Kolaboti Samagra

Containing six of the heart touching stories of Kalaboti the pieces defy time and will be immensely enjoyed by all ages. With a mix of fun devoid of malice, tragedy that will moisten the eyes, romance that is enjoyably sublime, thrill that touches the correct chords, drama that is literal as well as metaphorical, truth that is bitter yet real, the pieces are arranged as

• Kolabotir Dekha Shona
• Bhuter Basae Kolaboti
• Kolaboti o Khaeri
• Kolaboti, Apur Ma o Panchu
• Kolaboti o Millenium Match
• Kolabotir Shaktishel

The stories stylishly mixes tradition such that it salutes heritage yet never screams of obsessive propaganda. Moti Nandi without cricket is a rarity and obviously enough the sport is central to two of the pieces but surprisingly there is another one that takes on football as a subject. Blended with all the emotions of a healthy family the bubbly Kolaboti with her uncle Satyashekar with a heart as large as his soul and apetite, the dignified grandpa Rajshekhar, the strict guardian cum caring teacher Malaya, the rustic Apur Ma with a heart so brave and cooking so perfect, Murari who can be considered a Bengali butler, the arch rival cum family friend Harishankar and a host of other allies will freshen the heart and refresh the spirit.

Kolabotir Dekha Shona

Kolaboti, nearing the horizon of her school life, aspires to become asports journalist With recommendation from his grandfather she joins the bengali daily Bangabanee as a trainee apprentice and starts on her course of collecting news from the local matches. But what she collects not only surprises her but she is shocked to see that many a talent is suppressed in fixed matches, points are shared without a single ball being played. She also gets to interview an ambitious family hell bent on making a millionaire player out of their little daughter by feeding her tennis day and night. The final shock comes when he finds a man of the age of his grandpa, falsifies a claim of an athletic feat that is forty years old just out of pride. Her shock is also two pronged when she finds her reportage on what she sees is either cancelled on the pretext of its length or is forced to be withdrawn from sources out of her control. But her belief in men is restored by a curious turn of events where though she plays a bit too rough but finds the true sportsman who keeps at stake every little thing he owns for the truth that he seeks to restore respect for the deserving though forgotten master.
With freshness of the youth the narrative is another classic that will remain enjoyable to readers of all ages. With his signature style of humour weaved in the proper places, the author makes the protagonist an established character for a sports series.

Kolaboti, Apur Ma o Panchu

This is during the schooldays of Kalabati when she is growing up amid the loving ambience od his granddad, Rajsekhar Sinha, the food loving barrister uncle, Satyasekhar, the caring Apur Ma and the rest of the household of the Sinha family of Atghora amid the occassional amusing conflict with the Bakdighi family which is incidentally home to Malaya who is the teacher of the same school where Kalabati studies. It all starts with Apur Ma making up her mind to prepare bori after Kalabati praises the dishes that she tasted from her friend at school. But the preparation involved a crucial step of guarding the bori as they dried in the open sun against the attacks of crows. So Apur Ma thought of procuring a catapult for the purpose. Meanwhile there comes Panchu, a stray monkey left lonely by the demise of his master, whom Kalabati picks up from the street deciding to keep him. Thus the days go on at a gentle pace in the household. But then comes crisis in the form of three dacoits who breaks into the house while fleeing from the public. How the inhabitants deals with the situation forms the crux of the theme and the readers will suddenly find the pace accelerating. But throughout the story, the various subplots will keep the readers smiling. The signature Moti Nandi, with his crisp storytelling, seems always to excel himself while relating adventures of Kalabati and this is also another of those.

Kolaboti

Kolabotoi had been the protagonist in several of Moti Nandi's materpieces but as far as I remember and believe, those are mainly sports oriented. But this is just awesome in the way Kolaboti and her family are introduced. The grave yet loving grandfather Rajshekhar, his son, the soft hearted still bachelor lawyer and a gourmet Satyashekhar, the fun loving college goer Kolaboti with her cricketing skills, all combined, presents episodes of comic and thrill that overcomes the tragedies of life and takes on life with the same sporting style of the noble game of traditional cricket. Also, belonging chiefly to the category of book for the young it borders on the young adult category where a sublime touch of romance makes it a fascinating read for all ages. Refraining myself from telling more lest it turns to a spoiler my suggestion to the readers is to breeze along this easy paced piece to enjoy the beauty of life spent sportingly with style.