Baby K Parijat

Nabarun Bhattacharya's latest collection of magic realism centre's on Baby K and Parijat (the abbreviation K is better not explained) with a fireman on tow and some other characters that are not recurrent like the rest in

• Aguner Mukh
  
• Parijat o Baby K
• Baby K.
• American Petromax
• Fire-fight
• Baby K and Spiderman Parijat
• Baby K, Parijat, Pangapal o Markin Samrajyabaad

Barring the first one, the others though are loosely related to each other but are not so compact presentation as the Fyatarus were. Mixed with humour the stories are handicapped in the sense that though the characters remain the same but the continuity is not maintained which seems to be the chief drawback. Though the title is alluring but the stories are not so. It begins well but as it proceeds a note of monotony sets in that remains throughout.

Saras Galpo

A pack of hilarious romantic comedies, nothing could have been a better buy than this Bimal Kar collection. Warming up with not so hilarious Chaar Taas and Basanta Bilap which proved to be less comic than the film, the actual pace was set by Kaalidas o Chemistry and the rhythm by PremShashee. Again the spirit seemed a bit dampened to some extent in the couple Hridoe Binimoe and Atmadarshan but it was compensated doubly by the woes and pathoes without which the conjugal life remains incomplete but wrapped up in classic comedy in Bridhasya Bharya. Abhilashee, Bou nie Khela, Chumbak Chikitsa and PhaneeManasa followed the monotonous yet enjoyable style set by the previous few but uniqueness again unfolded with Gorachand, Rasatal and to me, one of the quality stories of the set in Rangalal. But Milonatsab was not so good and seemed to miss the general goal of the book but was followed by, my fabourite of the set, Ratnalabh. The next couple were again romantic, though I will keep Ratkiller a bit lesser in the fun side than Bichitra Prem. The book culminated with the charming Beauty ebong GG filled with old world values but a little less convincing. The striking thing of the narratives is that while exploring the old world values along with the funny side of romance, that sometimes bordered the crude innstincts, it rarely crossed aesthetic limits which proved the command that Kar possessed in Bengali literature.