Badshahi Angti

My favoutire Feluda novel with the perfect theft blended with surprises and just the right amount of action and mystery.

The place is Lucknow where Feluda and Topshe is holidaying with Topshe’s father. There, they are guest to Dhirubabu, friend to Topshe’s father and plans their tour from there. But soon after their arrival, they meet Dr. Srivastav who shows them a ring, which is believed to be a part of Aurangzeb’s personal ornaments. Dr. Srivastav received it as a gift from one of his orthopaedic patients, Piyarilal when the doctor cured the later’s only living son, Mahabir. But Dr. Srivastav is apprehensive as he recounts that on the previous night there had been an attempted robbery in his house. He felt that the thief is after the ring. Dhirubabu understands his anxiety and offers to keep the ring is his disposal. But on the next day the ring is found stolen. The other characters are also introduced in this juncture, the chief being Banbiharibabu whose business was to supply wild animals to different firms and who now leads a retired life enjoying his personal zoo consisting of ferocious and poisonous creatures like wild cat, corocodile, rattle snake, hyena, etc. The other important character is Mahabir, now a film actor, who is on a visit to his birthplace.

These characters also get involved as Feluda tries to investigate the theft while continuously receiving threats. Suspects accumulate in the form of Mahabir, who is thought to have an interest to the ring from the financial standpoint, Banbiharibabu, who is found to be an antique collector, though he never shows interest to it in front of others. Dr. Srivastav is also suspected on the ground that to baffle the thief, the doctor might have staged a theft so as to prevent a further attempt in his house. Also there is the mysterious saint whose movements arouse suspicion and the person(s)(?) who delivers(s) the threatening letters to Feluda. We also find one Bilasbabu near the end of the story who also plays a somewhat major role.

The riddle continues and the culmination is at Lachmanzula where the actual villain is caught amidst a tension filled atmosphere.

The storytelling is outstanding and the novel, I feel, is a treasure to readers of all age.

Namak Haram

A Hrishikesh Mukherjee superhit with Rajesh Khanna – Amitabh Bacchan duet, once again hand picked by my wife to boost our proud collection of golden age blockbusters.

The story is about two friends – Vicky, from the rich business class of Bombay and Somu, from a middle class Delhi family.

Vicky is rich, noble at heart but bears a distinct class distinction in mind while dealing with the employee class, be it their servants or the employee of his father’s factory and is quite ruthless in dealing with them. This lands him up in trouble when he insults the Union leader of the factory over an issue of a worker’s rightful compensation. The union calls a strike and Vicky is coerced by his father, shrewd businessman, to ask for forgiveness in front of the workers. Vicky can’t bear this humiliation and leaves for Delhi.

Somu, on the other hand, is also a kind-hearted rational and intelligent soul but when it comes to his friend’s problem, he forgets everything else. So on hearing about his friends humiliation, he plots a revenge and asks Vicky to find him a post as the factory’s worker. He executes his plan smoothly and gradually he acquires the mill workers’ trust and becomes the new Union leader.

As Vicky feels that the score is settled but a new problem arises in the form of Somu himself. During his rise to the Union leader’s post Somu has come in close contact to the labourers and their families and he is now sympathetic to their causes and demands. He could now feel their wretchedness as a high inflation hits the country and is torn between his principle and his friendship. Vicky, also realizing this partly, can’t decide whether to support his friend or his father.

The story now takes a complex turn and will hold the spectators glued to their seats for a moving finish. The outstanding action of Amitabh as Vicky and Rajesh Khanna as Somu outshines the other actors to a great scale but the supporting cast of A.K. Hangal and Simi Grewal also deserves special mention.

mp.b

Developed in Visual Basic 6.0, mp.b is an easy to use home made Metronome for Pc.

The facilities that it provides:

1.Gives a count from 1 – 16 beats in a bar in std. beat formats of 2, 4, 8 and 16.

2.Beat speed ranges from 1 – 276 beats per min.

3.Emits a distinct beep sound as the beat is counted which can be muted as well.

4.Displays the beat count.

5.Graphical display of beat count.

6.Display of bar count.

How to use?

1.The default count of the programme is 4 crotchet beats per bar @ 138 beats per min in sound ON mode.

2.Change the beat count (range: 1-16) using the vertical scroll bar in beat count window.

a.The value in the upper box of the time signature window box will be set.

b.The number of magenta coloured circles in the lowest window in will be set likewise.

3.Change the beat type (options: minim / crotchet / quaver / semi-quaver) using the red coloured buttons in the beat window.

a.The value in the lower box of the time signature window box will be set.

