New Avenues

The Great Unknown,the English translation of Sankar’s debut novel Kata Ajanarey was written in 1956. “Every book has its own destiny. What else one can I say. If you ask me why did it take 55 long years for the book to be translated into English,I have only one answer. My middle-class Bengali hang ups. I waited for people to approach me rather than approaching publishers,”says Sankar.

Set in Kolkata of the 1950s,the book explores the myriad moods of the city through the eyes of a villager who works as the clerk of the last English barrister in Calcutta High court. “I started writing Kata Ajanarey in Bengali shortly after the death of my employer the late Lt. Col. Noel Frederick Barwell,who was a member of the Bar of England. He breathed his last in India in 1953,” says Sankar.

The Kolkata of today is much different from the Calcutta of The Great Unknown. It’s not the commercial hub of the country as it was then,nor is it as cosmopolitan as the novel’s eclectic collection of characters suggests. Yet the writer in Sankar finds inspiration in it. “It’s just not nostalgia. Certain aspects of Kolkata remains intact. Architecturally,certain parts of Kolkata remains amazingly unchanged,” says Sankar.

Sankar hopes that the trend of translating Bengali classics into English is not just limited to his own works. “The period when I was writing these books was probably the golden age of Bengali writing. Great writers had a different view of life and self-promotion was certainly not considered in good taste. There are many writers like Shrishendu Mukhopadhyay and Tarashankar Bandyopadhyay whose works are equally relevant. Missing media-hype,I was perhaps unfortunate,but,during a very difficult period I was not denied the love,affection and support of millions of Bengali readers You won? believe,none of my 80 plus books in Bengali was launched in the way English books in India are now being put in to circulation,”laughs Sankar.

Curated For You

‘False nationalistic pride has no place in science’: Renowned mathematician Chandrashekhar Khare

He set out to build a school for his village in Madhya Pradesh. What followed: Madrasa rumours and demolition

Jana Nayagan Release Date LIVE Updates: January release for Vijay-starrer seems unlikely, Madras HC to hear matter as SC refuses to intervene