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The Green Men
The story that vanished into thin air...
Many years ago, when the triumphant march of science fiction in Bengali literature had just begun, the Sahityabashor programme of All India Radio featured an extraordinary story read by Satyajit Ray, Premendra Mitra, Dilip Roychowdhury, and Adrish Bardhan.
A single story. None of them revealed the entire plot to the others. Premendra Mitra began it, and Satyajit Ray ended it. Dilip Roychowdhury and Adrish Bardhan took the story forward. None of the three had told one another, or Ray, how the story should end. He composed the final episode with a combination of marvellous imaginativeness and superb craft. And he created a sensation when telling his story. With his inimitable baritone he proved that writing and narrating are not the same thing, that the written word can create a deeply resounding work of art through speech. He had asked for a glass of water to take into the studio. When the recording was complete, everyone who listened to the playback was overwhelmed.
The title of The Green Men was given by Premendra Mitra. The idea for a story with different episodes contributed by various writers was his too. The story, however, had vanished into thin air after being read on air—though the tape survives. It was published twice, in All India Radio’s Betar Jagat magazine, and subsequently in Fantastic magazine. It does not appear in any collection of stories by Satyajit Ray, Premendra Mitra, Dilip Roychowdhury, or Adrish Bardhan.
This is the first-ever English translation of "The Green Men" being published as an independent story. We thank and acknowledge Kalpabiswa for publishing the story in Bengali as "Shobuj Manush."
Many years ago, when the triumphant march of science fiction in Bengali literature had just begun, the Sahityabashor programme of All India Radio featured an extraordinary story read by Satyajit Ray, Premendra Mitra, Dilip Roychowdhury, and Adrish Bardhan.
A single story. None of them revealed the entire plot to the others. Premendra Mitra began it, and Satyajit Ray ended it. Dilip Roychowdhury and Adrish Bardhan took the story forward. None of the three had told one another, or Ray, how the story should end. He composed the final episode with a combination of marvellous imaginativeness and superb craft. And he created a sensation when telling his story. With his inimitable baritone he proved that writing and narrating are not the same thing, that the written word can create a deeply resounding work of art through speech. He had asked for a glass of water to take into the studio. When the recording was complete, everyone who listened to the playback was overwhelmed.
The title of The Green Men was given by Premendra Mitra. The idea for a story with different episodes contributed by various writers was his too. The story, however, had vanished into thin air after being read on air—though the tape survives. It was published twice, in All India Radio’s Betar Jagat magazine, and subsequently in Fantastic magazine. It does not appear in any collection of stories by Satyajit Ray, Premendra Mitra, Dilip Roychowdhury, or Adrish Bardhan.
This is the first-ever English translation of "The Green Men" being published as an independent story. We thank and acknowledge Kalpabiswa for publishing the story in Bengali as "Shobuj Manush."
74 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 2, 2021
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About the author
Satyajit Ray
673 books1,515 followersSatyajit Ray (Bengali: সত্যজিৎ রায়) was an Indian filmmaker and author of Bengali fiction and regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of world cinema. Ray was born in the city of Calcutta into a Bengali family prominent in the world of arts and literature. Starting his career as a commercial artist, Ray was drawn into independent filmmaking after meeting French filmmaker Jean Renoir and watching Vittorio De Sica's Italian neorealist 1948 film, Bicycle Thieves.
Ray directed 36 films, including feature films, documentaries and shorts. He was also a fiction writer, publisher, illustrator, calligrapher, graphic designer and film critic. He authored several short stories and novels, primarily aimed at children and adolescents.
Ray's first film, Pather Panchali (1955), won eleven international prizes, including Best Human Documentary at the Cannes Film Festival. This film, Aparajito (1956) and Apur Sansar (1959) form The Apu Trilogy. Ray did the scripting, casting, scoring, and editing, and designed his own credit titles and publicity material. Ray received many major awards in his career, including 32 Indian National Film Awards, a number of awards at international film festivals and award ceremonies, and an Academy Award in 1992. The Government of India honoured him with the Bharat Ratna in 1992.
Early Life and Background:
Ray's grandfather, Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury was a writer, illustrator, philosopher, publisher, amateur astronomer and a leader of the Brahmo Samaj, a religious and social movement in nineteenth century Bengal. Sukumar Ray, Upendrakishore's son and father of Satyajit, was a pioneering Bengali author and poet of nonsense rhyme and children's literature, an illustrator and a critic. Ray was born to Sukumar and Suprabha Ray in Calcutta.
Ray completed his B.A. (Hons.) in Economics at Presidency College of the University of Calcutta, though his interest was always in Fine Arts. In 1940, he went to study in Santiniketan where Ray came to appreciate Oriental Art. In 1949, Ray married Bijoya Das and the couple had a son, Sandip ray, who is now a famous film director.
