Arghadipa Chakraborty

Fiction is always my cup of tea. I enjoy fiction reading as it expresses different perspectives of mankind and makes us mature. I have read 13 fictions throughout the last year and discussed about them below-

1. The Room on the Roof|Ruskin Bond:-

After the demise of his parents, Rusty used to live with his horrible & dominating guardian Mr. Harrison in the outskirts of Dehra. Strict as he was, he kept Rusty in the restriction not to soak into the vibes of Indian community. That’s why Rusty’s curiosity about distant people starts to grow. One day, when Rusty was returning home, an unknown boy named Somi wished to give him a lift due to the drizzle and made Rusty familiar to Ranbir and Suri. Finding something interesting in them, Rusty used to go to the chat shop of the bazar in order to meet them, enjoyed the festival of colours with Ranbir and his gang and shoved off his guardian’s house after being severely tortured by him. Somi found a job for Rusty and that is to teach  English to Kishen who is the son of Mr. Kapoor and Meena to secure the orphan’s life. Later, Rusty witnessed his love in Meena who is exceptionally beautiful and twenty years younger than Mr. Kapoor and probably was not happy with him as the lady responded to Rusty’s love. The bliss of his life didn’t last long as Meena passed away while traveling to Delhi and Kishen was taken to Haridwar by his aunt. Rusty’s friends were also not in Dehra & the hopeless boy identified life anew in the room on the roof. He decided that he would meet Kishen for the last time before going to England. Reaching there, he faced a heart breaking truth about Mr. Kapoor and Kishen. At last, Rusty realized that he & Kishen were made for each other and decided to settle with him withdrawing his plan for England.

To read the full review, click on the link👇

Book Review:- The Room on the Roof|Ruskin Bond|A Classic Coming-Of-Age Story

2. Aranyak (আরন্যক)|Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay:-

“Aranyak”- an ode of human-nature bonding.🌳👨
The protagonist of the novella, Satyacharan, becomes estate manager of the dense jungle of Vagalpur, North Bihar and his duty is to distribute the land among people for earnings. Being an urban person, Satyacharan struggles to adjust with the lonely forest life but gradually nature hypnotizes him and he can’t live without the company and serenity of forests, lake, moon-bathed field and the wild animals. Also, he finds a partner named Jugalprasad having same choices like him and they decorated the jungles by putting the seeds of unknown jungle flowers into the earth, bringing the fashionable small trees from Kolkata & some other herbs. But their beautifully decorated surreal forest have been destroyed at last due to estate managing and Satyacharan starts to suffer from guilt-feeling.

3. Into the Water|Pawla Hawkins:-

“Into the Water” is a psychological suspense novel having its backdrop in a fictional town Beckford and it is Nel Abott, who is the protagonist of the novel, succumbs mysteriously and her body is rescued from the deep water of the pool which is a special spot of Beckford. Though at first it seems that Nel has enacted suicide, the novel puts an end to something baleful.

If you want to read the full review, click on the link 👇

Book Review :- “Into the Water”। Paula Hawkins । Secrets can pull you under

4. Tungavadrar Teere (তুঙ্গভদ্রার তীরে)|Swaradindu Bandopadhyay:-

‘বিজয়নগরের গৌরবময় স্মৃতি হয়তো মুছে যাবে মানুষের মন থেকে,মুছে যাবে আগামীর পদচিহ্নে…….
তবু কোনো এক স্তব্ধ সন্ধ্যায়, যদি তুঙ্গভদ্রার তীরে এসে  দাঁড়ানোর অবকাশ পাওয়া যায়,
শোনা যাবে সে কথা বলছে,
নিচু স্বরে, কানে কানে শোনাচ্ছে তার স্মৃতিকথা …..
কত নাম — দেবরায় ,অর্জুন, কুমার কম্পন ,বিদ্যুৎমালা ,মনিকঙ্গনা …….
কত কুটিল রহস্য,কত বীরত্বের কাহিনী, কত কৃতঘ্নতা,বিশ্বাসঘাতকতা,প্রেম, বিদ্বেষ,জন্ম-মৃত্যুর বৃত্যান্ত, যা বিন্দুমাত্রও বিস্মৃত হয়নি……
স্রোতোস্বিনী তুঙ্গভদ্রা।’

“Tungovodrar Teere”(তুঙ্গভদ্রার তীরে) is a historical novel written by Swaradindu Bandopadhyay and this is the first historical novel I have ever read. This novel is centered around the Tungovodra river and Vijaynagar which is called Hampi nowadays. It tells an ode of a royal family, love, treachery, relationship, hatred, birth and death and has been a masterpiece of bengali literature.

