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Blind persons' Association provides free or low-priced Braille and audio books to the sightless. Here are some stories from its audio archive. We need help for producing more books. Visit our official site at https://bpa.org.in for details.
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We are sorry that we did not publish anything of Tarapada Roy (November 17, 1936 - August 25, 2007) before. Born at Tangail, now in Bangladesh, he completed his school education in the then East Pakistan and came over to Kolkata in the 'fifties. Though popular for his satirical writing, he wrote serious poems and novels also. Today's story of this author is a typpical representation of his sense of humour. This story may remind you one of your own experiences.
Nabaneeta Dev Sen, born on January 13, 1938, passed away yesterday, November 7, 2019. She left behind around eighty books to her credit and an innumerable number of her admirers. Born to the poet couple, Narendra Deb and Radharani Debi, she inherited the poetic afflatus. She started her literary career with a collection of poems PrathamPratyay in 1959. She taught comparative literature at Jadabpur University. Also served many universities at home and abroad as a visiting professor. She touched almost all fields of literature. She excelled perhaps in humour writing. One reason behind her success as a humourist was her ability to laugh at herself. We has selected today a humour story of Nabaneeta Deb Sen as a tribute on our behalf.
1Banaphool (July 19, 1899 – February 9, 1979) is known for his unique short stories, stories that are literally short in length, at the same time these stories conform to all definitions of the genre. This time we have for you Khela, a very short story of a cat. The cat is often seen meditating with its eyes closed like a true hermit. But still milk and fishes vanish from the kitchen. The problem is that a young wife has to pay for the cat's tricks.
This is the story of a challenging innovation of a Gujarati hotel merchant of Ahmedabad. He has practically re-written Rabindranath Tagore's famous story, Khudhita Pashan at an Ahmedabad surrounding, replacing the river Sabarmati for Shusta and replays the entire story in real time to impress the author. To the author's chagrin, the bill of the hotel is fabuous. Listeners will enjoy the new Khudhita Pashan by Bibhutibhushan Mukhopadhyay (October 24, 1894 — July 29, 1987).
We are sorry that we have no information about the author of this story, Shri Soumitra Biswas. If anyone finds anything about him, please let us know. Mukhosh is perhaps the only ghost story we recorded. Since the Internet is too full of ghost stories and thrillers, we would like to add to it this suspense story. This story was first published in the 2nd November issue of Desh in 2007.
Subodh Ghosh (September 14, 1909 – March 9, 1980) is known for the narrative element of his writing. It explains the tremendous success of his stories on screen in Bengali and Hindi films. He earned his living as a bus conductor at one stage of his life. Later he succeeded as a journalist and as a writer. Our story for this month his Ma Hingsi depicts the last days of Giridhari who is waiting to be hanged. Giridhari is sure that he won’t die on the gallows; a miracle will save him from the rope. He is hanged at the end of the story, the miracle fails to save him. But the author reveals the mystery behind the much-awaited miracle at the end.
Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941) would have been as popular as today for his short stories alone. Bengali short story as a form is greatly endebted to him for its shape and direction. Today we have selected rather a long short story, Rasmanir Chhele (to be podcast in two episodes) on his 158th birth anniversary. The unique attraction of this story is its heroine, Rasmani. She has two sons, her husband and her real son. She controls both of them, bbut with two completely different attitudes. She mollycoddles her husband because he was born and brought up in affluence. But towards her own son she is strict and vigilant, not ready to allow even a dream of luxury.
Tarashankar Bandyopadhyay (July 23, 1898 - September 14, 1971) is remembered for his unique prose and his insight into human characters, particularly the characters he met in and around the arid land of Birbhum. Our episode for this month is one of his famous short stories, Nari O Nagini, a rare kind of rivalry between snake and human-being. Khora Sheikh catches hold of a wild snake and tames it with care. The pet soon becomes his favourite, earning a golden ornament for its nose. Khora starts calling her “Bibi”, rousing jealousy in Zobaida, Khora’s wife. Bibi leaves Khora at the time of mating. But she returns to the chagrin of Zobaida and bites her.
Ruma is a physiotherapist. She has little education. This is the only profession she could resort to when her husband went away, leaving her alone with a son. Though most of her clients are women, the profession has its hazards. Sometimes she has to attend male clients. Their behavior does not always seem decent. She receives a lucrative offer from a neighbour who runs a beauty parlour. She wants her to entertain her male clients. Ruma refuses, boldly; but the humiliation hurts her. Although she considers herself a failure, a female client admires her. She fights, she suffers from insults, but she does not give up. Listen to our story on International Women’s Day, 11 Swadha by Maitree Roy Moulik. This story, first published in Desh, November 2, 2017, is included in our series “Sampratik Chhoto Galpa III”.
Sayantani Putatunda’s short story Aradhika, our episode for this month seems at first a story of cold war between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. Just follow the story to the end. You will find a beautiful reversal of feeling that refreshes our minds. This is not at all the theme of the story. It is all about singing, singing Tagore song. The singer is an aradhika, a worshipper who must render into the song her emotions and feelings, her sorrows sufferings, her aspirations and anxieties. Conforming to the lyric and tune is not enough – the song must be the singer’s own creation.
Norah Burke (1907 – 1976) spent her childhood with her father in India. Her father, Redmond St. George Burke, was a Forest Officer who often had to change his post in different jungles of India. Norah’s experience of Indian jungles and animals she gathered during her trips to various parts of the country provided her with lots of real life stories during her successful career as a writer. Our story for this month is the Bengali translation of Norah Burke’s “Leopard in the Shadow” by Sanjay Bandyopadhyay. This Bengali version was first published in the Sandesh of January 2009.
Gajendra Kumar Mitra (November 11, 1908 - October 16, 1994) won hearts of Bengali readers with the gift of his story-telling ability. This particular faculty made him a successful writer of novels and short stories. A prominent feature of his stories is the dominance of fate. Irony of sequence has played tricks with many of his characters. We have selected for this month Utsarga, a short story where both Arun and Neelima fall victim to such an irony of the inscrutable destiny.
Today is Children's Day. We present for our young friends a very uncommon story, Bandarer Daktari by Kanti P. Dutta, an animal story which you would surely enjoy. We are sorry that we could not collect any authentic information on this author.
Durgapuja is celebrated with ancestral enthusiasm everywhere in the world where a few Bengali friends have met. We cannot imagine the kind of horror associated with some of the old pujas in the past. Then human sacrifice was considered a glory. Though very few in number, some Hindu zamindars performed this brutal ritual. We are fortunate that now animal slaughter as a ritual sacrifice is no longer in vogue. We have presented one such story to our listeners this month.
Satinath Bhaduri (September 27, 1906 - March 30, 1965) is known for his lucid and elegant style of writing. What attracts most readers to his stories is his deep insight and a profound sympathy towards human weakness. We have recorded his Jagari for our audio library. We have selected a less read short story of the author in which he points to a very commmon feature of old age. An old woman, tired of waiting for death for thirty years at Kashi, everyday checks her food for poison by giving bits of it to her beloved sons.
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