As seen on the front cover of The Nemesis, Jibon has just picked up the proverbial axe and the flames are burning high. He is a man possessed. But how far will he go and more importantly, for how long will a caste-sick society let him run amok? If Byapari is angry, then equally angry is translator V Ramaswamy. He’s a brahmin but he understands a Dalit person’s plight. He retains some of the Bengali lines in his translation. This adds to the fullness of the text and places it firmly in the cultural and geographical context of Bengal. Byapari’s forceful writing and Ramaswamy’s empathetic translation expose the myth that the bhadralok have so carefully cultivated – that of a casteless Bengal.
-
1
These innovations have made Amrik Sukhdev Dhaba in Murthal the truck drivers’ favourite since 1967
-
2
Thriller: A serial killer is on the loose, murdering India’s famous nuclear scientists one by one
-
3
The Man, the Machine: Merab Dvalishvili in Mumbai
-
4
Sanjay Subrahmanyam: The American Pied Piper
-
5
‘The Hachette Book of Indian Detective Fiction’ makes you rethink pre-conceptions about the genre
-
6
‘Maharajas, Emperors, Viceroys, Borders’: Breaking down the histories of Nepal-India border disputes
-
7
Why even those who don’t believe in deities love bhakti poetry
-
8
The numbers show the idea of Muslim population explosion is nothing but political propaganda
-
9
Why some Kashmiris who spurned ballot in the past may vote in this Lok Sabha election
-
10
May global nonfiction: Six recent books that examine our fears, pains, and troubled history