Thakura Ghara, the Sahitya Akademi award winning book of 1976, is the fifth and the latest collection of short stories by the author. ‘God’s Apartment’ is the vantage point from which the author surveys the middle class world. Obviously a writer of the traditional school, there is a gentle irony in his delineation of events. The middle class world is devoid of any ideals and there is self-deception in all their actions. The wife embraces during love-making according to ‘Estimate’ and all relationships are without any warmth. The author has very pungently depicted the exhaustion, crisis, disaffection and aversion to ideals in the lives of his characters. He does not depend on sensationalism or close-knit plots for the effect but tries to reveal the inner consciousness of men in sensitive reaction to events and situations. It has been his object to provide tantalizing glimpses of truth rather than comfortable certainties. Irony enlivened with compassion is the dominant tone of his stories, which are expositions of the tinsel middle-class ‘virtues’ which prevent the individual from realizing himself.
Jan-Feb 1977, volume 2, No 1/2