Hemendra Kumar Roy Rachanabali Vol-XXVII

The volume contains an assortment of sorts. It begins with Hatya Ebong Tarpor, containing a Jayanta Manik case of detection, and that too a good one, in the title content and then an equally well contrasted humourous one in Private Detective which, believe me is far less serious but equally enjoyable from what the title suggests. Then is an adventure story in Ek Diner Adventure with a touch of humour in this too. Then comes the short stories categorized under Galpo beginning with an horror episode in Shaitan, continuing the horror in Gangar Bibhishika, a Bimal Kumar adventure in Guhabaasi Bibhishan, which I personally felt a bit incomplete, an enjoyable read in Nakal Shikarir Shankat and finally a ghost story, which again felt short of expectation in Badshar Samadhi. Comparing these the best comes now beginning with the dual historical stories in Tin Samrater Trahyasparsha-Yog and Mahabharater Maharath, both depicting the downfall of two most important empires of medieval India viz. that of the Mughals and of Prithviraj the great. For the more inquisitive readers it may help to know that to enjoy the first one to the fullest please go through volume XII of Hemendra Kumar Roy Rachanabali though without it the document is complete in itself. Finally is a pleasing deviation from the author, something not for the children, mixing romance with adventure in Panchasharer Keerti, which is completely regionalized without any trace of its original source. This could have been immensely enjoyable but for a single fact that needs elaboration. It seemed the author, mostly conversant in writing gripping adventure stories for the young minds, was hesitant to make up his mind while writing for the older generation. So though the adventure was enthralling the underlying concept seemed a bit loosely composed.

Hemendrakumar Rachanabali Vol - XV

The Hemendrakumar Rachanabali starts with a collection of horror stories, the first being Mohanpurer Sashan. Besides the title story in contains several others which will give you the creeps as you go through them. But in Jeebanta Mreetadeha the details are more about one of the great floods at Contai where the plight of a family and their visitors are described. The collection ends with Abhishapta Murti that relates how a cursed statue found half-buried in Konark terrorizes a family. As the horror series ends begins the adventure Jakshapatir Ratnapuri as observed from the perspective of Bimal, in which a chance incident at Calcutta directs Bimal and Kumar on an exciting trail of ancient treasure whose clue is planted in a curious little riddle. Next comes the best Digvijayee Napoleon, that is nothing short of a magnificent ode written in prose for one of the greatest emperors of all times. Not only was the emperor in Napoleon has been detailed but his astute war tactics, his intellect, his erudite soul and his passionate patriotism blended with his misfortunes and fortunes – all have been narrated with a passionate zeal in this prose. The next again brought back cherished memory of my childhood as Firoza-Mukut Rahasya was a whodunit that I had earlier read in a book of collection of mystery stories. The best part of the story was that the evidence against the supposed criminal was so strong it was left upon Jayanta’s sharp intellect to look beneath the strata of the apparently straightforward events and unearth the real culprit and the stolen fragment of the seemingly priceless Firoza crown. The detective’s adventure continues in the collection Jayantar Adventure that contains a handful of short stories with Jayanta-Manik and Sundarbabu in action solving curious crimes as narrated by Manik. It starts with the murder mystery in Bansai Rahasya that the sleuth solves humoring the police force. In Kamrar Mamla, the intriguing plot is shrewdly solved by Jayanta but the escape of the murderer after the crime was not very convincing. The next Double Mamlar Hamla was a plot where an apparent suicide turned into a cruel murder mystery. It is followed by the short but stylish Aprilasya Pratham Dibase whose title itself provides the clue to the entire story. The making of a sleuth is Jayanta at his younger days is depicted in the next, Revolver whose title and the opening few lines are sufficient to provide the main plot of the tale.

Hemendrakumar Roy Rachanabali Vol – I

As Khagendranath Mitra correctly summarises in his introduction, Hemen Roy was the pioneer in the Bengali adventure classic domain for the young and the writer's works generally concentrated on celebration of the powerful masculine with the supernaturals too playing some important roles owing to him being a staunch believer in the same. Thus we are yet again presented with some of his memorable classics in this volume whose content runs as

1. Jokher Dhan
2. Sandhyar Pore Sabdhan
3. Himachaler Swapna
4. Ekhon J(n)ader Dekhchi
5. Meghdooteer Martye Agaman
6. Chora
7. Chithi

Starting with the young Bimal-Kumar's 1st adventure in Jokher Dhon, we have a collection of short horror stories to follow up in Sandhyar Pore Sabdhan. Most of the stories of the later collection have one thing in common: each of the tale narrates happenings during the dark hours after sunset. Some of these have been based on foreign stories which the able penmanship of Roy has transformed to suit our familiar surroundings. Though targetted for an young audience, older readers can derive much amusement from quite a few of them. Infact the 3rd story is really meant for the li'l ones and here the style can be compared to Lila Majumdar's, where the misadventures of an escaped Himalayan Bear from Alipore zoo in quest for his motherland have been narrated with the best possible humour to attract the young minds. Infact, just analysing the humour part, I found it to be very similar to that applied to the Tenida stories by Narayan Gangopadhyay. That this versatile writer, mainly remebered for his perilous adventure stories, can also be a master of humourous pieces is proved by this wonderful anecdote. Ekhon J(n)ader Dekhchi starts with an essay on the cultural abode of Jorasako Thalurbari and continues with tributes to the Bengali genius of Abanindranath Tagore, historian Sir Jadunath Sarkar, and culminates with fond reminiscences of Sourindra Mohan Mukhopadhyay and Kazi Nazrul Islam. Meghdooteer Martye Agaman is a science fiction thriller and I'd read this earlier and could never forget the thrilling concept till date. The collection of poems in Chora begins with a delightful nonsense verse while the rest a mainly mean for young uns. In Chithi, how a simple letter to his nieces can have a significant literary value will be appreciated and is worth going thru.

