topics: |  fiction | bengali | children

a series of outlandish events keeps the plot churning while a cast of amazing characters is delineated in fascinating detail.

 * duHkhaharaNbAbu the teacher who can't teach
   except when squatting on his heels.  if he has
   to sit with decorum (i.e. normally on a chair),
   then he forgets his enormous (but bookish)
   knowledge.

 * ganesh ghoshAl, music teacher: frequently
   attempts to commit suicide.  rAkhobAbu, the boss
   of the house, eventually orders him to arrange
   for his own rope when the intention strikes him,
   and not to use the rope with which the cow
   "haricane" is tied up.

 * hAriken : cow with a temper, butts everyone

 * AdyAshakti debyA: rAkhobAbu's aunt (pishimA),
   widowed at an early age, has achieved tremendous
   "power" through long penances.

	walks with a limp, but keeps a tight check on any kind of contamination
   	entering the house.  is particularly worried about cats dogs or
   	kAkpakShI (crows etc) corrupting things - goes around with a lAThi and
   	a gulti (slingshot) on which she has a formiable aim.  after many a
   	'rAmThyAngAni', most such pests simply avoid the house.  when the
   	police invade the house, she tries to fight them off with her 
   	gulti.

 * bhajabAbu (mejakAku) - maestro at shopping.  every purchase is a mini
   drama.  he's actually the leader of the theater group.  ends up leading
   the dacoits in a "directional" role.

 * shrutidhar ghoSh : neighbour.  ideas come to him constantly, but the
   words are just out of reach.  e.g. seeing gobar, he is reminded of
   something, but it doesn't come (turns out to be lyAje gobare).

	another time, he tells duHkhabAbu, who is suffering from stomachache:
	     "i know three great remedies for stomach pain."
	d (with great interest): what are they?
	sg (thinks): one is - ummm - i mean - umm - that is...
	rkh: the other two?
	sg: the second is - you know - i mean - that!! and the third - i've
		forgotten.  23-24

 * rAm khilAon - general factotum, old man, half blind, self-appointed
   garden worker.
   once, rAkhobAbu finds him carrying in some grass, pea-pods, and a carrot.

   rkh: what are you doing, rAmu?
   rm (with big grin): grandma sent me to get some cilantro, green chilly
	and radish.
   rkh: stupid! how many times have i told you to get that cataract
	operated.  just won't listen.  will get you admitted today itself!!
	13

others in the cast include nishi dArogA the kAli-bhakta, kAnAi the
fishmonger who's a dacoit on the side, satish bharadvAj the priest who
keeps two pet ghosts and hears pure sanskrit in the utterances of a crow -
each character is drawn crisply and intimately.

the language too is fantastic, such as the poem that bhajabAbu sings as he
is leading the dacoits, or the semi-gibberish spoken by the rAjA (below).
the language also breaks many norms and uses colloquialisms, even in the
authorial voice, e.g. "bhay khAoyA", "Ding mere mere ghoren"...

but unlike other stories in the "adbhUt" series, there is no supernatural
element, unless you consider chhoTokAku hArAdhan's extraordinary "science"
experiments to be magical...

an utterly gyAnjAkhuRi tale of swashbuckling adventure that keeps turning
pages like a cross between treasure island and a marquez novel.

unfortunately this Ananda publishers edition is very poorly edited. there are
numerous typos, which increase in frequency as the book progresses.  p.77
ends with an unfinished sentence and the next page begins rather abruptly so
one wonders if a whole paragraph or more may be missing...

committing suicide

everything should be done with adequate thought.  there is a calculation
even for committing suicide.  don't say i didn't tell you.  why, the other
day, paTeshwar ojhA went to put his neck on the rail line after a fight
with his wife.  he goes off at night and lies on the line, but the dratted
train doesn't come.  i mean, the train won't come early out of courtesy for
paTeshwar, will it - it has its own time.  so anyhow, there's paTeshwar,
waiting and waiting, and then he falls asleep with his head on the rails.
in the morning the train gets there, but the driver sees paTeshwar from far
and stops the engine and blows the whistle cooo...  that wakes up paTeshwar
who sits up and immediately thinks, thank god, this business of dying is
over.  not too much pain either!  and then he touches his neck and sees
that it's intact - maybe this is how death is, your severed neck gets
connected back.  meanwhile, the engine driver comes up and starts abusing
and beating up paTeshwar: idiot - you think the rail-lines are for your
lordship to bluster around?  mAmdogirir jAygA?  well, as a result of that
beating, pAteshwar was fifteen days in hospital.  so you see, as a result
of the miscalculation, he couldn't die, and what's worse, he had to even
stay in the hospital.
	- duHkhaharaNbAbu to gaNeshbAbu, about his attempted suicide.

English translations

duHkhaharaNbAbu personifies the comic aspect of the indian experience with
english education.  he is very taken with dictionaries and translations.
in the book, english translations provide frequent comic relief.

while rAkhobAbu is in the room, duHkhaharaNbAbu has to sit properly, so he
mis-translates
        'takhan halghar bhariyA giyAchhe' [by then the hall had filled up]
as
	'by then the hall room was fulfilled'

rAkhobAbu politely interjects that this does not "sound pleasant", perhaps
it could be rephrased.  at this, duHkhaharaNbAbu panics and quickly
suggests and even more complex translation:
	'the hall's fulfillment was achieved by then.' 11

lyAje gobare: tail in cowdung and cowdung in tail

at one point, the kids throw duHkhaharaNbAbu into a tizzy by asking him the
English for "ThAkurjhi".

incidentally, the title phrase 'manojder adbhut bARi' is quite a challenge to
translate compactly - "manoj's strange house" misses the plurality and
homeliness of "manojder", while "the astonishing house of manoj and family"
is too verbose. perhaps bARi is best translated in its "family" connotation :
"manoj's strange family".

[about adyashakti]
binA chashmAy khnude khnude akShar dibya paRe JAcchen ei aShTAshi bayaseo 94
	easily reads all the fine print without glasses, even at 88!

AhAmmak mashAgulo to pistaler marma bojhe nA Je bhay pAbe 108
	those godforsaken mosquitoes - what would then know of a pistol to
	get scared? 

when the police circle the house, ganesh bAbu attempts to escape, with his
tAnpurA.  he is forced to put his hands up, along with tAnpurA.

later, nishi-dArogA asks - 'tAnpurA niye jAchchhilen kothAy?'

ganeshbAbu doesn't mention his escape intentions.  "nowhere in particular.
just was going for a stroll that's all"

dArogA: with a tAnpurA?  123

invented language

rAjAmashai is confronted by the dacoits.
dacoits: where are the keys?
rAja: tAtirAtAchi gAma hanDurAs
dacoit: what's that?
r: gimi gaRgaRi kerosin bom
dacoits try to figure the language
r: gamesi gadAdhar bhAgbhAg fungkAsun
[they take away his keys]
r: samsAdighi Tak dai hAmla khAmlA 143

--

dhobipAT pnyAch: wrestling hold similar to how a dhobi holds a cloth he is
beating. 74

DAl feTAno
mAlA TapkAcche 89