4.Change the beat speed (range: 1 - 276) using the horizontal scroll bar in the beat speed window.

a.The beat speed and the corresponding beat interval will be displayed in the brown and green boxes below the scroll bar.

5.To start count press starcount button.

a.Bar count starts from 0 and is displayed in bar count window.

b.Beat count starts from 0 and is displayed in the window, right of the time signature window.

c.Beat count is graphically displayed changing the corresponding circle’s colour in the lowest window to orange from magenta.

6.To put OFF the beep, press mute button.

a.The caption the button toggles from mute to beat. If again sound is required press the beat button.

7. To stop count press stopcount button.

a.Beep, if ON, is stopped.

b.Bar count is reset to 0.

c.Beat count vanishes and is reset.

d.The colour of all the circles turns to magenta.

8.In the event of any change during a count.

a.Bar count is not reset.

b.All other displays and sounds are dynamically changed.

Point to be noted:

Dynamic change of variables is not recommended. To change any variable, 1st stop the count, change the parameter values and then start the count.

Kaun

My favourite Ram Gopal Varma suspense drama which I bought recently from a CD store. In one phrase, the chief feature of the story can be described as ‘nobody is what it appears to be’.

The movie begins in a rainy afternoon with a lonely young lady in her dwelling being continually pestered by a stranger who, it seems has mistaken the residence for the one owned my some Mr. Malhotra. The lady refuses to let the stranger in but he annoys her by hanging around the house and making undue demands which starts with his asking for permission to come in. Again she refuses only to find him peeking from the kitchen window and requesting for a sandwich. Next he comes round the drawing room window and try to watch the television. This irritates the lady further but at a certain point of time situation forces to let her allow the stranger in. Coincidentally, there is an announcement in the TV of a lunatic murderer who is believed to choose his victims residing alone. This terrifies the lady and the stranger increases her panic by his eccentric behaviours. At a later stage of the movie another person is introduced who claims to be a police officer and enters the house following a routine procedure. But it’s not long before the other two discovers that he is anything other than police. The suspense continues as each of them puts doubt in the others’ mind and the climax reveals a truth that is both horrifying and shocking.

A movie with only 3 chief characters and a dog that has a bit of role in the middle and all the scenes in the same house gives the picture a unique signature. Several scenes are there without dialogues where the light and sound has been brilliantly used to add to the suspense. A film worth giving 100 minutes to but my recommendation is watch it alone in the late hours of the night when the suspense can be best enjoyed.

Pancham Purush

A novel by Bani Basu centering eight persons of different ages related to each other by various interests. The chief characters include Aritra, a Pune based executive with a Bohemian past with his non-Bengali wife Neelam, their common college friend Esha Khan and their teacher, Professor Mahanam. The next most important character is Pupu, daughter to Neelam and Aritra. Two more characters, that of Aritra's aquintance Vikram and his wife Seema plays some crucial roles near the middle and the end while Esha's roommate Piku is used just for a better emphasis on Esha's character during the first few chapters.
The story starts with Aritra while recuperating from an accident at his house, suddenly receives a post from his college darling Esha informing tha she will be visiting shortly on course of her tour to Maharashtra and Goa. Coincidentally Aritra and Neelam gets a visit from Prof. Mahanam, who was more than a teacher to them from their university days. Feeling insecured from Esha's promised visit, as she knew that her husband is still emotinally weak towards Esha, Neelam invites Vikram, a confirmed womaniser to woo away Esha from Aritra's grasp. The rest must be read to understand the different perspectives of human nature which the novel sheds light upon but a little patience is required, which I promise, will be rewarded wonderfully as the story blossoms.
Beginning with Aritra's present life, the novel quickly touches on Mahanam's past and Esha's life. Then it revolves around all the characters in the signature Bani Basu style and just when the reader feels that the theme is slipping from his/her grasp, a nice twist brings the prime characters in the same plane and from then onwards begins the unravelling of the masked past of each individual.
The best thing of the novel is the author has brought to light some very primal and true features of the modern human being that is seen everywhere but nowhere in the book had it appeared vulgar or out of the ordinary and at the same time its literary quality remains uncompromised. It may not be impertinent in this juncture to mention that there are instances where her work bears a resemblance to that of Sankar. At places where there is a transition from the present to the past or vice versa, the author has excelled in her unique style though I felt that certain repetations and length of passages devoted to desribe the mental conditions of the characters could have been lessened at places.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

