Beyond Chowringhee: Remembering Mani Shankar Mukherjee – Sankar – the man who gave voice to a working city

2. Chowringhee

Chowringhee is one of Sankar’s most popular book. (Source: amazon/AI)

Published in 1962, this is arguably Sankar’s most popular book and a classic novel in Bengali. Set in the 1950s in a neighbourhood of Calcutta, the story spins around the guests, entertainers, and frequent visitors of the Shahjahan Hotel. The novel was made into a film in 1968 starring Uttam Kumar, and its English translation by Arunava Sinha won the Vodafone Crossword Book Award in 2007. It was also shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize in 2010.

3. Seemabaddha (Limited Company)

The film adaptation of Seemabaddha (Limited Company) features Sharmila Tagore in a lead role. (Source: amazon.in/AI)

Mentioned in his memoir as one of his bestsellers, Seemabaddha forms part of Sankar’s incredible oeuvre. The novel explores the world of corporate life and its complexities, cementing his reputation as a chronicler of people at work. The book was adapted for cinema by the iconic Satyajit Ray. The film starred  Barun Chanda, Harindranath Chattopadhyay, and Sharmila Tagore in lead roles. The film was the second entry in Ray’s Calcutta trilogy, which included Pratidwandi (The Adversary) (1970) and Jana Aranya (The Middleman) (1976)

4. Jana Aranya (The Middleman)

Jana Aranya was adapted for the cinema by Satyajit Ray. (Source via amazon/AI)

Another of his bestsellers, Jana Aranya is a powerful exploration of the moral compromises required to survive in the urban jungle. The novel was adapted by Satyajit Ray as the final part of his celebrated “Calcutta Trilogy,” showcasing the profound cinematic quality of Sankar’s storytelling.

5. Thackeray Mansion

Thackeray Mansion by Sankar is a sequel to Chowringhee. (Source via amazon.in/AI)

This novel serves as a sequel to Chowringhee, marking the third instalment in the life of the narrator, Shanker. Once again out of a job, Shanker finds work as a manager in a grand but crumbling building on Scudder Street. The novel nests stories within stories, featuring a cast of unforgettable characters, from the feisty Poppy Biswas to the mysterious Dorothy Watts, who has a love for Rabindranath Tagore.

6. Dear Reader (A Writer’s Memoir)

Eka Eka Ekashi is Sankar’s reflection on his own life. (Source via amazon.in/AI)

Originally published in Bengali as Eka Eka Ekashi, this is Sankar’s reflection on his own life. Superbly translated by Arunava Sinha, the book is a love letter to an ever-changing city and its people. He writes fondly of the women and men who shaped his youth, and of legendary literary figures who stroll in and out of famous neighbourhoods like Howrah Station and College Street. Ruskin Bond called it the work of “one of India’s finest writers.”