Title: Ten
Days of Strike
Author: Sandipan
Chattopadhyay
Translator: Arunava
Sinha
Publisher: Harper Perennial India (2024)
“Vanish? What was that? To make something vanish was to hide it. Like making a corpse vanish. Or stolen goods. What was it that was to be made to vanish here?”
Sandipan
Chattopadhyay (1933–2005), was one of the pioneers of modern Bengali
literature, and among the foremost fiction writers of his time. He challenged
norms and supported creative freedom, addressing class, gender, and the
absurdity of life.
In the title
story, Ten Days of the Strike, a middle-class family's struggle with a
blocked commode serves as a powerful metaphor for social decay, intertwining
the narrative with the Naxalite movement. Similarly, With Ruby in Diamond
Harbour delves into the complexities of relationships, highlighting the
protagonist’s discomfort in navigating love outside of marriage in a
conventional society.
"Calcutta hotels ask you to disclose your identity. What is the relationship between you? If I were to say, she feels the pain when I’m hurt—the other day I stubbed my toe on a brick on the road, it wasn’t I but she who exclaimed, ‘Ooh’—so that’s our relationship, that won’t do. But no questions are asked if I were to take my wife, whom I haven’t remembered to kiss in the past four years, anywhere."
The Last
Metro portrays a husband who knows about his wife's affair.
He anticipates her announcement of a new relationship. His feelings of
resignation and dread grow as he imagines receiving a wedding invitation
instead of a face-to-face conversation. This story ends with an unsettling
atmosphere. ‘It’s never a problem when things are obvious, trouble crops up
when they aren’t obvious.’
In Bijon’s
Flesh and Blood, the protagonist’s morning ritual of checking himself in
the mirror reveals his serious illness. The author's fresh metaphors, like
“awareness enveloped his breast like the dazzling afternoon light following the
rain,” enhance the emotional depth.
Chattopadhyay
opens some stories with striking lines, such as in The Revolution and
Rajmohan, where the protagonist considers suicide but hasn’t found a
revolver. This artful initiation draws readers in immediately.
Each story evokes deep emotions, except Banabehari and I and Meerabai. I struggled to connect with these characters. And, the most powerful story, Slave Man, Slave Woman, captures a haunting moment with a woman wrapped in a white shawl. The prose is rich and evocative, exploring profound observations about human connection.
Chattopadhyay’s
stories stand out for their originality and diverse narratives. Arunava
Sinha’s translation from Bengali deserves praise, for bridging languages
and cultures.
An original
voice of Indian literature. A worth-read.
About the
Author:
Sandipan
Chattopadhyay was one of the pioneers of the Hungryalist movement. His first
collection of short stories, Kritadas Kritadasi (1961), is credited with
changing the landscape of Bengali fiction and was immensely influential in
other Indian languages as well. He was awarded the 1995 Bankim Puraskar and the
2002 Sahitya Academy Award for his work.
About the
Translator:
Arunava Sinha
translates classic, modern and contemporary Bengali fiction, non-fiction and
poetry from India and Bangladesh into English. More than eighty of his
translations have been published so far across various countries, including
India, UK, USA and Australia. He teaches translation and creative writing at
Ashoka University in India, and is co-director, Ashoka Centre for Translation.
