An unknown errand and a spiral voice of the Master: A story about a strange appointment by the sea
FOR THE STORY PLEASE VISIT THE SCRIBD LINK BELOW
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Jamak: A Bengali Story Written and Published in 2006
An unknown errand and a spiral voice of the Master: A story about a strange appointment by the sea
Sunday, July 15, 2012
That Boy by Sandipan Chattopadhyay
Hey, what about your parents?
No…thing.
Both dead?
Yes.
Sister?
No.
Are you all alone then?
Yes.
--- (Silence) ---
What do you do?
I beg.
How much do you get in a day?
Twenty paisa! Thirty paisa!
Does that suffice?
Yes.
What do you eat?
Almost anything.
--- (Silence) ---
What have you got today?
I did not beg today.
Why?
Did not feel like it.
Are you ill?
No.
--- (Silence) ---
This is a smart little shirt alright! Bought it yourself?
No.
Someone gave it to you?
No.
Where did you get it then?
Just got it.
Where?
From the gutter.
Oho!
--- (Silence) ---
What about this Ijer1?
My mother had given it to me.
--- (Silence) ---
Did you see your mother die?
Yes.
What happened?
Illness.
Where did she die?
There. Over there.
What’s your mother’s name?
Gouri.
Father’s?
Sarju Prasad Singh.
Have you ever seen him?
No.
Was it your mother who told you his name?
Yes.
How many years since he died?
Many.
How many?
Many years.
How old are you?
Many years.
--- (Silence) ---
Do you have any illness?
No.
Do you suffer any pain?
No.
Do you have sound sleep?
Yes.
Where do you sleep?
Here.
On that piece of cloth?
Yes.
What if it rains?
Let it.
Do you dream?
Yes.
Remember?
No.
Do you see your mother in your dreams?
Once I had seen her there.
Remember?
No.
What about your bowels?
Stiff, like goat-turds.
--- (Silence) ---
Have you heard of Jyoti Basu2?
No.
Indira Gandhi3?
No.
Shakti Chattopadhyay4?
No.
Uttamkumar5?
I do not know Uttamkumar.
Have you never watched movies?
No.
Where does the sun rise? In which direction?
Here! There! Over there! Almost everywhere!
Do you know the name of your country?
Country?
Ah! The soil you are sitting on right now!
B.T. Road6.
--- (Silence) ---
Aren’t you afraid?
No.
Not afraid of anyone?
I am afraid of the police.
You did not beg today. So, what did you eat?
That handi7…There was some curd in it.
Thrown away from the shop?
Yes.
The traces which remained?
Yes.
--- (Silence) ---
Do you know that dog?
Oh, yes-yes. He is my
dog.
Yours?
My mother brought it up.
What’s his name?
Robi. Hey, Robi…Huss…Huss.
--- (Silence) ---
What did I ask you in the beginning?
Hey, what about your parents?
One of your eyes is blood-red and all swollen up. Do you
know that?
No-no. Is it?
Did you not look at yourself in the mirror?
Yes, I did, but, that was long ago.
--- (Silence) ---
What is your name?
Ganesh.
[This is
an interview]
(Translated by Arka Chattopadhyay)
----------------------------
1. A sort of half pant.
2. Famous politician, one of the founders of
Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the
chief minister of West
Bengal (1914-2010).
3. Famous politician and the one-time prime
minister of India
4. A friend and fellow Bengali poet (1934-1995).
5. A famous hero of Bengali
language cinema (1948-1980).
6. The name of a road in
Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
7. “A deep narrow-mouthed
cooking utensil used in Indian and Pakistani cooking”—Wikipedia.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
When will the Bells Ring in the Blind School? by Sandipan Chattopadhyay
I have only one story to tell. It is only one story. I tell
all my stories with that, although that only story is simply a children’s
story.
Once upon a time, that time once, there
was a little mouse and a big, stout cat. What a long and fluffy tail he had!
