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This special omnibus edition brings together the three great historical novels Sunil Gangopadhyay wrote. The Bengal Renaissance forms the backdrop to the Sahitya Akademi Award-winning Those Days, in which a feudal aristocracy awakens to its social obligations. In its sequel First Light, a turn-of-the-century Bengal, led by Rabindranath Tagore and Swami Vivekananda, awakens to a new, modern sensibility. And in The Lonely Emperor, the story of India s greatest professional stage actor Sisir Bhaduri, the past gives way to the present as the country gains independence. Those Days (Sei Somoy), First Light (Prothom Alo), The Lonely Emperor (Nisshongo Samrat) Translated by Aruna Chakravarti and Sreejata Guha

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Historical fiction

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Publié par	Penguin Books Ltd
Date de parution	01 juin 2013
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9788184759983
Langue	English

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CLASSIC SUNIL GANGOPADHYAY

Those Days (Sei Somoy), First Light (Prothom Alo), The Lonely Emperor (Nisshongo Samrat)
Translated by Aruna Chakravarti and Sreejata Guha
Contents
About the Author
Those Days
Book I
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Chapter XIV
Chapter XV
Chapter XVI
Chapter XVII
Chapter XVIII
Chapter XIX
Chapter XX
Chapter XXI
Chapter XXII
Chapter XXIII
Chapter XXIV
Chapter XXV
Chapter XXVI
Chapter XXVII
Chapter XXVIII
Chapter XXIX
Chapter XXX
Chapter XXXI
Chapter XXXII
Chapter XXXIII
Chapter XXXIV
Chapter XXXV
Chapter XXXVI
Chapter XXXVII
Chapter XXXVIII
Chapter XXXIX
Chapter XL
Chapter XLI
Chapter XLII
Chapter XLIII
Chapter XLIV
Chapter XLV
Chapter XLVI
Book II
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Chapter XIV
Chapter XV
Chapter XVI
Chapter XVII
Chapter XVIII
Chapter XIX
Chapter XX
Chapter XXI
Chapter XXII
Chapter XXIII
Chapter XXIV
Chapter XXV
Chapter XXVI
Chapter XXVII
Chapter XXVIII
Chapter XXIX
Chapter XXX
Chapter XXXI
Chapter XXXII
Chapter XXXIII
Chapter XXXIV
Chapter XXXV
Chapter XXXVI
Chapter XXXVII
Chapter XXXVIII
Chapter XXXIX
Chapter XL
Chapter XLI
Chapter XLII
First Light
Book I
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Chapter XIV
Chapter XV
Chapter XVI
Chapter XVII
Chapter XVIII
Chapter XIX
Chapter XX
Chapter XXI
Chapter XXII
Chapter XXIII
Chapter XXIV
Chapter XXV
Chapter XXVI
Chapter XXVII
Chapter XXVIII
Chapter XXIX
Chapter XXX
Chapter XXXI
Chapter XXXII
Chapter XXXIII
Chapter XXXIV
Chapter XXXV
Chapter XXXVI
Chapter XXXVII
Chapter XXXVIII
Chapter XXXIX
Chapter XL
Chapter XLI
Book II
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Chapter XIV
Chapter XV
Chapter XVI
Chapter XVII
Chapter XVIII
Chapter XIX
Chapter XX
Chapter XXI
Chapter XXII
Chapter XXIII
Chapter XXIV
Chapter XXV
Chapter XXVI
Chapter XXVII
Chapter XXVIII
Chapter XXIX
Chapter XXX
Chapter XXXI
Chapter XXXII
Chapter XXXIII
Chapter XXXIV
Chapter XXXV
Chapter XXXVI
Chapter XXXVII
Chapter XXXVIII
Chapter XXXIX
Chapter XL
Chapter XLI
Chapter XLII
Chapter XLIII
Chapter XLIV
Chapter XLV
Chapter XLVI
The Lonely Emperor
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Chapter XIV
Chapter XV
Footnotes
Chapter I
Chapter III
Chapter VII
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XIV
Chapter XV
Chapter XVII
Chapter XIX
Chapter XXI
Chapter XXIV
Chapter XXVII
Chapter XXIX
Chapter XXXI
Chapter XXXV
Chapter XXXIX
Chapter XL
Chapter XLI
Chapter XLIII
Chapter XLIV
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VII
Chapter IX
Chapter XI
Chapter XXI
Chapter XXVIII
Chapter XXX
Chapter XXXII
Chapter XXXIX
Chapter XLII
Chapter XIV
Chapter XIX
Chapter XXXIV
Chapter I
Chapter X
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PENGUIN BOOKS
CLASSIC SUNIL GANGOPADHYAY
Born in 1934 in Faridpur, now in Bangladesh, Sunil Gangopadhyay came as a refugee to calcutta in 1947, following the partition of India. The family suffered extreme poverty initially and Sunil, though only in his teens, was forced to find employment. He still managed to continue his education, taking his master s degree from Calcutta university.
Sunil Gangopadhyay began his literary career as a poet, starting the epoch-making magazine, Krittibas , in 1953. storming into the field of the novel with the trendsetting Atma Prakash (1966)-a powerful portrayal of the frustration and ennui of the youth of Calcutta-he soon rose to become the leading and most popular novelist in Bengali. Sei Somoy (1982), which won him the Sahitya Akademi Award, Purba Paschim (1989) and Prothom Alo (1996) are among his best novels.
*
Aruna Chakravarti was the principal of Janki Devi Memorial College, University of Delhi, for ten years. Apart from Those Days and First Light , she has translated Saratchandra s Srikanta for penguin. Her original work includes the novels The Inheritors and Jorasanko . She is the recipient of the Vaitalik Award, the Sahitya Akademi Award and the Sarat Puraskar.
*