5. Delhi is not Far|Ruskin Bond:-

It tells the story of the struggling writer,Arun who writes cheap thriller novels and nourishes the dream of writing a blockbuster one day. He lacks the wish to write the bouring examination guides which are sold like hotcakes.
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The other characters, such as, the barber Deepchand, the rickshaw-wala Pitamber & the junk shop aspirer Aziz dream to provide their works a great destiny in the nasty by-lanes of Delhi’s Chandni Chowk. The narrator himself wants to go to Delhi in search of a established publication though his two close people- Suraj, the orphan child and Kamala, the young prostitute are not capable of visiting Delhi due to obvious reasons.
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The readers will easily understand that Ruskin Bond has actually portrayed his own journey as a writer through the fictional character Arun.
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In the end, I shall highly recommend “Delhi is not Far” to those who belong to small towns like Pipalnagar where all the above characters live and to the people who appreciate & enjoy the small-town life and lazy & laid back read without questioning the plot or the lack of it.

6. Putulnacher Itikotha (পুতুলনাচের ইতিকথা)|Manik Bandopadhyay:-

“Putulnacher Itikotha”(পুতুলনাচের ইতিকথা) is a luminary written by Manik Bandopadhyay in the field of Bengali literature. Actually, man’s life is a theatre and at every stage of life, he becomes the butt of puppet-show. Does he know who egg on him to dance like a puppet, at all? Does he want to break the knot in spite of knowing or want to spend his life just like a puppet in the theatre of life? Manik Bandopadhyay has said the story of puppet-show, which daily occurs in man’s life, in his “Putulnacher Itikotha”.
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The background of the novel is in a village named Gaondiya but for the need of the story, the writer has sent the characters in several places. The protagonist of the novel, Sashi, is the son of Gaondiya. He went to Kolkata to become a doctor and there he witnessed the glorious side of lifestyle, which is completely different from his birth place. Though he came back Gaondiya due to the lure of his root, he was offen suffering from confusion of chosing the place where he should live. Perhaps, Kusum and Moti were the hidden reason as Sashi prefers Gaondiya for living and work. At last, Sashi loses both these women for the irony of fate. The readers comes to know that his negligence, confusion, lack of seriousness towards the relationships are the creator of his fate. Sashi decided to leave the village forever but that too was not occurred for some obvious reasons.
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At the end of the novel, the readers will think deeply for sure that we all are bound to participate in the puppet-show in the theatre of our lives. There is no escape! We are just puppets of the hands of fate.

If you want to read the full review, click on the link 👇

Book Review:Putulnacher Itikotha (পুতুলনাচের ইতিকথা)|Manik Bandopadhyay

7. Tumi Sandhyaro Megh (তুমি সন্ধ্যার মেঘ)|Swaradindu Bandopadhyay:-

In the context of writing historical novels, Swaradindu Bandopadhyay has said that his writing is not fictionalized history; rather it is historical fiction.
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“Tumi Sandhyaro Megh”(তুমি সন্ধ্যার মেঘ) bears a special character named Atish Dipankar in it. He was Buddhist theologian and an influential person of 11th century.
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“সেদিন ভারতের নাট্যমঞ্চে যে কৌতুকনাট্যের অভিনয় হইয়াছিল, যে নটনটীরা অভিনয় করিয়াছিল, তাহারা সন্ধ্যার রাঙা মেঘের মত শূন্যে মিলাইয়া গিয়াছে। কোথায় যৌবনশ্রী, কোথায় বিগ্রহপাল? সেদিন ধীরে ধীরে নাট্যমঞ্চের উপর মহাকালের কৃষ্ণ যবনিকা নামিয়া আসিয়াছিল, প্রদীপ নিভিয়া গিয়াছিল।
তারপর রঙ্গমঞ্চ যুগান্তকাল ধরিয়া তিমিরাবৃত ছিল। নৃত্য, গীত, হাস্য, কৌতুক মূক হইয়া গিয়াছিল। মানুষ চামচিকার মত অন্ধকারে বাঁচিয়া ছিলো।
নয়শত বর্ষ পরে আবার সেই রঙ্গমঞ্চে একটি একটি করিয়া দ্বীপ জ্বলিয়া উঠিতেছে, কালের কৃষ্ণ যবনিকা সরিয়া যাইতেছে। এবার এই পুরাতন রঙ্গমঞ্চে জানি না কোন্ মহা নাটকের অভিনয় হইবে!”

