Mama Samagra

This is another of my favourite collections that I bought only recently though most of the stories had been read by me at a very early age that again belonged to those that gave me the flavor of humour in literature for the first time. Mama Samagra, a collector’s edition elaborating the happenings in the bustling mamabari of the narrator with a whimsical doctor as Baromama, an equally eccentric Chotomama who is also a professor and the only sensible person in Mashima responsible for applying the reins to this crazy pack. Added to these are the scores of pets including dogs, cats, birds and cows and a whole lot of characters that either reside there or appears in a story out of nowhere. Baromama’s fantastic visions with underlying noble thoughts form the theme of most of the stories which ultimately opens the door to chaos and mess. Almost always ridiculed by his own doings, the ever optimistic Baromama carries on his endeavours unabated and in this he gets the support of the narrator much to the dismay of Chotomama and Mashima. Chotomama, almost everytime, forms the chief opposition to Baromama’s concepts and with his own fantastic logics defies his brother’s whims. But ultimately it is Mashima who puts the brakes to her elders and maintains discipline in the most rational way.

All said and done it must be mentioned that all the chief characters in the narratives are loving and inspires optimism in this increasingly cynical world and breaths freshness with each story. The collection contains

·         Morning Walk

·         Guptadhaner Sandhane

·         Bardar Beral

·         Ekada Ek Bagher Golae

·         T(n)etul Gaache Doctor

·         Nijer Dhak Nije Petale

·         Baromamar Mosha Mara

·         Baromamar D(n)aat

·         Utpater Dhan Chitpate

·         Avatar

·         Abishkar

·         Ghush

·         Baromamar Menagerie

·         Baromamar Cycle

·         Baromamar Beral Dhora

·         Mejoke Baror Juto Daan

·         Langarkhana

·         Gorur Result

·         Baromamar Bike

·         Physiotherapy

·         Bama Khepar Chela

·         Gomukhyu Goru

·         Saape aar Neule

·         Mahaprasthan

·         Bipashae Dui Mama

·         Rupor Maach

·         Baromamar Saap-Ludo

·         Sonar Palak

Though categorized as comedy but the stories markedly differ both in structure and presentation from Saape aar Neule where the themes turn from comedy to philosophy though it is never monotonous and always lively. Going through the pieces, I could not but guess that Sanjib Chattopadhyay’s recent bend to The Divine may have begun from the same time that he penned stories starting from Saape and Neule.

As to the structure of the presentation, a complaint is due to Pushpa publication that the pagination from Saape and Neule are a bit erroneous. But barring this the copy remains a cherishable collector’s item with a complimentary art support by Anup Roy, Debashish Deb, Sankar Basak and Pranab Hazra. It could have been made more orderly if the chronological order of the events had been followed as sometimes it becomes very much obvious that a story actually must appear late in the series while some may have come first. Also the author often changes the name of the narrator which doesn't look good once the characters are considered part of a continuous series.

Chalanta Chhaya

I always had the urge to read the fictions that first time introduced original detective stories to the Bengali readers. Infact one of my maternal uncles had a huge collection of Bishwa Chakra series but not being of age I didn't have the permission to read them during my visits there while I was young. Then as I grew old the deluge of Feluda, Byomkesh, Kiriti, Holmes, Father Brown, Poirot, Marple, Tommy & Tuppence, Parker Pyne novels seemed to erase me of the urge until very recently I chanced upon a site that was distributing free ebooks by Swapan Kumar. The dormant wishes seemed to get the better of me this time and I tried to gather as many of them as was available.

