Category Archives: Bengal

Translated poetry: JUST FOR YOU, Nirmalendu Goon শুধু তোমার জন্য, নির্মলেন্দু গুণ

Posted on July 21, 2017 by

JUST FOR YOU My God knows, how often I have pulled back Just as I was about to touch you. My God knows, how often I have held my tongue Just as I was about to tell you of my … Continue reading →

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Aranyak: Jugal Prasad, the plantsman

Posted on February 1, 2017 by

I came across an unusual person one afternoon by the banks of the lake known as Saraswati Kundi. I was riding slowly past its edge on my way back from the survey camp one day when I saw a man … Continue reading →

Posted in A Good Thing, Bengal, Bibhuti Bhushan Bandopadhyay, Books, Calcutta, Garden, Translated Fiction | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Reading Aranyak to my mother

Posted on January 27, 2017 by

I have been reading Aranyak for my mother while my father dozes intermittently beside her. He does not hear me at all so there is little risk of him waking up. She does not read at night, her cataracts are … Continue reading →

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Explanare, if you please; ‘Splanade, if you must!

Posted on October 17, 2016 by

One of the earliest memories I have of Calcutta is of my aunt coming back from her classes at Scottish Church College. It must have been from her that I first heard the word Esplanade. For a nine year old, … Continue reading →

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Daryar Panch Pir

Posted on October 1, 2016 by

Dariyar Panch Pir, Badr, Badr! Anyone who has read stories about the boatmen of Bengal will remember the invocation they call out to the five Pirs to protect them against stormy weather as well as Portuguese and Arakan pirates from … Continue reading →

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Flowers and Flower Gardens: Instructions for the Anglo-Indian Flower Garden

Posted on September 18, 2016 by

“But it is not until he arrives at a bend of the river called Garden Reach, where the City of Palaces first opens on the view, that the stranger has a full sense of the value of our possessions in … Continue reading →

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Deshe Bideshe/Home and Abroad by Syed Mujtaba Ali

Posted on September 16, 2016 by

“He asked me whether I knew anyone in Peshawar or if I would go to a hotel. I said, ‘An acquaintance of a friend is coming to the station, but I have never seen him before and am a little … Continue reading →

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Manusher Ghorbari: Atin Bandopadhyay

Posted on September 3, 2016 by

“After we had been without food the whole day, my younger brother Piloo came back with news of a network of cucumber vines on a trellis beside a house. He took me to the place in the afternoon and showed … Continue reading →

Posted in Bengal, Calcutta, Food, History, Translated Fiction | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Today is not Calcutta’s birthday, thank you.

Posted on August 25, 2016 by

According to the High Court and a panel of eminent historians in 2003, this is not the day that Calcutta was founded by Job Charnock, that sullen Lancastrian who was disliked by his peers but so appreciated as an honest … Continue reading →

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বরং/ Borong/ The Alternative: Premendra Mitra

Posted on August 2, 2016 by

বরং প্রেমেন্দ্র মিত্র কোথায় যাব ভেবেছিলাম হয়নি যাওয়া। বন্ধ ঘরের সার্সি কাঁপায় দমকা হাওয়া। কাঁপাক, তবু ঘরেই আছি। ভাবনাগুলোর পোকা বাছি, জ্বালায় যখন, তাড়াই মাছি, ঠিক জেনেছি, চক্ষু দুটি ঢাকলে পরেই ফুরোয় চাওয়া। শিখেছি তো যেদিকে রোদ সেদিক ঘেঁষেই বাড়তে, … Continue reading →

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