A Indiana Jones film directed by Steven Spielberg. Set in 1957, the film begins with Colonel-Doctor Irina Spalko leading a convoy of Soviet soldiers and the kidnapped Indiana Jones, infiltrates a militry base called Hangar-51 in Nevada. Jones is forced to lead them to a crate containing the remains of an extraterrestial creature. After it is found, Jones tries to escape but his old partner, Goerge 'Mac' McHale betrays him and assists the Soviets to pin down Jones in the warehouse. But Jones manages to get away though in the process he stumbles upon a nuclear test town and manages close shave of his life from a nuclear blast.
Returning to Marshal College, he finds himself under the surveillance of the FBI and is forced to leave the college temporarily. While leaving, he is stopped by Mutt Williams who tells him that Indy's college mate Harold Oxley has disappeared following his discovery of a crystal skull in Peru.
In Peru, Indy and Mutt discovers clues left by Oxley to the grae of Francisco de Orellana, a Conquistador who disappeared in 1500 while seeking the mythical town of Akator (El Dorado). It was believed that whoever returns the skull to Akator will gain immense psychic power. Following the clue, Indy finds a Crystal Skull in Orellana's grave and soon after retrieveing it walks into the hands of the Soviets. They take them to their camp where they were already holding a severely insane Oxley and Mutt's mother, Marion Ravenwood, a great acquintance of Jones who reveals in a later scene that Mutt is actually Jones's son. Then the story turns into a race between Jones' team and the Soviets to the temple of Akator to return the skull amidst the jungle of Amazon scattered with deathly insects, brutal tribes and to top it off the aliens from another world.
From the start, the movie is action packed but the comedy in several sequences gives it the appropriate relief at the right places. It is totally an entertaining 124 minutes programme where the audience themselves seem to take part in the adventure through the wilderness of deserts and forests.
Harrison Ford is outsanding again, Cate Blanchett palys the cruel vamp to perfection but it is the banter of Shia LeBouf as Mutt Williams that sounds the merry tone throghout the movie.

Muqaddar Ka Sikandar

This Prakash Mehra hit of 1978 starring Amitabh Bacchan, Vinod Khanna, Rekha, Rakhee Gulzar, Amjad Khan and Kader Khan was my last birhday gift from my wife.
It is a story of an orphaned and abused boy who struggles to lead a respectable life amidst all the odds. The boy first try to find solace in the sympathy extended to him by his master's daughter, Kamna but a bitter misunderstanding tears them apart. He was then adopted by a kind-hearted woman, Fatima who names him Sikander who dies leaving her daughter Mehru in-charge of Sikander. It was while Sikander was in the graveyard following Fatima's death that he meets a Fakir who instills in him hope and the philosophy of keeping a smiling face while fighting the obstacles of life. Thus the broken-hearted Sikander turns determined and gradually builds a fortune mainly by helping police trap smugglers. In this juncture he meets Vishal, a budding lawyer who risks his life to save Sikander from a bomb threat. Vishal and Sikander becomes great friends and Sikander offers his residence to Vishal and his mother. Meanwhile Sikander becomes a frequenter of Zohrabai's brothel much to the rage of Dilawar, a criminal. Sikander's rivals takes this opportunity and enrages Dilawar further against Sikander. Vishal, in the meantime, meets Kamna and falls in love with him. Thus the stage gets set for the final showdown where on the one hand Sikander has to fight his rivals including Dilawar and on the other he has to choose between his friendship and his love.
The film, though is devoid of any serious suspence but has all the ingredients for an exciting drama. The acting have been superb and the direction praiseworthy.

BhoothNath

A Vivek Sharma film starring Amitabh Bacchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla and Aman Siddiqui as the main caste with supporting role offered by Rajpal Yadav, Satish Shah and Priyanshu Chatterjee and a special appearance of Aashish Chaudhary and Nauheed Cyrusi.
The film is about a very old and uninhabited house in Goa, 'NATH VILLA' haunted by the ghost of the original owner, Kailash Nath. Kailash's ghost loves every nooks and corner of the house and doesn't allow anybody to occupy its rooms, even for a single day. Thus rumours and stories about the house makes it quite infamous locally. But things change when a marine officer buys it and leaves his kitchen-shy wife and only child Banku, a mischivious lad, for an official voyage. Then begins the main theme where Banku befriends the ghost and together they set on playing pransk on the local folks and on occassions on themselves too. But problem begins as Banku's parents gradually gets to know about Bhoothnath and becomes concerned. It was then found out that Kailash Nath was being deprived of his last rites and realizing this, the family contacts Kailash's NRI son anc carries on the proper rituals. But even then, the final scenes of the film promises a sequel!
The film is mainly a comedy but the best thing is that it delivers some very valuable messages to the audience, both young and old. Thus we find that when Bhoothnath uses his powers to assist Banku in his pranks but he never assists Banku to win school competitions using his supernatural powers. Also the film conveys the age old message of 'to err is human, to forgive divine' in a very nice way.
But the film overlooks some major points which raises questions on the detailing of both the movie and the storyline. Also certain songs, specially the one featuring children in punk outfits, could have been omitted. Special mention must be made of Aman Siddiqui, Juhi Chawla for their natural acting and Rajpal Yadav on a short role has again put the audience in a laugh riot.