Sreejata Guha is a translator of Bengali fiction, mostly published by Penguin Books. She has an MA in Comparative Literature from SUNY at Stony Brook, USA. At present she is a freelance editor and also teaches at Shibumi, a school in Bangalore.
THOSE DAYS
BOOK I
Chapter I
The child was born seven months and ten days after conception. Stifling in the secret recess of his mother s womb, the little mass forged ahead, before his time, from darkness to light.
Babu Ramkamal Singha sat watching the sun setting over the Mahanadi river, when a boat came across the water, swift as an arrow, to where the bajra, a large two-storeyed boat, was anchored. His faithful gomosta, Dibakar, the steward of his household, leaped out, his face tense with anxiety, and Ramkamal s heart beat painfully fast. Bimbabati was no more! He was sure of it. Dibakar shared his fears. He had left his mistress lying unconscious, dangerously ill. Words of comfort failed him. We must leave tonight, Karta, 1 was all that he could say. Ukil 2 Babu sent me to fetch you. Tears welled out of Ramkamal s eyes. Bimbabati was the goddess of his home and hearth-the source of all his fortunes. He rose, and climbing down the steps to the chamber he shared with Kamala Sundari, he said, Everything is going with her, Kamal. Nothing in the world can give me pleasure-from this day onwards.
Kamala Sundari soothed his brow with gentle fingers. Her eyes grew moist at the thought of Bimbabati. She had seen Bimbabati bathing in the Ganga. She had gazed at her from a distance and marvelled at her beauty-as celestial and dazzling as Goddess Durga s. Kamala Sundari was not fit to be her handmaid. It was amazing that a man with a wife like Bimbabati should go to other women; should change mistresses every three years. Kamala Sundari s complexion was a polished ebony; Bimbabati s, rich cream, suffused with vermilion. Perhaps that was why Ramkamal always picked dark-skinned women for his mistresses. Men were strange creatures.
Pouring some brandy into a silver glass, she held it to his lips. Drink, she coaxed, or you ll feel weak and ill. Ramkamal pushed the glass away. I don t want anything-any more, he said fretfully. Don t bother me, Kamal. Get out of my sight.
Kamala Sundari went and stood by the window. She shook down her hair till it streamed out in the wind. Her eyes gazed out on the river, where the last flames of the setting sun licked the water with greedy tongues. This is the beginning of the end, she murmured to herself. Who knows where my fate will take me now? Ramkamal lay on his luxurious bed and moaned in agony. The bajra had begun its return journey to Calcutta.
Three days later, Ramkamal stood before his palatial mansion in Jorasanko. As he stepped through the large iron gates or deuri, the wail of a newborn infant came to his ears. Knitting his brows he looked questioningly at Dibakar. But Dibakar shook his head. He hadn t known, either, that his mistress s agony was the travail of childbirth. Besides, who had ever heard of a seven-month foetus seeing the light of the world?
Ramkamal Singha was forty-seven years old. Fifteen years ago he had taken Bimbabati as his third wife. The other two had died before they attained puberty. He remembered his first wife, Lakshmimoni, very faintly, but his second, Hembala, was only a blur. Bimbabati had brought good fortune with her from the day she stepped through the deuri-a little bride of nine. The Singhas had prospered. Everything Ramkamal touched had turned to gold. But Bimbabati had one sorrow. She was barren and could not give her husband a son. Everyone, including Bimbabati, had urged Ramkamal to remarry but he wouldn t hear of it.
Ramkamal hurried up the stairs to the landing where Bidhusekhar was waiting. An astute lawyer and a man of the world, Bidhusekhar was Ramkamal s lifelong friend, guide and counsellor. Bidhusekhar s heart was as large as his brain was agile, and Ramkamal trusted him implicitly.
Is it all over? Ramkamal asked his friend. Bidhusekhar caught him in an embrace. You are here, he said. Now I have nothing to fear. Have a wash and something to eat. You can hear the details later. Ramkamal fixed his eyes on Bidhusekhar s face. Tell me first, he cried passionately, if Bimbabati is alive. Tell me if I shall see her again!
Their arms around each other, the two friends stood at the door of Bimbabati s chamber. She lay on her large bedstead, very still, her hands crossed over her breast. Her face was unnaturally pale. Three English doctors sat with grim faces on the velvet couch to her right. On her left, the famous Kaviraj Deen Dayal Bheshak Shastri stood, eyes closed, chin sunk into his breast. A south Indian ayah stood in one corner, holding a tiny bundle wrapped in a kantha sheet. It was from this bundle that the wailing came, a sound loud enough to set any father s heart at rest. The child was healthy and would live. But Ramkamal s new-found paternity left him cold. His only concern was Bimbabati.
Is it all over? he asked again, his voice hoarse and unsteady.
No, Bidhusekhar answered, there is life in her yet. Sati Lakshmi Bimbabati has waited for you to co