Nante Fante Collection IV

The collection contains chapters 10, 11, 12 though one of the strips has been juxtaposed incorrectly. The humorous exploits of the duo continues as they face Keltuda and his chums who try to provoke them unjustly. The superintendent sir also plays his part and as always remains all the more comical. The use of colloquial language increases the charm though the slang always remains well within the aesthetic limit. Proving once more that age is never a bar for this kind of entertainment the heart always longs for more for it. An interesting fact is that though the practical jokes remains the main theme of each strip but it is never indecent. Finally another important fact is that though the teachers sometimes becomes the unsuspecting targets of the jokes but they are always highlighted respectfully. With delightful cartoons the chapters will no doubt appeal to readers of all age.

Chanakya's Chant

Interspersing past with the present, Ashwin Sanghi takes the reader in his quest to understand the intricacies of Arthasastra as composed by Chanakya, the shrewd Brahmin who emerged as the most famous kingmaker in the history of India. Driven by vengeance, Chanakya’s tactics to overthrow Dhanananda, unite Bharat under a single ruler and shield the country against foreign dominance will no doubt amaze the ordinary. Drawing parallel to the historic character, Sanghi develops an equally shrewd yet unassuming Gangasagar Misra as he evolves on his way to place his protégé Chandini Gupta as the PM of India. To this effect he stops at nothing and emerges as ruthless opportunist with a political cunning surpassing all the peers of the country. Though fast paced in the first quarter, the storyline clearly becomes over dramatic in the rest where Chanakya’s part remains gripping but Gangasagar becomes ordinary characterwise. At the start I thought we now have a Mario Puzo in Sanghi but my premonition was obliterated as the story progressed. One of the most important fallacies of the fiction part was that Gangasagar’s character evolution was rapid that seemed to catapult his maturity in the most convenient time rather than what would have been correct. His mentor in diplomacy, Agrawalji seemed unjustifiably to lose his cunning as the same matured in Gangasagar. Also the dramatic dialogues, more interesting for a Bollywood endeavour, became a mere repetition of style that compromised the seriousness that the plot demanded. But the most glaring problem, which I don’t know how the writer missed, was that Gangasagar did not have a clearly justified goal in his otherwise clearly defined mission. Chanakya was motivated by revenge and then came his dream of unification of the country. Puzo’s dons aspired to rule the criminal syndicates for business and security for their family. But Gangasagar seemed all of a sudden bent to make a female PM deriving inspiration from an age old rock craving allegedly attributed to Vishnugupta. For this he never wavered to kill the innocent who seemed inconvenient obstacle and placed all the evil men in his side to rule the country (of innocent?). So though a smooth reading material but the story as a whole remains a bit ordinary.

Belashesher Kolahol

http://calcuttatube.com/belashesher-kolahol-bengali-play-user-review/197837/

Mafia Queens of Mumbai Stories of Women from the Ganglands

As I was reading through the anecdotes of the queens of the underworld, the first thing that struck me was these were the missing pieces of the puzzles that were left incomplete in the Zaidi's narrative of the male dons of Mumbai. Infact the narrative was compact and even more fast paced as compiled by Hussain Zaidi and Jane Borges. The murky lands of the underworld, traversed prominently by the masculine hand had always been guided by the feminine shadow, at least in several cases, as has been documented here. With chill running down the spine, the readers may find truth a bit more harsh and a bit more scaring than it appears. Be it the story of love and lust, crime and revenge, manipulations and politics - the ladies were in no way less scheming than the others. Plotting crimes of the deadliest kind they played their part whenever the men found the heat rising. Starting from housewives to abandoned elopers, the aspirations to rise high in crime or the desperation catapulted them in their path to the evil corners of society. Some became dangerous, some generous while for some the fate could not have been worse. But it all created a new facet of the crime world - that portrayed by shrewd ladies which challenged the security of many.

