Most of you, my dear readers, must be expecting to read a movie review, but au contraire, I wish to tell you of another great facet of the “master of communication media”,
Satyajit
Ray (who was felicitated with a special Oscar award for lifetime achievement in 1992) . It is not movies I talk about but mystery stories, yes you heard that right, told by the man himself. Satyajit Ray revived a children’s magazine, Sandesh, which had been started by his grand-father, Upendrakishore Ray. Through this magazine, was born one of the most endearing Indian sleuths, Pradosh Mitter, or simply as his cousin Tapesh called him,
FELUDA. The stories are written in the form of a narrative by Tapesh much in the same way as Dr. Watson narrates stories about Sherlock Holmes. The stories have been compiled into book form and are published by Penguin Books.
These stories are written between 1965 and 1992, 34 in all. They are short stories and as good as the best short crime stories that one can come by. They were written in Bengali, quite chaste and of high standard as the translator of these stories,
Gopa Majumdar, would have us know. As with all translations, one gets the feeling while reading the stories, that there is much missed by way of the use of colloquial language, its exclamations and such, but I have to admit that Gopa Majumdar has done a wonderful job and in doing so with these stories and many other Bengali stories, she won herself the Katha award for translations. More importantly, her effort had brought to millions of readers in India and abroad the magic of one of the most endearing sleuths, Feluda.
More on the character and his traits now. I cringe from calling him a character because he just sort of grows on you. Feluda, or Pradosh Mitter, starts out in Ray’s stories as an amateur sleuth who is forever looking out for more challenges and is in relentless pursuit of the truth. His cases are narrated by his cousin Tapesh Ranjan Mitter (fondly called Topshe by Feluda). It is amusing to note the affectionate tiffs and banter between the two. In 1971, Ray introduced a third character to the series called Lalmohan Babu (an adventure writer who writes under the pseudonym Jatayu), who provides a humorous angle to the stories. Together, they called themselves the Three Musketeers. Feluda grows from an amateur, bit unsure sleuth, into a confident and sometimes cocksure private detective. The way he comes to logical conclusions and cracks open the case wide is beautifully brought out in the stories.
Some of Feluda’s traits :-
He notes things down in his diary in greek letters.
He smokes Charminar cigarettes.
He always cracks open the case with a grand finale where all the suspects are present (Did that remind you of Karamchand?).
He has a fantastic memory and an exhaustive knowledge of almost any subject under the sun.
He is an exponent of martial arts and very fit bodily. He also practices yoga.
Can sit up endlessly with very little sleep when working on a case.
One notices these traits as one goes through the various stories that Ray has written for the wonder sleuth. It is important to note here that the intended audience was children. Ray has used a minimum of violence and absolutely no sex. It is therefore, in my opinion, an uphill and very difficult task to write a crime story and yet hold the interest of the reader, many of whom are adolescents as the character is not without its effervescent charm. Ray also makes sure to add in some criminals who surface time and again in different stories, like the deadly Maganlal Meghraj. In order to make his stories more interesting and gripping, Ray takes his readers across India to various places like Lucknow, Jaipur, Kashmir, Dehradun, Sikkim and Bengal of course. There are also stories set in foreign countries like Hong Kong and the UK. What is most interesting is the graphic detail with which Ray describes these places and the info he gives while doing so. It definitely makes the story more palatable and enjoyable. Feluda is shown as a human character susceptible to mistakes yet very sharp in his instincts and one who has never failed to crack a case. The language used (translations of course) is very lucid.
Some of the best Feluda stories are:-
The Mystery of the Pink Pearl
The Mystery of the Elephant God
The House of Death Dr. Munshi’s Diary
Shakuntala’s Necklace
Feluda in London
The list numbering 34 is a must read for Satyajit Ray fans as they showcase the versatility and genius of this great master, who was a “master of communication media”. It is indeed unfortunate that he could not make all of the stories into movies or serials as they would have been a treasure-trove for mystery story lovers. A couple of these were made into movies by Satyajit Ray but I am unsure as to which ones. I am also told that there were some serials but I cannot say for sure as the details are not accurate.
So there you have it. It goes without saying that you all must try and grab some of these stories so that you can also savour the magic of Ray’s writing.
And I am not exaggerating…