Translating literature from a bhasha/regional language into English or any other target language is always a daunting task for the translator. Alongside the actual story and its characters, the skill of bringing alive the cultural nuances, the ambience and the environment is a remarkable talent. Alka and Other Stories by Goutam Das is a compilation of fifteen short narratives that succinctly capture the philosophy of everyday living. Sensitively told and compellingly structured, the stories depict middle- and lower middle class life in Kolkata and mostly rural and semi-urban small-town Bengal.
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