One day, there he was: enjoying his nap in broad daylight with his gigantic and
hairy tail stretched across the footpath. The afternoon heat was spot on
when all of a sudden the mouse
awakened him.
Cat: What happened?
Mouse: Eat me please.
Cat (eyes closed): But I am done for the day...had enough
of it!
Mouse: But, I have come all the way only for
this!
Cat: Ah! Didn't I tell
you a moment ago I have had enough for the day?
Mouse: But, it is your job; in fact your foremost
duty to eat me!
Cat: Come later.
Mouse: Ok. Eat me later, when you like. But kill me now at least!
Cat (irritated): OK-OK. Put your
head inside my mouth. I will eat you soon enough.
The mouse did just that. The cat went back
to sleep with his mouth wide open. The mouse kept waiting and waiting and
waiting. Time passed and passed again only to re-pass a third time .Finally,
unable to keep his patience, he had to insert his tail into the cat's nose to
rouse him from his nap...once more, a second time.
Cat: Now what happened?
Mouse: When will you eat me?
Cat: Ah! Can't you see I have stretched my tail
across the footpath? I am waiting for someone to come and stamp on it. The stamping comes...I have my bite and kill at once!
Mouse: So many came and went but not a single one
to stamp!
Cat: Eh! Let's wait a bit more. Sooner or later,
someone will do the honours alright.
Mouse (screeching to himself, inside the cat’s
mouth): Everybody…everybody seems to avoid the tail. They are just stepping over it. One after the other
in an endless sequence!
Cat: Ah! Don't be so impatient. Let's keep our
fingers crossed and wait a little more. If nothing else happens, at least the school-bells will ring in a jiffy.
Mouse: School? What school?
Cat: Yes, yes. School...Can you see that
building with a huge fence over there? That is the blind-school. The bells will ring at 4-30pm and all the blind boys and girls will rush out onto the street in no time at all. One of them is very very likely to do the job for us. Until then, just keep your cool, my friend. There is no need to fret.
After uttering these words, the cat went
back to his dearest sleep, as cozy as ever with his mouth still wide agape.
Translated by Arka
Chattopadhyay
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Maid’s name is Asha by Sandipan Chattopadhyay
[O' Master by Gagan Thakur]
Many things I need everyday; many things are needed indeed.
Anger, sentiment, hunger and so on. Sometimes, I feel quite nice. Sometimes, I
feel helpless…can find no defence1. Sometimes I think, I will land
up in big trouble—nothing to be done in that case—no defence-mechanism at all.
There are other times, still other times when I think I am in big trouble. I turn my head to see if someone is coming—a
telegram of salvation or help of some other kind.
“Like a dog.”…I remain silent in sorrow and insult.
If it is not like this, i.e. what is stated above, I speak
many things; many things are needed indeed. Many things, I need, are needed. “Fetch
me a glass of water”, I say. “You have been here so long and yet if I tell you
to bring all the things from my shaving-kit, you cannot! You will either forget
the tube or the scissors. If not that, you will at least bungle the match-box
where I keep my foam.”
“Ah! If you could wash them properly and put them back to
their proper places, how good things would have been! ” I say.
Sometimes I tell her to give me a massage around my shoulder
or to go to sleep at other times.
“No…no. you are absolutely good for nothing, to me at least.
I will not keep you. So many days have passed and yet I have to say everything to you.” Fuming in anger,
I say—“You do things only when I drum them into your ears. Otherwise, you
simply remain stock-still.”
Many things I need everyday. This and that are needed. There
is hope in every demand that I will get it alright. For example, “Hey, Asha, fetch
me a glass of water” or “Asha2, the night is not that young anymore.
Come on. Go to sleep now.”
-------------------------
- The word was in English in the Bengali original.
- ‘Asha’ in Bengali
means hope. On a phonetic level it
also puns with ‘asha’, spelt with a different ‘sh’ in Bengali, which means ‘to come’. This
double-pun thus explores the connection between hope and coming. There is
a third semantic possibility in the English word ‘come’ with sexual
overtones that are implicitly present in Sandipan’s original text.
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