Now that I started with the 4th in the Bishwa Chakra series namely 'Chalanta Chhaya', I seem to be introduced to an entirely new age of detective fiction whose glimpses remained in Kiriti and Byomkesh. Set in the British India the adventure begins in the morgue of the Calcutta police where a deadbody was carried off by a cleverly planned scheme. That was the start after which a strange theft and several kidnappings raised a great hue and cry in the city. But these times, the society that carried out the operations left notes signed as Chalanta Chhaya. Soon private detective Deepak Chatterjee was summoned by police and he also receives a threat from the society Chalanta Chhaya both of which, no doubt, influences the investigator to carry on with the case with support from his freind Ratanlal. Then is the usual detective adventure though adventure gets the upper hand and there is nominal detection but the most notable part of the story is the fantastic concept that forms the main plot. The concept is fantastic enough if we remember the era when it was contrived and sitting at an age when adventure and mystery in fiction seemed to become synonymous with hollywood, I cannot but appreciate the originality of the plot that had, surely, hit the best seller category for the young readers.
Also the inside cover of the story bears a note of age restriction for the readers which is another revelation about the values and culture of that age.

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.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Captain Jack Sparrow is back with a new adventure and new characters - the legendary Blackbeard with his zombi henchmen on board the Queen Anne's Revenge, the Spanish Armada, a host of mermaids with the attitude of the vampire and with them comes the old comically sinister Captain Barbossa, this time serving as the privateer in the service of the British with the interfering British fleet, all heading towards the Fountain of Youth and the many secrets that surround it!

As always, plots intersperse and suspense deepens as each new scene unfolds a new secret. After Jack impersonates a judge to save a confused Gibbs from the gallows in the court of London, he is tricked and ushered in the royal dining room where he is charged with rumours of his lookout for a ship for sailing to the Fountain of Youth. A confused Jack, though improvises an escape but is soon being confronted by his father Captain Teague who warns his son about the Fountain's tests. He soon meets his old flame the exotic pirate lady Angelica who was found to impersonate Sparrow and soon she tricks him to join the crew of Queen Anne's Revenge captained by his father the Blackbeard - who uses voodoos and a host lot of magic to terrorize and keep reign over the crew. Blackbeard wanted eternal life and Jack had the compass to locate the fountain and thus they set sail for it.But two more groups were on their way. The first were the Spanish bent on destroying the Fountain as they considered it to be an abomination against God and the British to outrun them under Captain Barbossa who had a secret motive of his own which was to strike revenge on Blackbeard to whom he had lost the Pearl and his leg.

Magic dominates on board the Queen Anne's Revenge and the crew gets a taste of it while a mutiny initiated by Sparrow is turned down mercilessly by Blackbeard. Thus the terrified crew are lead towards the Fountain as both Spanish and Barbossa nears it, the former guided by a map and the later by Gibbs who destroyed Sparrow's map in a bid to save himself from the British and memorized it so as to strike a deal.

The saying goes that the water from the Fountain of Youth was to be drunk by two persons from two chalices of Juan Ponce de Leon and one must contain the tear of the mermaid. The person who drinks from the cup with the water and the tear will gain the years of the other that drinks from the second cup.

Blackbeard sets up a trap for the vicious mermaids and manages to confine one in a glass coffin but one of his prisoners, the missionary Philip falls in love with her and names her Syrena and attempts several futile tries to free her.

Angelica, in the meantime, showed Sparrow that Blackbeard had miniaturized and stored the Pearl inside a bottle and he conspires with Barobossa and leads him to Blackbeard only to meet him at the Fountain as the Spanish army marches in. A fight ensues as always and it remains to be seen what happens next.

The 3D effect was superb, it was only my second view of a full length movie and thanks to the director Rob Marshall, sequences are really intelligently designed for the full appreciation of the 3D. Sparrow's escape from the British Royalty, the climax, the waves, the fights and the sets all are vividly enjoyable in the extra dimension. This is the shortest film of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and though a compact one but seems a bit less on the adventure part as do the excitement during the finishing scenes. However, the sets at Hawaii were fascinating (equally fascinating as the Caribbean sets of the earlier chapters) and the background scores of Hans Zimmer inspires the magic of the franchisee once more and overall this Jerry Bruckheimer production of the Walt Disney Pictures is a must watch for the fantasy lovers.