Postern of Fate

The couple that unearthed secrets of the enemy camp has now aged and wants to retire to a village life devoid of sleuthing. But mystery seems always to follow them and so does murder. Thus again the aged duo teams up with the police and the like to unearth a long lasting secret that left clues in certain particular places. Though the excitement starts early but it dampens midway, so unlike Christie novel, but the rambling of the aged couple seems sometimes too much and near the end it is not with the signature Christie twist. The mystery was woven fantastically but it seemed an abrupt way of unravelling it. Another disappointing fact was that several of their earlier exploits have been quoted here and may prove a spoiler for those who reads this before the others.

Colonel Samagra Vol XV

The omnibus edition again presents five of the Colonel's adventures unmasking the criminals of which certain are by the Colonel's own narration of events. The stories are

• Coloneler Journal Theke

As evident from the name itself it is documented  in Colonel's journal and curiously enough not so exciting a narration as compared to the more popular Jayanta's perspective. The case is mysterious but not so exciting as the plot unfolds.

• Arale Mrityur Phand

A trap is sprung in the entertainment industry and it is upto Colonel and Haldermoshai to save the innocent while Jayanta remains the witness of the adventure.

• Alexander Rahasya

Though this mutiplot story, again narrated by Colonel begins quite interestingly, but becomes very obvious before the actual climax.

•  Lalubabur Antardhyan Rahasya

Clearly the best of the collection this fast paced thriller includes Colonel, Haldermoshai and is narrated by Jayanta involving an interesting riddle that, though is not the central plot, but keeps the suspense running.

• Mukhosher Mukh

Another good short story that traps the villain in an abrupt move.

Though these mystery stories are quite good to read but a major dissapointment is the undue fast pace and the less focus on diversification of characters.

John Thorndyke's Cases

Eight curious cases each more peculiar than the preceding one but in no way less absorbing has been arranged in this compilation according to

• The Man with the Nailed Shoes
• The Stranger's Latchkey
• The Anthropologist at Large
• The Blue Sequin
• The Moabite Cipher
• The Mandarin's Pearl
• The Aluminium Dagger
• A Message from the Deep Sea

With precise methods and an eye towards detail, the forensic investigator Dr. Thorndyke solves cases that baffles the ordinary minds. Criminals are never spared and the innocent are saved as Thorndyke produces evidence that leads to the ultimate truth. Told from Dr. Jervis' perspective, the short stories are made even more realistic by H.M. Brock's fantastic drawings that breathes life to the story. But the most important facet of the writing is that, though categorised under mystery fictions, but attention is given to the way the evidences are collected and the truth is obtained. Thus analytical aspect of the stories make them league apart from ordinary medical mystery novels. The philosophy of Dr. Thorndyke, not only on the importance of evidence, but also on the way it is being sampled remains a guideline for the analytic mind. Each story, albeit a fiction, is both entertaining and intellectually satisfying.

Grandmother's Tale

The story of Grandmother's Tale, as explained in the foreward, is the borderline between fiction and biography. The novelella is about Narayan's great-grandmother Bala and her search for her errant husband Viswa who left apparently on a pilgrimage soon after their marriage at a very ripe age, as was the custom at those times. Unable to bear the burden of whispering neighbours and determined to find the husband who deserted her without any strong reason, Bala went forward all alone, emboldened only by her strong will to reconcile with Viswa. What happened next was an amazing tell of courage masked by Narayan's signature comic style as related to him by Ammani - his grandmother whose memory tried to bring back almost everything but the trifling details that makes the narrative lacking in justification at certain parts but enhances the charm in no little way and can be considered as 'grandmotheretic' (it rhymes with the word 'poetic' and I think it carries the meaning I want to emphasize) justice which every Indian is well aware of. To the fans of Narayan's works this will augment the appeal like always but the added attraction is R.K. Laxman's illustrations that again makes this priceless.

