This is a ‘novel for adolescents’, a thing that is hard to define. But the necessary condition for an adult writing a ‘novel for the adolescents’ is that the writer must return to her own adolescence, because years of growing up alter the life of the writer significantly as compared to the life projected in the story. Yet, the writer retains a flow of perspective on the world and life, and on the philosophical outlook. For Jaya Mitra, the foundation for the flow is ‘Bhalobasa’ (love)—love for the environs and surroundings. This novel is a piece from the journey that this love entails. Similar such love abounds in other works by her too, especially in the works for children.
November 2022, volume 46, No 11