Sunil Gangopadhyay Those Days

[Roy Dassow]

Thankyou for sharing your thoughts. Your comment was very informative and insightful and it made me think a lot. Maybe I should read Sei Somoy and Prothom Alo one of these days. Very fascinating to know about Sunil Gangopadhyay and his life. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Lisa. Loved your comment! Your comment about how publishers dredge out the first novel of a writer which had been rejected earlier got very good reasons, it made me laugh ? I used to read those newly discovered first novels, and they were uniformly disappointing ? I was hoping to like this book, because the description on the back cover was beautiful, but unfortunately, it was not to be. I feel sad.

I do know that feeling of choosing a book, and then it ends up on the bottom of the pile, or the back shelf, not due to lack of regard for the book. That is just the way with books if one has many. So, in my experience we think we know what the book is about, and imagine it, and look forward to reading a book, thinking that we know what to expect.

I am especially suspect about the back covers of books these days. Some vague and lofty comments, and a number of vapid quotes about how great the book is, which are supposedly written by people in the know. Writing one or a few books is a far cry from being an expert on literature!

I had started writing during my childhood and had continued to do so through my school days happily and unselfconsciously. I wrote poems, short stories and even tried my hand at a novel. But when I joined the English Honours course in college and was introduced to the academics of literature; when I learned the principles of criticism and picked up the ability to distinguish good writing from mediocre, a change came over me. I suffered from a loss of self-worth. I felt I was not and could never be a good writer. Self-criticism is good but unfortunately it worked adversely for me. I convinced myself that my work was imitative and lacking in merit. From that time onwards I stopped writing.

It happened nearly twenty- five years later. Yes, my translations came first. The cycle of negative feelings about my writing, to which I had strapped myself, broke in a miraculous way. The year was 1982. At a chamber concert of Rabindra sangeet, in which I was taking part, a Gujarati gentleman from the audience made a request. He asked if one of the participants could translate the songs that were being sung so that non-Bengalis, many of whom were present, could understand the words. Since I was teaching English in a Delhi University college at the time, all eyes turned to me. I was horrified. To be called upon to translate a literary giant like Rabindranath Tagore, that too his lyrics, without any preparation whatsoever, would have daunted anyone leave alone me with my record of diffidence and self-doubt. But to my own shock and bewilderment, I agreed. The rest is history. There was a publisher in the audience who offered to bring out a collection of Tagore songs in translation. That was my first publication. Tagore: Songs rendered into English came out in 1984. Though the publisher was practically unknown, the book created waves in literary circles. Other translations followed. Srikanta by Saratchandra Chattopadhyay and later Those days and First Light by Sunil Gangopadhyaywere published by Penguin India. I also picked up a number of awards.

It was Sunil Gangopadhyay who advised me to try my hand at creative writing. After some hesitation I did so. My first novel The Inheritors was accepted by Penguin India and published in 2004. After it was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers Prize, I found the courage to write more.

You are right. The Inheritors is a semi-fictional reconstruction of life as lived by previous generations of my paternal ancestors. Though names have been changed, many of the characters are drawn from real people. Most of the events, too, are located in family history. Not all though. Some are purely fictional. Since everything I wished to describe happened before I was born, it has all been seen through the light of the imagination.

Well, I do believe that women of the past had a lot of inherent strength. Most of them kept it hidden because that is how patriarchal society liked its women. Silence and obedience were highly rated qualities and most women abided by family and societal expectations. Some, of course, were exceptionally ahead of their times and displayed courage and independence even at the risk of upsetting the applecart. But even those who were apparently meek and subservient were seen to display enormous inner reserves of strength at a time of crisis. I have shown both kinds in my novels.

I am working on something but it is still in the initial stages. The pandemic has made travelling impossible so field work has had to be postponed. It is too early to share details and impossible to tell when the work will see the light of day.

Hi,

Welcome to my Personal Page.

This page contains all sorts of silly details about me, which may bore you to death, as well as my often-erroneous impressions of myself. Additionally, as a disclaimer, at the request of some friends, these "facts" (or the somewhat juvenile language in which they have been expressed) have not been updated since I was about 20 (so everyone can have a good laugh at my expense, I suppose!), so several of them might no longer be strictly accurate. If you want to stay in this page in spite of these warnings, be my guest. Else, if you really want to find out something worthwhile about me, my thoughts and opinions, please visit my blog.

At first sight, I would come across as a rather shy person. Then, after you get to know me a bit, I'll come across as extremely reserved and self-centred. But I don't think I'm that bad, myself. I'm nice at heart, I assure you. I like having a core group of friends, who comprise my world. If you are one of them, you will appreciate my other qualities - for example, that I am somewhat unscrupulous and always ready to bend laws/rules a bit to accomodate myself/ my friends, I lack seriousness in almost every aspect of life, a pint or two always cheers me up, however bleak the circumstances, and so on. You can also care to have a look at my tastes....

There used to be a time when I received heavy tellings-off from my Mom almost everyday for "wasting" an indecent amount of time on storybooks. I've even got caught (multiple times) having hid storybooks under textbooks. Sadly, those days are a thing of the past. Reading began taking a back seat during the last two years of high school, and once I lost that addiction, it never really came back. Even now, I average only one or two full books every 5-6 months. So, this section mostly deals with books I read till 2007-08.

