Author: Rabindranath Tagore
Translator(s)/ Editors(s): Sipra Bhattacharya
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Year: 2009
Language: English
Pages: 384
ISBN/UPC (if available): 9788172237882
Description
A teenage boy wanders from village to village until a little girl ties down his free spirit, a wife writes a letter for the first time to her husband of fifteen years, telling him why she must leave him, and an old man attempts to reconcile his rich heritage with his impoverished life…
This fascinating collection from one of India’s greatest writers explores the myriad shades of life in nineteenth century Bengal. It transports the reader to a world where patriarchy and strict social norms still ruled, and women struggled to find a place for themselves. But as these stories show, it was also a world in transition, from the rural to the urban, from stagnant traditions to the joys of individual freedom.
These new translations by Sipra Bhattacharya retain the spirit and flavour of the original tales even as they recreate the timeless world of Tagore.
Contents
1. Introduction
2. The Bathing Ghat’s Tale
3. The Highway’s Tale
4. The Return of Khokababu
5. The Skeleton
6. One Night
7. The Living and the Dead
8. Kabuliwala
9. An Old, Old Story
10. The Nuisance
11. Didi
12. Giribala and Gopinath
13. Grandfather
14. Hungry Stones
15. The Wanderer
16. The Detective
17. Manihara
18. The Girl Next Door
19. The Broken Nest
20. Pride Destroyed
21. The Haldar Family
22. A Wife’s Letter
23. House Number One
24. Matchmaking
25. Balai
26. The Scandal
27. P.S. An Interview with Rabindranath Tagore