Book description
Calcutta, 1924. In the vibrant world of Bengali theatre, Sisirkumar
Bhaduri, a young man of talent and vision, is king. A brilliant
performer, he is loved and respected by his peers, adored by spectators
and acknowledged as a master by Rabindranath Tagore himself. Yet,
Sisirkumar remains passionately committed to a singular dream: to steer
his audience away from the raucous melodrama that has come to be called
entertainment toward an evolved enjoyment of stage performance. This
searing novel brings to life Sisirkumar's relentless efforts to free the
stage of Western influences and mediocrity; his frustration and
disillusionment with apathetic patrons and obdurate audiences; his
ruinous weakness for alcohol; and the impossible ideals that alienated
him from his closest friends and the women in his life. This translation
of Sunil Gangopadhyay's spirited recreation of the tumultuous life of a
remarkable man and a defining era in the history of Indian theatre is a
tribute to the might and resilience of the creative spirit.' Poet,
novelist, playwright and children's writer, Sunil Gangopadhyay
(1934-2012) was an eminent and prolific literary figure. His literary
career began in 1953 with the publication of the first issue of
Krittibas, a poetry magazine of which he was founder editor. Although a
popular writer in different genres, he always considered poetry to be
his first love. He is the author of the Sahitya Akademi Award-winning
magnum opus Sei Samay (Those Days). Pratham Alo (First Light) and
Purbo-Paschim (East-West) are his other well-known novels. He has been
awarded the Bankim Puraskar, Ananda Puraskar and Saraswati Samman
besides other awards for his literary contributions.' Swapna Dutta has
been writing, mostly for children, for the last four decades and has
more than 40 titles to her credit, including translations. She was
awarded a fellowship from the Ministry of Culture, Government of India,
for translating selected poems by twenty contemporary Bengali poets into
English. Her translations of works by Rabindranath Tagore, Premchand,
Parashuram, Sunil Gangopadhyay, Ashapurna Debi, Lila Majumdar, Samaresh
Basu, Samar Sen, Shankha Ghosh, Shrikant Varma and others have been
published in literary magazines and by English-language publishers.'
