Review in The Hindu
A new translation of
the iconic piece of Bengali literature by Kaliprasanna Sinha is as much a
revelation as the original. Nidhi Dugar Kundalia.
Move back the clock to the time when Calcutta was a city like no
other. On its fringes were miles and miles of hamlets and rivulets. A massive
vitalised city of endless possibilities. Brimming with people, offering new
scopes and opportunities; where risks could be taken and not be mistaken for
brazenness.Those were the times that seemed on most occasions, a chaotic
merger of too many eras; old and new, ever-changing, yet custom bound.
Calcutta, in those times, cradled a world of its own and it needed to be
understood.The decadent babu -like characters, the moral infection
that plagued the society and the Indigo revolt of 1860 mentioned in the book
find an eerie resonance in today’s times. In the Government buildings being
painted white and blue, in freedom of speech being abused, and in the common
man becoming an easy stepping stone for vote bank politics. Just that it was
Calcutta then. It is Kolkata now.
Read full review at http://www.thehindu.com/books/the-night-owls-view-of-calcutta/article4273048.ece
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