Literary Works:
Ray created two of the most famous fictional characters ever in Bengali children's literature—Feluda, a sleuth in Holmesian tradition, and Professor Shonku, a genius scientist. Ray also wrote many short stories mostly centered on Macabre, Thriller and Paranormal which were published as collections of 12 stories. Ray wrote an autobiography about his childhood years, Jakhan Choto Chilam (1982). He also wrote essays on film, published as the collections: Our Films, Their Films (1976), Bishoy Chalachchitra (1976), and Ekei Bole Shooting (1979).
Awards, Honors and Recognitions:
Ray received many awards, including 32 National Film Awards by the Government of India. At the Moscow Film Festival in 1979, he was awarded for the contribution to cinema. At the Berlin Film Festival, he was one of only three to win the Silver Bear for Best Director more than once and holds the record for the most Golden Bear nominations, with seven. At the Venice Film Festival, he won a Golden Lion for Aparajito(1956), and awarded the Golden Lion Honorary Award in 1982. In 1992 he was posthumously awarded the Akira Kurosawa Award for Lifetime Achievement in Directing at the San Francisco International Film Festival.
Ray directed 36 films, including feature films, documentaries and shorts. He was also a fiction writer, publisher, illustrator, calligrapher, graphic designer and film critic. He authored several short stories and novels, primarily aimed at children and adolescents.
Ray's first film, Pather Panchali (1955), won eleven international prizes, including Best Human Documentary at the Cannes Film Festival. This film, Aparajito (1956) and Apur Sansar (1959) form The Apu Trilogy. Ray did the scripting, casting, scoring, and editing, and designed his own credit titles and publicity material. Ray received many major awards in his career, including 32 Indian National Film Awards, a number of awards at international film festivals and award ceremonies, and an Academy Award in 1992. The Government of India honoured him with the Bharat Ratna in 1992.
Early Life and Background:
Ray's grandfather, Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury was a writer, illustrator, philosopher, publisher, amateur astronomer and a leader of the Brahmo Samaj, a religious and social movement in nineteenth century Bengal. Sukumar Ray, Upendrakishore's son and father of Satyajit, was a pioneering Bengali author and poet of nonsense rhyme and children's literature, an illustrator and a critic. Ray was born to Sukumar and Suprabha Ray in Calcutta.
Ray completed his B.A. (Hons.) in Economics at Presidency College of the University of Calcutta, though his interest was always in Fine Arts. In 1940, he went to study in Santiniketan where Ray came to appreciate Oriental Art. In 1949, Ray married Bijoya Das and the couple had a son, Sandip ray, who is now a famous film director.
Literary Works:
Ray created two of the most famous fictional characters ever in Bengali children's literature—Feluda, a sleuth in Holmesian tradition, and Professor Shonku, a genius scientist. Ray also wrote many short stories mostly centered on Macabre, Thriller and Paranormal which were published as collections of 12 stories. Ray wrote an autobiography about his childhood years, Jakhan Choto Chilam (1982). He also wrote essays on film, published as the collections: Our Films, Their Films (1976), Bishoy Chalachchitra (1976), and Ekei Bole Shooting (1979).
Awards, Honors and Recognitions:
Ray received many awards, including 32 National Film Awards by the Government of India. At the Moscow Film Festival in 1979, he was awarded for the contribution to cinema. At the Berlin Film Festival, he was one of only three to win the Silver Bear for Best Director more than once and holds the record for the most Golden Bear nominations, with seven. At the Venice Film Festival, he won a Golden Lion for Aparajito(1956), and awarded the Golden Lion Honorary Award in 1982. In 1992 he was posthumously awarded the Akira Kurosawa Award for Lifetime Achievement in Directing at the San Francisco International Film Festival.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 30, 2021
This was adapted from a 1960s radio show by some great Bengali writers (who knew Ray could write sci-fi!). I would highly recommend it just to read about how Indian writers thought about sci-fi back then. It's also a really short book so it's a quick and fun read.
January 12, 2022
Most probably first ever Bengali sci-fi. It was absolutely engaging and really good.
November 24, 2023
A story written by the maestros of modern Bengali Literature Adrish Bardhan, Dilip Roychowdhury, Premendra Mitra and Satyajit Ray himself. It's the first Science Fiction of Bengali Literature a must read for any SF lover.
The story involves a group of Green Men(extraterrestrial beings) who disguise themselves like the human population and live amongst them. Their purpose of doing such things is total dominance maybe annihilation of the human race.
The story involves a group of Green Men(extraterrestrial beings) who disguise themselves like the human population and live amongst them. Their purpose of doing such things is total dominance maybe annihilation of the human race.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews