Hi everyone,
Before you read this further, let me clarify that this review is based on two of the books by Satyajit Ray, the name of the book called The Adventures of Feluda. There are about 12 different book titles available in the stores, but I am writing just about two of them - The Killer in Kailash [TKIK] and The Bandits of Bombay [TBOB].
What made me read this book, did you ask? Basically I am not an avid reader of books and stuff, so when I saw these books in my school library, what attracted me the most was the length of the book. A small one, with around 80-90 pages each. As I get bored to death by long books, I decided to give this one a try. And I was pleasantly surprised by my decision. I didn’t regret taking it!
Both the books were actually written in Bengali and were translated into English by Gopa Majumdar. There are three Central characters in the book - Feluda Mitter, Lalmohan Ganguli and Tapesh Mitter. Depending on the situation, they come across various other characters as well, to solve the mysteries they are supposed to. Let’s first have a look at their characters.
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Feluda Mitter or Felu, as he is fondly called, is a detective. He also translates stuff from other languages in his spare time. Experience in his field has taught him one thing - to keep his calm in the most difficult situations. Nobody can ever know what’s going in his mind. Nobody, except himself. When situation be favourable, he may do something unexpected. At times of crises, he may help you even without being present.
For instance, in TKIK, while he, along with the two others, is on a mission to find out the criminals responsible behind the stealing of ancient statues, he changes his form various times to deceive others. In fact, he doesn’t even let his companions know that he has put on an appearance. He is hardly physically present with his fellows, but whatever they do, is according to Feluda’s instructions. Like, he just places a chit in the room or in the temple, or at any place where they might notice it, and guides them as about what has to be done.
Besides, he is a man capable of quick action. To cite an example, during the climax of TBOB, aboard a train, he suspected that the villain might drop in, so he before-handedly asked the fight master of the film Victor to jump into the coach if he finds something unusual. He doesn’t think that this might result in severe financial loss to the producer of the film. Even otherwise, when Ray is summoned by the villain to take out the important thing from Feluda’s right pocket, he asks him not to take out the gun, which he could’ve easily done.
Feluda is the mastermind behind all the happenings. He thinks that whenever they went to a new place, they should atleast know about the history of the place. Moreover, he doesn’t reveal his occupation to strangers.
Lalmohan Babu or Laluda, is a writer. As a writer, he writes. He wants to get fame, but considering his writing skills are as good as mine, he is never able to. Instead, he accompanies Feluda in whatever case he is solving. Being with Feluda for so many years, however, didn’t teach him one thing - keeping his calm. In TBOB, he loses his cool as soon as he smells the scent of Gulbahar in his car.
Later, when he comes to know that a description about him has been published in the daily newspaper, he goofs-up the situation, and doesn’t think that out of millions of people in Mumbai, will the police recognize him alone? It is, instead, Feluda who shares with him this thought! He, like Feluda, loves solving crimes. In TKIK, he readily accepts to accompany Feluda is catching the criminal. He also prepares his own weapon - a bomb - to be of help if the need be.
An important characteristic of this guy is that he provides some relief whenever the situation gets too tense. His somewhat cowardly attitude, his gestures and his sayings does bring a smile on your face at times. His ambition to do something, of which he keeps on telling to every next person he meets, is quite funny!
Tapesh Mitter’s character has been somewhat relegated to the background. And quite so. With Feluda as the mastermind, and Tapesh just a cousin of his, he doesn’t generally have much to do in the going-ons, except for lending a helping hand to Feluda and Laluda.
Having said that, he does play an integral part of the happening during some point of time in the story. Like, it is through him that Feluda gets the idea that they should go to Mumbai and save the statues from the con men.
Well, I have no idea if his role is properly developed in other books, but based on the knowledge I can boast to gain of, from the two books that I have read, he doesn’t have a substantial role to play in the happenings.
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The writing style of Satyajit Ray, and also of Gopa Majumdar is up to the mark. Considering that the book is a short mystery of a type, it does keep the reader involved in the happenings right from the first, to the last page. The usage of wit and humour at places is interesting enough!
I am planning to borrow more books from my library on The Adventures of Feluda. As I said, I am not an avid reader, so this book gives me a chance to read one :-) There are still about 8-9 books left which I will be reading after my examinations get over.
I would like to recommend this series for those interested in reading books only for a short while, and those like me, who do not have the patience to read through the entire length of a long book. also recommended for travellers of a short while.
Caution: Once started, do not leave this book till you have finished. There are various, apparently small characters, who play a critical role at some stage. Keep atleast 2 hours free when you start reading this book. Losing in touch with it will help you to forget about some of the characters, and may confuse you no end.
Finally, do comment on this review. It’s a must for all readers!
© Aliasgar Poonawala, 2005