Fyatarur Kumbheepak

The hilarious magic realism contains the exploits

• Arthabhabe Fyataru
• IPLe Fyataru
• Basanta Utsabe Fyataru
• Susheel Samaje Fyataru 
• TVr Gyanjame Fyataru
• Fyatarur RDX
• 200 Bachar Pore Fyataru

It started from where it ended in Byombachak. I don’t know whether it is the fact now that I’ve been acquainted with the flying Fyatarus and their curious cases or whether it is really a bit unlike its predecessor but this compilation is less humorous. Concerning more recent events like IPL, terrorism, publicity stunts, atmospheric threats, the Fyatarus again makes the public gape in wonder at their presence and their capabilities. DS’ dim-wit and raw emotions, Purandar’s frustrations and his poems guided by Madan’s will and cunning makes the team a force to reckon with creating nuisance for the force and the so called intelligentsia. DS’ leg-pulling by Purandar gives some enjoyable moments in the book. The recurrent character Nabani Dhar and Meghuboudi reappears in the most hilarious situations as do Bajra Ghosh with his infamous novels and stories. With these again the depictions are grimly funny and immensely enjoyable.

Dongri to Dubai Six Decades of the Mumbai Mafia

A sensational insight into the underworld that evolved in Bombay and gradually raced to the international arena as been put in words by S. Hussain Zaidi, a veteran in investigative journalism in the Mumbai media. Starting with excerpt of the thrilling telephonic interview of Dawood, the book is filled with more startling revelations of the Mumbai underworld interspersing politics and entertainment. In this extensive compilation, not always followed chronologically, the chapters detail out the background of the gangs leading to the formation of the infamous D company. Not only this but the Bombay police heroics and some courageous journalism, in the midst of the maximum heat, are also being portrayed. The smuggling business etched on a path of unavoidable bloodshed, leading to terrorism at large, intertwined with international affairs has been clearly portrayed in this serious yet fast paced narrative. Augmented by several snaps of the crime lords and assassins the narrative has been made even more gripping. Personally my particular observation was the peculiar resemblance of the life in crime as detailed in this book to that depicted in Mario Puzo’s fictional Sicilian mafia novels and Francis Ford Coppola’s rendering of the Godfather saga made decades earlier, which seem to emphasize the point that beneath the glory and glamour of the underworld, their lives are always predictable. Some very clear parallel can be drawn as in Khalid Pehelwan’s inhuman revenge that can be compared with Luca Brasis’s torturous killings of assassins deployed to kill Vito Corleone. Another was the attempt at Dawood’s life with the climax of Copolla’s Godfather III.

The All Bengali Crime Detectives

The author Suparna Chatterjee, in her first endeavour in writing mystery story, has excelled herself in the sense that she has brought more than mere mystery in the novel. Heightening the charm of Calcuttans, the novel is equally a story of the people of the city as it is of crime and detection. Akhil Banerjee, a Calcutta High Court retired judge of late, finds himself entangled in a puzzling mystery of a stolen gem that was reportedly stolen under his very nose. He forms a secret club comprising of himself and three other senior citizens - the adventurous at heart, delightedly forgetful yet responsible Bibhuti Bose, the avid smoker and a good friend Chandan Mukherjee, a veteran geologist and a serious teacher Debdas Guha Ray - all determined to solve the crime that undermined their prestige. As the plot evolves, so evolves the personal lives of these four in front of the reader and it is in this stage that you will fall in love with all the characters of the story.

Realistic to the very end, the story never tries anything heroic, yet the heroism in the simple actions makes the story one of the collector's edition. Chatterjee has published the book two years back and I for one want more from her pen. The ABCD or Akhil, Bibhuti, Chandan, Debdas of the All Bengali Crime Detectives not only brings back cherished memories of the intellectual detective stories, devoid of unnecessary heroics but is also a pleasant yet clear reminder of Feluda, Topshe and Jatayu. I can also draw a parallel with Alexander McCall Smith, the way he described Botswana, in the same way Chatterjee has described, no not the city, but the citizens of the mystery capital of India. As she thoroughly completes the mystery clearing all the elements of suspicion from the reader's mind, she keeps the immediate future of several characters untold. I think this is another point where she has proved modern enough. The central plot is complete but the incompleteness of the rest nowhere keeps the story open ended but provides food for thought that makes it both enjoyable and realistic.