Alka and other stories – Goutam Das, Translated from Bangla by Ratna Jha

Description

Goutam Das has a way of making ordinary lives seem extraordinary. His characters are the kinds of people one runs into every day. But in their hearts they nurture dreams of breaking boundaries. A banker gives up his job to pursue his passion of reading poetry. A clerk takes time off to record the magic of sounds; nothing deters him – neither the freezing cold, nor pelting rain, nor the scorching heat. A barren woman abandoned by her husband wishes to be a mother. A young woman crippled with pain is determined to walk again. . . It is the flame of their spirit that lights up their lives, much as the glow of a sunset often makes an ordinary street turn magical. Two things stand out in these stories. The author’s empathy with the struggles of common people and his love for rural Bengal, which he describes so vividly. One wants to travel with him and celebrate the spirit of ‘never giving up because happiness awaits you at the next turn’.