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.