Boxer Ratan

A wonderful science fiction for the young by Shirshendu that has not lost

most of its charm while I read it today, several years after I'd first gone

through it. The ever lovable peculiar characters that are a must in

Shirshendu novels are though absent but the strangeness of the plot and the

mystery that surrounds it will no doubt enthrall the young mind.

Ratan, a passionate boxer, on the night of his national title win returns home,

a confused man who just had the most remarkable of revelations about his

father's past. Infact the confusion gives way to devastation when he finds his

father missing on his return. His father had once been a great scientist and

visionary on the verge of a revolutionery discovery, aimed to solve the

world's energy crisis, when he suddenly lost his memory in a laboratory

mishap. But now it seemed that all that was a conspiracy to devoid his father

from the success of his experiments and now some evil international dealers

kidnapped the old scientist for the formulas that he hid somewhere. Ratan

was approached by strangers claiming to be from another international

agency who wanted to save his father but he was confused as to whom to

believe.

The story now takes a turn at the seas and the adventure continues to a final

battle of wits and strength that increases the excitement even more.

A master of story telling, Shirshendu had excelled himself in the sense that

the minute details of a boxer's moves during fight sequences are critically

explained without loosing a single pulse of the moment.

Manojder Adbhut Bari

It’s all in the name. Mad and Madder — Abhijit Gupta’s translation of Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay’s Manojder Adbhut Bari — is exactly how it sounds. It’s about a crazy family living in a sprawling house in small-town Bengal, and other equally hilarious characters.

Manoj is the youngest member of this fantastic family, with elder siblings Saroj and Putul. Their father, Rakhohari babu, is a strict disciplinarian and everyone — including the cats and dogs of the house — is afraid of him. Except Thakurjhee, Rakho babu’s widowed aunt, an old woman suffering from an obsessive need to clean everything. (By the way, Thakurjhee is very fond of cow dung.) Then there is the children’s grandmother, Thakurma, whose sole occupation is to prepare lentil dumplings (bori) and protect them from thieving crows. In fact, Thakurma has strong muscles on her right arm as a result of whipping lentils all year through! Among others are two uncles — one a bodybuilder-cum-scientist and the other an expert shopper.

The household also comprises tutor Dukkhohoron babu — who cannot teach unless he sits with his feet up; music teacher Ganesh Ghosal — who tries to hang himself twice or thrice every month; family priest Satish Bharadwaj — a paunchy champion eater rumoured to own pet ghosts; and the elderly maidservant Kirmiriya — who bursts into loud wails at the drop of a hat.

Many more characters come and present their unusual habits. This goes on for quite a few chapters and you may wonder: where is the story? Before long, however, you find yourself in the middle of a mystery. And you realise that the main thread of the story had begun with the very first line of the book.

A prince had gone missing 10 years ago, and the search for him continues. That brings us to another character — bumbling detective Baradacharan, who loses his pistol soon after his appearance in the book. Manoj, Saroj and Putul go though a bizarre adventure dotted with hilarious episodes. The drama also has a good-for-nothing daroga, his equally clumsy constables, strapping dacoits and rampaging monkeys.

But ultimately, all the strands of the plot come together in a neat end, with the police and dacoits eating luchis fried in cow-milk ghee.

Even those who have read Manojder Adbhut Bari in Bengali will find a new book here. It’s true some expressions like lyaje gobore can’t be translated to English. But Gupta’s work leaves no lacunae; reading Mad and Madder is by itself a rewarding experience. And, after all, good literature must be shared in all languages.