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কন্যাডিহি
Konnadihi
200 pages, ebook
First published December 1, 2014
13 people want to read
About the author
Amar Mitra
72 books15 followersAmar Mitra (Bengali: অমর মিত্র (born 30 August 1951) is an eminent writer in Bengali living in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. A student of chemistry, he has been working for the Land Reforms Department of The Government of West Bengal. He was awarded with Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel Dhurbaputra (Bengali: ধ্রুবপুত্র) in 2006. He has also received the Bankim Puraskar from Government of West Bengal for his novel, Aswacharit (Bengali: অশ্বচরিত) in 2001, kAtha award for his short story 'Swadeshyatra' in the year 1998, Mitra O Ghosh award in the year 2010, Sharat puroskar in the year 2018 and edited the new generation Bengali Webzine Bookpocket.net and Katha Sopan, a Bengali literary Magazine. He participated in the First forum of Asian countries' writers held in Nur Sultan city, Kazakhstan in September 2019 and was present in the inaugural session presided by the hon'ble President Of Kazakhstan. Awarded with 2022 O' Henry prize for his short story, The Old man of Kusumpur (গাঁওবুড়ো). He is the first Indian language recipient of O' Henry prize for short fiction. His novel Dhapatir Char has been translated in to English and published by Penguin Random House, in their vintage section.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 1, 2016
This books is difficult to describe in one go.
Perhaps one word may help : Infinite.
History, Folktales, Mythology, Geography, Drama, Thriller, Magic Realism, Spirituality, Feminism, Humanity, this book can be categorised with so many various filters, yet none of them can define this one independently.
It's hardly 170 pages, and yet it invokes so much wonder and emotions between its rich and diverse lines. We are told about different personalities :
Chandrakanto and Gopal Laha, the two main narrators who lets us into a whirlwind of past and present. Sometimes both of them merges into each other and you are confused and bewildered, Who's who? There are stories within stories, layers within layers.
There is Hiranya Mahajan and the tale of Jahnabi, a zamnidar and how he coerces a local farmer to have his daughter as a bride. The lives and curses of local folk tales streches its boundaries and reaches heights in this part.
There is Habib, a caretaker of a dilapidated mosque and his chantings and family: his memoirs and broken life : his Jebunissa.
Then, there is this working lady, Tamali and her life as a working lady/housemaker. Her broken marriage and regrets, her lovers and husband, tale of her two daughters and a mother's wants and dreams.
There is also this sisterhood of eight women, from the time of King Pratapaditya, a Bengali emperor during Buddhist times, and their journey from their father's home to a man-made hell of prostitution. Though one of them escapes, and finds herself as an empress, but for whom, she asks? She gives away her position, willingly, making arrangements for her husbands downfall, all to get away and turn to a bhikkhuni : a monk.
There is a river in the background. Always moving in its own stillness, taking the story with it. Sometimes she merges into the personalities of the women enliving this novel. She's sometimes Tamali, sometimes Jahnobi, sometimes some girl with other name, some other times, a girl with no name.
There is rural bengal, and a modern one, and some bengal left in between, this book talks of all the persons stuck in between them. The forests and swamps, the fallen dumps of stupas, temples, chaityas, mosques and churches. Houses of farmers and zamindars, of British kothas and Corporate hotels,of jails and government offices and hospitals and dispensaries, of snow capped mountains and sea loving beach islands, of kings and beggars and the middle men, and among these all, there is/are this/these women of Kanyadihi, she : who is yellow eyed and attractive and desirable of men of all ages.
A must read!
Perhaps one word may help : Infinite.
History, Folktales, Mythology, Geography, Drama, Thriller, Magic Realism, Spirituality, Feminism, Humanity, this book can be categorised with so many various filters, yet none of them can define this one independently.
It's hardly 170 pages, and yet it invokes so much wonder and emotions between its rich and diverse lines. We are told about different personalities :
Chandrakanto and Gopal Laha, the two main narrators who lets us into a whirlwind of past and present. Sometimes both of them merges into each other and you are confused and bewildered, Who's who? There are stories within stories, layers within layers.
There is Hiranya Mahajan and the tale of Jahnabi, a zamnidar and how he coerces a local farmer to have his daughter as a bride. The lives and curses of local folk tales streches its boundaries and reaches heights in this part.
There is Habib, a caretaker of a dilapidated mosque and his chantings and family: his memoirs and broken life : his Jebunissa.
Then, there is this working lady, Tamali and her life as a working lady/housemaker. Her broken marriage and regrets, her lovers and husband, tale of her two daughters and a mother's wants and dreams.
There is also this sisterhood of eight women, from the time of King Pratapaditya, a Bengali emperor during Buddhist times, and their journey from their father's home to a man-made hell of prostitution. Though one of them escapes, and finds herself as an empress, but for whom, she asks? She gives away her position, willingly, making arrangements for her husbands downfall, all to get away and turn to a bhikkhuni : a monk.
There is a river in the background. Always moving in its own stillness, taking the story with it. Sometimes she merges into the personalities of the women enliving this novel. She's sometimes Tamali, sometimes Jahnobi, sometimes some girl with other name, some other times, a girl with no name.
There is rural bengal, and a modern one, and some bengal left in between, this book talks of all the persons stuck in between them. The forests and swamps, the fallen dumps of stupas, temples, chaityas, mosques and churches. Houses of farmers and zamindars, of British kothas and Corporate hotels,of jails and government offices and hospitals and dispensaries, of snow capped mountains and sea loving beach islands, of kings and beggars and the middle men, and among these all, there is/are this/these women of Kanyadihi, she : who is yellow eyed and attractive and desirable of men of all ages.
A must read!
May 27, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews