In Translation-Bengali
By Ismail Darbesh. Translated from the original Bengali by V. Ramaswamy
Suman Nath, Riziya, and Tahirul, are all sensitive, intelligent, and thinking individuals who are victims of the social structures that they question but fail to surpass. Religion is not a matter of spiritual sublimation, as Riziya and Suman would like to believe, or a matter of juridical authority, as Tahirul would like to believe. It is twisted and deployed for politically motivated ends by the residents of Sadnahati.
Translated from the original Bengali by Arundathi Nath
The title story, ‘The Phantom’s Howl’ is in a different sub-genre of ghostly tales. In the trope of a lost traveller being given night shelter in a haunted mansion, certain hair-raising details may be expected but here the violence is blood curdling and almost kills the protagonist. The savage ghouls, denied rightful revenge, continue their search for victims and some living beings succumb to their macabre attack.
By Sandipan Chattopadhyay. Translated from the original Bengali by Arunava Sinha
Sandipan’s roots reach into the avant-garde, cultural-literary Hungryalist Movement of Bengal initiated in the early decades of the 1960s. This was a distinct impetus to uproot conventional ways of looking at themes, especially those of love and desire. The opening story, ‘With Ruby in Diamond Harbour’, engages with Arun’s extra-marital affair summarized by himself for his wife, Ranu, whose face turns ‘pale as a seashell’, her expression frozen. Yet the one-night stint happens thereafter and ‘Ruby keeps talking.
By Bitan Chakraborty. Translated from the original Bengali by Malati Mukherjee
Like Moni in ‘The Blight’, there is Mahadeb, a coolie in the story, ‘A Day’s Work’. An ailing son, an unemployed wife, how can he provide the basic nutrition required to heal the youngster? Is a piece of fish and a handful of rice beyond his dream of possibilities?