It is very difficult for me to rate books, so instead of that, let me take up one genre at a time.

I simply love Indian mythology. Once upon a time, I knew all important mythological events by heart. Most of my knowledge has been derived from Upendrakishore Roychoudhury's works, which I have read at least 10-15 times. I took up Sanskrit as a third language at school, hoping that one day, I'll be able to read the original Sanskrit versions of Valmiki's Ramayana and Vyasa's Mahabharata. These hopes have remained unfulfilled as of now.

Next comes Tagore. Embarrassingly, I have read very little of his celebrated poetry. I plan to rectify this some day, though. His short stories fascinate me more than any of today's products, some of my favourites being Postmaster, Khokababur Protyaborton, Kabuliwala, Noshtoneer, Taser Desh, Chhuti, Guptodhon, Totakahini, Atithi, etc. His depiction of human emotions and tenderness can't but move me. Of his plays, the only one I've read in full is 'Achalayatan'. I've also been lucky enough to read his 'Jibonsmriti' in full. Apart from these, excerpts from numerous plays, novels and poems have graced my school curriculum, contributing towards making my experience of vernacular literature an enjoyable one throughout.

Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay's novels are unique in the sense that in addition to painting a picture of Indian society and culture and suggesting improvements, they, especially the historical ones, bring forth a sense of adventure and thrill. I have read Durgeshnandini, Kopalkundola (my joint favourites), Krishnokanter Will, Debi Choudhurani, as well as the series of incomparable satires Komolakanter Doptor.

Sharatbabu's novels appeal to me in varying degrees at different times, mostly depending on my mood. However, as I grow more materialistic, I find myself increasingly uncomfortable with him and turning my back on the sweet stagnant world described by him. Among other Bengali novelists and short story writers, Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay is my favourite, followed by Tarashankar Bandyopadhyay. Pather Panchali and its two sequels and a few short stories like Puimacha are what I've read of Bibhutibabu's works. Among modern weepers, I rather like (if that's the word, given the usual tone of their writings) Manik Bandyopadhyay and Mahashweta Debi. By the way, the latter's late husband managed to horrify me by his vivid depiction of the famine of 1943. Yeah, you got it. Nabanno is what I have in mind here.

When you say 'humorous writings', the names of one God and four authors instantly come to my lips - Sukumar Ray, Shibram Chakraborty, Premen Mitra, Narayan Gangopadhyay and Tarapada Ray. I won't disrespect the peerless Sukumar Ray by commenting on his creations, except to say that I've been reading them ever since I learnt the Bengali script. While Shibrambabu's Harshavardhan-Govardhan, Premen Mitra's Ghonada and Narayan Gangopadhyay's Tenida have coloured my early teen years, I got permission to read Tarapada Ray much later because of his sometimes-adult sense of humour.

The concept of thrillers in Bengali literature begins with Byomkesh, followed closely by Hemen Ray's Manik-Jayanta and Bimal-Kumar. I have read some stories of each, but am nowhere close to completion. Of course, none has the same level of popularity among today's young generation as Feluda. I am no exception, having read all Feluda stories at least 5-6 times each. After Feluda came Kakababu (Sunil Gangopadhyay), Kikira (Bimal Kar), Arjun (Samaresh Majumdar), Pandab Goenda (Shashthipada Chattopadhyay), etc. At present, I follow the new instalments of Kakababu, Mitinmasi (Suchitra Bhattacharya), Dipkaku (Sukanta Gangopadhyay), etc. Thriller is probably the only genre of Bengali books with which I've been in constant touch till now.

There have been other Bengali authors and poets whose writings I've read sporadically, like Nazrul Islam, Jatindranath Sengupta, Jibonanando Das, Jaseemuddin, Syed Mujtaba Ali and Banaphool. I intend to finish them when I have the time and motivation to become a voracious reader once again.

In English literature, Romantic poetry attracts me like nothing else. I have resolved to read the whole of the 'Lyrical Ballads' some time. Keats' Odes, whatever little I understand of them, are also a treat. Other poets whom I adore include H.W. Longfellow, Robert Browning, etc. Longfellows poems, I don't know why, irresistibly remind me of my childhood and nursery days. I read the works of the war poets Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen for the first time in my eleventh class and was immediately impressed by this contrary viewpoint towards war.

I haven't read many classics in English; however, I can think of a few which have left longlastling impressions on me, like 'Robinson Crusoe', 'Uncle Tom's Cabin', 'Gone with the Wind', 'Wuthering Heights' and a few others.

Author-wise, I love P.G. Wodehouse and the funny little idiosyncracies of the Victorian Englishman that he portrays. Dickens and Blyton are also there, of course - who doesn't love them?

Now for crime thrillers, which actually signalled my proper entry into English literature outside the school curriculum. I started reading books with slightly advanced English usage with the Hardy Boys in 2000. Since then, the great Sherlock Holmes has blessed me with his company, as have Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, etc.

Finally, though I mostly detest fantasy, Harry Potter holds a curious appeal for me, probably because I could so easily identify my own high school days with it.

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