me see the inner beauty in her.While many may find it as a part of her "fear" that she shuts herself from the world,I had a different take at it.And it is in 2012 that I realised its full impact and was convinced that my take is correct.Rajesh Khanna in the Havel fan advertisement was visually assaulting, especially for those who has grown up watching him during his Aradhana/Anand days ( http://biswojit.wordpress.com/2012/07/18/kaka-and-covey/ ). Thus by freezing our memory of hers at the level which gives us maximum "shakun"( i cant find an English word to totally encapsulate it),she did a great service to her fans.I am sure my Kaka will surely endorse this theory of mine.Gulzar sahab has already endorsed it while writing 'Ik raah akeli si, rukti hai na chalti hai"

Jhumpa's Jhal,Talk & Misti

A random reader like me,who at any point of time reads four to five books simultaneously in either/both of the languages-Bangla & English-has often wondered if,how and when a bridge can be built between the fiction writing trend of the two languages .A bridge that can encapsulate to the wider world the natural thought process of the Bengali middle class in terms of its emotions,anxieties,broodings ,impatience and other subtleties that give shape to the the same.The bridge which can showcase to the readers a wider canvas,broader context of Bengali life where Kolkata is a "part and parcel" but not "all in all". It seems Jhumpa Lahiri,to a large,extent has built that bridge in her latest book "The Low land". The narrative,the build up of the characters all point towards her deep understanding of the environment in which she has let her characters to move around.That she understands the basic psyche of the proponents which forms the fulcrum of the novel and the description of the locations-Kolkata ,Rhode Island-which provides the flow to the narration can be gauged from the mention of books which she referred to as "essential to her understanding of the Naxalite movement".That is the only inputs she required to write the book,the understanding of the theory.Post that she has built up the story,intermingling the theoretic input with her "experiencial learnings".That shows in the smooth fluidity with which the narration flows.

The book begins with a description of Kolkata,especially the stretch of Kolkata that is called Tollygunge.The decription is vivid,those who have seen that area can just close their eyes and recreate the same as if a part of a guided tour.The facts are thrown in as a simple input-not trying to create a romanticism surrounding the same-like how the Tolly Club was created.It is here on the lowlands of Kolkata that the story begins.The story of two middle class Bengali brothers-Subhash and Udayan.One,a good boy (bhalo chele) who is ready to conform to the parent's wishes(Baba-mayer baddho) and the other an adventorous one(danpite chele).And an apparently simple but actually complex relationship between the two.The relationship which more or less typifies any similar relationship amongst brothers who have grown up in the same social setup.Except for the extremities that creeped into the Kolkata society around that period.The "disruptive" Naxalite movement which threw the middle class bengalis "off the balance".Coming after a sequence of historical disruptions that was impacting the Bengali psyche-the division of Bengal,the loss of national leadership,the partition of India and the replacement of British capitalism with Marwari capitalism and the impending crisis in EaSt Pakistan leading to the birth of Bangladesh-the Naxalite movement led to the extinction of almost an entire generation of the Bengali youth intellegentia.The impact of which,many say,is visible till date as reflected in the decay of Kolkata and the dearth of Bengali presence in almost every sphere of the Country's leadership. The rebel Udayan got drageed into the teachings of Kanu and Charu-Kanu Sanyal & Charu Mazumdar,the duo who launched the movement in Naxalbari-the poor village which gave a new -ism to the world but remained as poverty laden as it was when it sparked the fire.The good Subhash went to the States to undertake "higher studies".The separation of ways was aptly used by Jhumpa to show the real complexity in the brotherhood relation through Udayan's letter to his brother“The days are dull without you. And though I refuse to forgive you for not supporting a movement that will only improve the lives of millions of people.."

But the story takes a turn after Udayan was killed in an " encounter" by the police.The event saw Subhash coming and finding the "pregnant wife" of his brother,a former comrade,an accomplice in his act oif murdering a "shreni shatru" the class enemy-a police constable-having an uneasy relationship with his parents.Udayan decided to marry her and take her away to the States. What follows thereafter is a a serene orchestration of human relationship interactions-between Subhash, the husband, Gauri,his wife and sister in law,Megha-his social daughter and biological niece and his dead brother -Udayan whose shadow continues to loom large throughout their life.The way the interactions between the characters brewed also reflects the role environment plays in shaping them.Had the character of Gauri stayed back in Kolkata,it would have been a story we read day in day out in Bangla "uponyases" ie the fictions that gets churned out in hundreds everymonth from the narrow bylanes of Kolkata.The difference in teaching methods,the points of gender equality or women emancipation was reflected through the characters of Gauri and her daughter as the narration moves from Rassa Road to Rhodes Island time again and again. "The Lowland" has showcased the story of a generation of Bengali middle class which became part of a movement with noble intentions but callous conceptualisation and muddled execution and its after effect .The movement's failure is also somehow mirrored by the main characters. Subhash's life-his noble intention of marrying and thereby giving Gauri a chance to "live and not just survive";Gauris's life-her attempt to run away from the past .It is a nice read for it is a well written novel with length,width and depth.

Tarashankar,Hansuli Turn and NPA Classification

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.