Ek Dojon Goppo

The index runs as:

1. Septopaser Khide
2. Bankubabur Bondhu
3. Bipin Chowdhuryr Smritibhram
4. Dui Magician
   
5. Anathbabur Bhoe
6. Sibu Aar Rakhyaser Katha
   
7. Pterodactyler Dim
   
8. Badur Bibhishika
9. Patalbabur Filmstar
   
10. Neel Atanka
11. Feludar Goendagiri
12. Kailas Chowdhuryr Pathar

It was quite coincidental that back in 1985, within days of receiving two of my most precious gifts in the form of the books, ‘Joy Baba Felunath’ and ‘Sonar Kella’ that Calcutta Doordarshan telecasted one of the two films (I forgot exactly which one it was though if my memory serves me right it was the former). So till date I am not very certain whether it was the brilliant story telling or the superb directing that made me an instant fan of Ray at such a young age. In fact Feluda, Soumitra and Satyajit all seemed to me the same person at that time. Well that was the start and from that day I had become a devoted collector of Ray’s literary creations.
So it was with a nostalgic feeling that I took up ‘Ek Dajon Goppo’ again from my shelf and started once again savouring the works of the short story genius. This collection of twelve contains the famous science fiction, ‘Bankubabur Bondhu’ which seemed to pave the way for Spielberg’s creation of ‘E.T.’. The collection also includes the 1^st of Feluda stories in ‘Feludar Goendagiri’ where the sleuth is seen to handle his 1^st case set in the backdrop of Darjeeling. The volume also features another Feluda story, ‘Kailas Chowduryr Pathar’ but from the storyline it can be ascertained that this case was written at a much later date (as there is the mention of ‘Badshahi Angti’ here). One of the important points to note in these two stories is that the genius of Ray in producing a sharp twist to the events that singles out Ray stories from the others (that can only be compared to the style of O. Henry) greatly shadows the brilliance of Feluda that is felt in other novels of the private investigator.
The other nine stories include supernatural episodes, humourous stories and some classic ones. In all of them the outstanding knack of storytelling have given the collection a new dimension. In many cases, the main characters in the fictions are picked from the common Bengali crowd, which not only gives a realistic touch but also conveys the skill of the author in creating extraordinary drama with an ordinary caste. It leads you to believe that talent doesn’t require a support crew but it blossoms in its own way in the works.
Ray always had an eye for detailing which is apparent is his stories too. In places where it requires explanation, it has been offered in a very simple, easy-to-understand way such that the stories never turn boring while the detailing remains uncompromised. But here, one point need to be mentioned where it surprised me how the author, with a keen eye to minute events, confused in the social relation of Feluda and Topse (Feluda’s only satellite till Jatayu shared the field). In the 1^st of the two Feluda stories, ‘Feludar Goendagiri’, they are introduced as cousins in the mothers’ side while in the other they seems to be cousins in the fathers’ side. Barring this one, the whole collection is unique in its own way.

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.

