The Mind Creative NOV-Dec 2016

Published originally in Rhiti’s blog, ‘My Scattered Thoughts’.
Book Details
The Broken Home: English Translation of Rabindranath
Tagore’s Bengali novella ‘Nastanirh’
Translator: Lopamudra Banerjee
Published by: Finaldraft Editing and Publishing Services
Number of pages: 92 pages
Price: Rs. 200/- (Amazon India), $2.99 (Amazon.com)
Publication year: May 2016
Nashtanirh is a Bengali novella by Rabindranath Tagore set in
19 th Century Bengal which was published in 1901. There is a lot
of speculation that the story is loosely based upon Tagore’s own
relationship with Kadambari Devi, his sister –in-law (brother
Jyotirindranath’s wife) who committed suicide four months after
Tagore’s wedding to Mrinalini Devi.
It is also the basis for the brilliant film ‘Charulata’ by Satyajit
Ray which was released in 1964.
The original version is beautifully written by Gurudev, it is a
classic in Bengali literature. So when I discovered that Lopamudra
Banerjee is translating this Magnum Opus I was elated beyond
words can describe.
The plot is about how the liberal thinking ‘Bhadrolok
Bangali’ Bhupati is completely blind to his wife Charu’s loneliness
and discontent. He fails to acknowledge her feelings and
frustration. So when Amal, his cousin arrives, he incites
passionate feelings in Charu, creating turmoil in the web of
relationships between the three.
Banerjee explores the emotions tenderly, her language is
eloquent, and choice of vocabulary is fitting to the era. With any
translation there remains a risk that the translator might not be
able to evoke the sentiments which are portrayed in the original,
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