Hemendrakumar Roy Rachanabali Vol – VII

Again another treasure trove of excitement as Hemendra Kumar Roy presents two of his thrilling novels, an adaptation and some of his finest chronicles of history.

The volume contains:

1. Abar Jokher Dhon

2. Nrimunda Shikari

3. King Kong

4. Aalo Die Gelo J(n)ara

In ‘Abar Jokher Dhon’ Bimal-Kumar are on a treasure hunt and again their exploits take them to combat the forces of nature and the evils of mankind in the jungles of Africa. ‘Nrimunda Shikari’ starts with Jayanta-Manik’s hunt for the murderer who severs and takes the head of the victim from the streets of Calcutta. Here we again come across the comic character of SundarBabu and his equally comic associates but the main surprise of the story is in the final chapters when the detective duo gets help from the adventurous pair of Bimal-Kumar.

‘King Kong’ is the adaptation of the classic tale of the legendary ape and here the climax is at Calcutta. Nowhere throughout the story has it appeared to be an adaptation and the masterly style of the writing again takes the breath away at times.

But the best are the chapters of ‘Aalo Die Gelo J(n)ara’ where the author has narrated and glorified India’s past by quoting the exploits of history’s unsung heroes and heroines. On occasions he had touched upon world history too. He has recounted tales from the days of Alexander’s invasion of India, the tragic history of Hasan-Husein, chronicles of the courageous Rajputs against the wrath of Allauddin Khilji and many more.

Hemendrakumar Roy Rachanabali Vol – II

From the days that I had started savouring Bengali fictions till a few days back, I had read only a few of the stories of Hemendra Kumar Roy. Somehow his writings had always passed unnoticed by me. So when I found a catalogue of the Asia Publishing House and discovered that they treasure the whole collection of Hemendra Kumar’s proses for the young, I was quite excited. I found that the catalogue also advertised the index to each book and a glance at them brought back cherished memories of school days when the mere mention of ‘Jokher Dhon’ and the names of the adventurous duo Bimal-Kumar accompanied a thrill down the spine. Added to these were the exploits of the detective pair Jayata-Manik and their fights against crimes. So at the first chance that presented itself in the way of the Book Bazar at Rabindra Sadan, I purchased two volumes of the series.

The index to the 2^nd Vol runs as:

1. Amabasyar Raat

2. Manush Pishach

3. Ekhon J(n)ader Dekhchi

4. Shani-Mangaler Rahasya

5. Chora O Kobita (yet 2 b read)

6. Adrishya Manush

7. Chithi

The fictions (1, 2, 4) feature Bimal-Kumar & Jayanta-Manik and in this volume their ventures carries them to fight against the evil forces of nature that includes supernatural forces too. Normally meant for the primary school goers, but these narrations bring nostalgic feelings of the childhood past when the mind doesn’t understand logic and can smoothly drift to the lands of the unknown. The skilled way with which the author relates the events adds to the pleasure of an enjoyable reading.
There is also the Bengali adaptation (6) of H.G. Wells' "The Invisible Man" with a Bengali semi-urban setting as the backdrop of the events. The original characters have been cleverly camouflaged to suite the settings for a Bengali fiction. So nowehere it has been felt as a mere translation work rather it has unfolded the classic story for the Bengali speaking mass. This seems to be the author's tribute to the original writer.
But the writer's passion emanates in the tributes (3) to some unsung and some renowned personalities of Bengal and India. The first few chapters are dedicated to famed wrestlers of the time Gama, Chotogama, Hasanbaksh and finally Jatindra Guha who was more popular as Goborbabu. He goes through Goborbabu's journey to fame not only in the country but in foreign soils as well and the romance of his character blossoms beautifully in the pen of Hemendranath. He is passionate while describing Gobarbabu's rise to fame and is equally exasperating while narrating the dirty foul against him in the USA. I was even surprised to know that this great wrester was also an appreciator of music. Hemendrakumar also writes on the prominence of Jamini Ray and his paintings and while speaking of music, he offers his praise to the blind songster Krishnachandra Dey's lyrical musicals who lent his voice in Shishirkumar Bhaduri's plays after much persuasion and immediately earned praise there. The author also praises the works of poet Kalidas Ray and singer Dileepkumar Ray.
In ‘Chithi’ the author has paid tribute to Kabiguru Rabindranath Tagore and his works including his work for the children and also laments at his loss. The author had always acknowledged the great poet as his Guru in the literary world and says how Rabindranath had been the best portrayer of the Mother Nature. He also admires the poet’s work for the children and marvels at the volumes he had written for the children. He goes even further in saying that no author before Rabindranath had given more time or had shown more interest in composing delightful literature for the young minds.