Ray Shines Without Introduction

Satyajit Ray wrote his first Feluda story in 1965, a year after he produced what is arguably his best feature film, Charulata. It is, therefore, logical to presume that the character of Feluda was conceived at a time when Ray's creativity as an artiste was at its peak. The creative surge was strong enough for Ray, the writer, to produce as many as 34 Feluda stories in the following 27 years. And it took little time for Feluda to acquire the numero uno status among all detectives of Bengali fiction.

Who is Feluda and what does one mean by Feluda stories? Those not yet exposed to Ray's literary work may well ask such questions. But Gopa Majumdar, the translator of yet another volume of Feluda stories (The Royal Bengal Mystery and Other Feluda Stories), feels that such is the popularity of this inimitable detective of Ray's stories of intrigue and high adventure, that there is no need to answer such basic questions.

 

This is a presumptuous response. Notwithstanding Ray's stature as a film-maker, the popularity of his Feluda stories among Bengali readers, and the fact that 22 of his 34 stories have already been translated into English, Feluda is neither a Sherlock Holmes, nor is Topshe, the chronicler of Feluda's adventures, a Watson. This volume could, therefore, have done well by including an introductory note on Feluda, Topshe and Lalmohan Ganguli, who with his idiosyncratic behaviour figures in all Feluda's adventures and provides comic relief. Such an explanatory note would have gone a long way in further popularising the Feluda stories among non-Bengali readers.

The interest of non-Bengali readers is of paramount importance for such a volume of short stories. For, such is the freshness and lucidity of Ray's Bengali prose that anyone who can read the language will always be advised to read the Feluda stories in their original version. All translations, including this volume, should, therefore, be judged from the non-Bengali readers' point of view. By that yardstick, Ms Majumdar has failed in her primary task of enlightening the uninitiated about Feluda and his style of operation. Given the fact that she has already translated several Feluda stories, Ms Majumdar was ideally placed to provide a brief biographical sketch of the detective, details of which could have been easily culled out from the various Feluda stories.

That would have been a major plus. For, no one (least of all this reviewer, who has had the privilege of reading a volume of Ray's short stories in English, translated by the writer himself, and has seen the difference Ray's own translations can make) is expecting Ms Majumdar to infuse in her translation the lucidity and freshness captured by Ray in Bengali. The translation is competent, but is spoilt by some avoidable typographical errors and embarrassing misinformation like Santiniketan being described as Rabindranath Tagore's university. A glossary of Bengali words and references with their meanings, used in the stories could have enhanced the non-Bengali readers' understanding of the nuances of the many stories in the volume under review. How many of Ms Majumdar's non-Bengali (or even modern Bengali) readers know of Devi Chowdhurani or Bankim Chandra Chatterjee? A glossary of such words with their meanings would have been of immense help because Ray, by Ms Majumdar's own admission, does play on Bangla

words and historical references in his stories. Though Ms Majumdar has done very well in translating the many riddles and puzzles into English without losing any significance associated with their original versions.

All the five stories in the current volume give an idea of Ray's range and creative vision. All the stories are deeply rooted in verisimilitude and realism. Murder, kidnappings and accidents appear very probable in Ray's adventure stories. Whether it is the question of guarding a precious gem or preventing the smuggling of priceless sculptures from the Ellora caves, Feluda uses his ordinary human skills to achieve success. There is the unravelling of an ancient riddle, a cryptic riddle from a talking parrot, wordplays and anagrams, that make the volume a rich fare. Apart from enhancing the look of the title page, the tiger illustration says a lot about Rays multi-faceted talent.