Bhrantibilas

It had been qutie some time that I again watched the Bengali classic based on the story written by Shri Iswarchandra Vidyasagar, an adaptation of Shakespeare's "Comedy of Errors". Though a very old movie but this classic piece of art can be relished again and again without getting bored. The main caste includes Uttam Kumar and Bhanu, each doing a double role and Sabitri and Sandhya Roy.
The story is about a family having twin sons both to the master and to the servant. In their childhood, the twins were detached from each other during a great flood where the boat containing the master with one of his sons and one of the servant's son was seperated from the other carrying the mother with her other son and the other son of the servant. Each of the sons became well established in life and one of them got married. His brother became a businessman. But both were unaware of the other's existence till fate brought them together in the same place. It was the businessman whose job brought him and his servant to the town where their brothers lived. Thereafter it commenced a hilarious series of misunderstandings where both sets of brothers got crazy in the muddled mix-up and the rest got annoyed in their apparent misbehaviours. In fact their nicknames being the same (Chira in the case of both the brothers Chiranjit and Chiranjib and Kinkar in case of the twin servants Bhaktikinkar and Shaktikinkar) added more laughter to the innocent comedy. These continued through the major part of the movie and ended in a happy note where the brothers were again united.
The movie illustrates the comic genius of Sabitri and Bhanu, who play their parts to perfection. Tarun Kumar is again marvelous in an important side role and Uttam Kumar is outstanding in his role as the twin brother with opposite characters.
The story, though an adaptation, but not for once does it settings seem outlandish due to its elegant 'Bengalification'. The detailing have been outstanding and the sequences were just perfect. This age old classic once again proves the proverb 'old is gold'.

One Night @ The Call Centre

Had heard about the story from the year of its release and was aware that it was a best seller till now but somehow never got the urge to read this as I am not a fan of new authors. I generally believed that the stories of current day authors lost that appealing touch as compared to the old generation. But it really pleased when I found that my line of thinking was way astray when this book was recommended to me by my cousin and I surprised myself by worming through the pages, eagerly waiting for its exciting finish.
A very unique point about the book is the author's use of different Fonts to narrate the past, present, introductions and the frequent SMS & emails. This is a new experiment in literature and I found this quite an ingenious method of story telling where the fonts have been used to categorise the different events so that the reader finds it easier to form a mindset while following the main theme of the story.
A major part of the main theme of the story is in flashback and the use of excerpts of a future chapter at the beginning of the book is also a praiseworthy approach.
The story begins with the author on a return journey to his place in a lonely train comes across a young lady in the compartment who makes a deal with the author. The deal is that the lady will recount a tale depicting the modern day youth on the condition that the author pens that as his next novel.
Her story was about 6 call centre agents and we are introduced slowly to their crooked boss, their families and you won't believe it........... their encounter with God. Yes sir, this last event has been introduced in a surprise twist where Providence directs the characters to the right path. The whole span of the story is within one night with some occassional flashbacks. We are introduced to the protagonist Shyam, living at Gurgaon who works in the call centre Connnexions. He strives to be a team leader but his boss Bakshi (with a MBA degree but with a less, if at all, managerial ability, who loves to use management jargons for as trivial issue as photocopying) never recommends him to the higher authority as he feels Shyam is yet to achieve leadership qualities. Shyam is currently engaged to another girl though the latter doesn't bring much joy to his life. Then we have Priyanka, ex-girlfriend of Shyam who breaks the relation due to some difference of opinion. Currently we find her to be engaged to be married to an NRI settled at the States. She also hopes someday that she will be able to complete BEd. Then we have Vroom, who gets his name owing to his fascination to cars & bikes. He was earlier pursuing the career of a journalist but his too much truthfulness and patriotic attitude gets him in trouble with his bosses. Currently working at Connexions, he is not very satisfied and within his heart he has a dream of a better India. We then come across Esha, who could have been a model but her height gets in the way. So she works at call centres while secretly she nurtures her dream of becoming a super model in a later period. Next is Radhika, married with her love Anuj but on the night @ the call centre she dramatically discoveres Anuj has a mistress. Then we have Military Uncle, a much older person than the other 5, who had difference of opinion with his married son and strained his relations with him while staying at the States. As each vents their frustrations and marred hopes, there comes the call from God in what can be said a dramatic situation. Not only this is a surprising twist to the story but also the surprise in the manner the story thereafter turns on. Till chapter 31 the style of the story was unique, the set was perfect, the evolution was wonderful but from chapter 32 onwards it becomes the same as a poorly directed film where the director forgets about the detailing. Thus the ending is a oversimplified one with only a slight touch of realism. The main points where it fails to impress are:

1. I can't buy the idea that all of the call centre employees and the Americal nation don't know the MSWord bug =rand(200,99)! These always keep coming from your friends thru fwd emails.
   
2. It baffles anybody of the sentence "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog"! Anybody who is a web serfer someday or the other comes across this sentence.
3. I failed to understand why in the last few pages, Shyam refuses Priyanka's proposal and minutes later he is seeing racing after her with a completely different mindset. Well a call centre agent forgetting to use a cell phone in an urgent time is quite difficult to digest.
   

As a whole this is an enjoyable read and I feel that a slightly different style of ending would have made this a better piece of art.

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.