The Secret of Terror Castle

In my school days when adventure started to unfold its truest meaning to our young souls, the books that mostly gave a thrilling company comprised mainly of adventures shrouded in a veil of mystery. Thus it was no doubt the Three Investigators franchise held a special place in my mind and still now I continue being a fan of the Jupiter Jones, Peter Crenshaw, Robert Andrews and the ever-friendly Worthington, the chaeffeur of the gold plated Rolls Royce that Jupe won as a free rental service in a competition that challenged everyody's intelligence. The apparently spooky phenomenon they were introduced to appealed to my fascination even more.

Initially, I was under the misconception that Alfred Hitchcock was the writer and my young mind was even more confused when several author's name cropped up in various volumes. But finally I understood that the serial was continued by various author at different times.

The Secret of Terror Castle was penned by Robert Arthurr Jr., who created the sleuths and engaged them to a case for investigating a haunted castle purportedly for Alfred Hitchcock. The brainy Jupe, the athletic Pete and the researcher Bob thus form the group and tries to hunt the ghosts of a castle whose owner, a renowned movie star of the silent movie era specializing in scary movies, had apparently committed suicide. As they started investigating they are threatened by eerie messages and the ghostly activities inside the castle itself seem too much for all except Jupe whose motto was to solve anything and everything. Thus the investigation are sure to thrill the young minds and also are enjoyable even today when I took the opportunity to go through it once more.

The novel finishes off with a promise for the next case which was again presented to them apparently by Alfred Hitchcock and thus even when the final chapters are done with the excitement remains for the next!!

Dishari Chakrabarty: interview

http://calcuttatube.com/dishari-chakrabarty-musical-journey-classical-fusion-music/149889/

Ghandasamagra I

The contents of this wonderful collection runs as

• Ghanadar Galpo
• Masha
• Poka
• Nuri
• K(n)ach
• Maach
• Tupi
• Chari
• Lattu
• Adwitiya Ghanada
• Dada
• Phuto
• D(n)aat
• Ghari
• H(n)aas
• Suto
• Aabar Ghanada
• Dheel
• Ch(n)uch
• Shishi
• Ghanadake Vote Deen
• Ghanadake Vote Deen
• K(n)echo
• Machi
• Ghanadar Nitya Natun
• Jol
• Chokh
• Chata
• Ghanda Kulpi Khan Na
• Ghanadar Juri Nei
• Tel
• Bhasha
• Maap
• Maati

Premendra Mitra had created maybe one of the unique personalities in the world of fiction in Ghanada whose exploits narrated in first person (in general) though are filled with thrilling suspense but the underlying humour and a trace of twist makes each episode livelier with its hilarious finishes.

His four avid listeners-cum-fans, Shishir, Gour, Shibu and the author, the inhabintants of a mess in 72, Banamali Naskar Lane enjoys listening to Ghanada narrating his exploits that involves unmasking international criminals and his hobnobs with the American and British intelligentsia which proves to be their ultimate enjoyment during the leasurly weekends. Ghanada's stubborn logics justifying his claims of the mess rights sometimes proves too much for them but they are easily soothed by the fantastic events that he narrates as a way of justification. The stories that he weaves from the slightest provocation, though seems to be all bluff but sometimes some surprising revelations pose a serious question to the listeners - isn't Ghanada really a bundle of talents? The quad sometimes poses some deceptive traps for Ghanada but his high IQ, a trivial opportunity and sometimes his remarkable intelligence helps him to maneuver the traps quite easily.

These exploits, though if we consider to be all bluffs, contain all accurate facts and infact Surajit Dasgupta's introduction quite correctly summarizes one very universal truth about Ghanada novels - it was Premendra Mitra's interest of inspiring the youngs with science that he created this unique personality. Also several of the writings addresses the pollution and serious scarcity of natural vegetations and also extinction of species that really makes these a class apart in Bengali literature. The stories that will ultimately make you a fan of Ghanada and Co. all mask some very interesting scientific events that can be expected to eventually inspire some on the course of research on the topics.