Aghari Atmar Kahini

by Syed Abdul Malik

অঘৰী আত্মাৰ কাহিনী (The Story of a Bohemian Soul), Akademi award winning Assamese novel by Syed Abdul Malik.

160 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1969

About the author

Syed Abdul Malik (1919-2000) was an uncrowned emperor of Assamese literature. He started his literary career in the early forties and enriched Assamese literature with short stories, novels, poetry and other writings spanning over five decades. In terms of statistics of fictional work, Syed Abdul Malik was unrivalled. No other writer has contributed so extensively towards the growth of Assamese literature as he did. Malik’s contribution to Assamese literature, particularly in the sphere of novel and short story, is indeed noteworthy. He is a distinguished writer among the fiction writes of the pre as well as post world war period who have successfully depicted the problems of man and the society.

Reviews

[Tanvi Hussain · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book also came to my knowledge from the repeated questions in competitive exams. This is the tenth literary work in the Assamese language to be awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1972. Aghari Atmar Kahini (অঘৰী আত্মাৰ কাহিনী) was written by Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri Syed Abdul Malik (চৈয়দ আব্দুল মালিক) in 1969. I'm glad that I picked up this book from Assam Book Fair 2022-23. When I was reading the novel I was taken by amazement and surprise at the plot, the plotting of characters, twists and bends in the story and the arrangement of the whole plot. The story is so absorbing, moving, poignant and meticulously told. I'm more than proud of the rich literature of my soil that back then we had such progressive writers and thinkers who have portrayed society, its citizens in their good and bad aspects and handed over to people the not widely talked about evils, demons, exploitation of the society and put before them a moral guide for broadening the horizon of acceptance and understanding. Coincidentally I started reading this book on January 15, 2023 to mark the onset of the Assamese month 'Magh' and today after I've finished reading the book and surfed a little about the decorated writer and novelist, I found out that January 15 (1919) happens to be the great soul's birthday.

[Abhinab Shyam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aghari aatma kahini start with the intro of a business man Sasanka, who meets up his childhood friend Niranjan and his wife Aprajita after a long time.

During Sasanka's stay the characters reveal their innermost secrets, guilts, love, sadness and the plot unfurls leaving the reader engrossed.

It's a short read, Recommended! PDF also available.