8. Meghmollar (মেঘমল্লার)|Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay:-

“Meghmollar”(“মেঘমল্লার”)- an ode of a devotee of music and his devotion, dedication and reverence towards devi Swaraswati. Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay has added some extra bliss by adding his description of nature to the exclusive storyline.
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Pradyumna,an expert of meghmollar (a special skill of music) goes to a temple named Dash-Paramita (দশ-পারমিতার মন্দির) to converse with Surdas pandit whom he wants to get as his guru in order to elevate his skill of meghmollar. The person tells him to perform a penance by playing meghmollar in his flute sitting on a particular hillock which is situated on the Vadrabati river and tells him a unique yet secret story of how a devotee impressed the goddess in such a way and excelled at meghmollar. Pradyumna performs according to the man and and has a glance of devi Swaraswati. Unfortunately, he later comes to know that he has committed a blunder and that person was not Surdas pandit; rather he was Gunadhya, a performer of Tantrism. At last, Pradyumna turns to be a lifeless stone as he is suffering from his conscience and wants to make free the devi from the grapple of Gunadhya because this is the only option.
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Thus, the story comes to an end with the heart breaking negative connotation of the readers.

9. Prothom Alo (প্রথম আলো)|Sunil Gangopadhyay

Sunil Gangopadhyay encompasses the eminent personalities of 19th century such as Rabindranath Tagore, his sister-in-law Kadambari, Vivekananda, Ramakrishna, Kesav Sen, Girish Ghosh and others including the royal family of Tripura through the historical fiction of “Prothom Alo”.

His detailing of each and every character and their surroundings, circumstances and the then society has made the historical fiction vivid and crispy.
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A few months ago, I became highly interested to know about the Jorashanko Thakurbari & googled to know the books regarding this topic and found this one among some of them.
Fantastic read indeed! Highly recommended ❤️.

10. My Father’s Trees in Dehra|Ruskin Bond:-

Here, the narrator shares his beautiful childhood memories when he visits Dehra after a long time. After his father’s death, he was sent to a boarding school & then he went to abroad for his career. His grandfather made a house in Dehra & the narrator spent many joyous afternoons with his cousins in his childhood; even he went to the jungle & river-bed with his father who used to come home on leave. Then the war was started, refugees came in Dehra in search of a safe shelter, brutal murder & the flood of blood were daily issues & his grandfather sold their house to a foreigner. Everything was messed, spoiled & destroyed. Now, standing on the opposite of that nostalgic house, the narrator thinks all those sweet & devastating incidents one after another; even he also thinks whether he will enter the house to bring back his childhood properties that he used to keep in the hole of the jackfruit tree’s bole, or not.
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The description of the beauty of Dehra is so artistically done by the narrator that the reader must be fascinated for a while & I again get the reason why I find charm in Bond’s writings.

11. Bishkanya (বিষকন্যা)|Swaradindu Bandopadhyay

“রাজ-অবরোধে এক দাসী একটি কন্যা প্রসব করিয়াছিল। অবশ্য মহারাজ চণ্ডই কন্যার পিতা; সুতরাং সভাপণ্ডিত নবজাত কন্যার কোষ্ঠী তৈয়ার করিলেন।

কোষ্ঠী পরীক্ষা করিয়া পণ্ডিত বলিলেন—শ্ৰীমন, এই কন্যা অতিশয় কুলক্ষণা, প্রিয়জনের অনিষ্টকারিণী—সাক্ষাৎ বিষকন্যা। ইহাকে বর্জন করুন।”

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Through the heart-touching writing of Swaradindu Bandopadhyay, the vital eternal truth has been established again that only love can murder the negativity. Besides this, there remains another important question that can a girl take birth as so called ‘Vish Kanya’ or circumstances bound her to be that?

12. The Cop and the Anthem|O Henry:-

“The Cop and the Anthem” is a short story written by O Henry, a precious stone in the field of English literature.
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Soapy, the protagonist of the story, wishes to go to the prison in order to get a warm bed and security of food during the extreme winter in New York as he is a refugee. He tries again and again to come within the glance of those policemen but failed.
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What happened at last with Soapy? If you eager to know, go through the intersting story.
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The writer wanted to show how irony of fate can change a whole situation and the life of a man..!!
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A great and successful short story indeed 👏. Highly recommended.!! ❤️

13. Whispering in the Dark|Ruskin Bond:-

In the short story, the author has shared his tremendous experience of a stormy night when he was bound to take shelter in an abandoned building amidst forest. After facing some supernatural issues, somehow he was able to come out of the suspicious building with his life.