1914 - Saratchchandra Chattopadhyay

Parineeta by Saratchandra Chattopadhyay
There have been at least two film versions of Parineeta; which means espoused, the last one made in 2005 which launched a new edition of the novella. It was published in Bengali in 1914 and has been translated by Malobika Chaudhuri for the latest publication and it reads beautifully. It is a simple story based in Kolkatta (Calcutta) at the turn of the century, but has the power to transport the reader back to that time and place.

Gurucharan and his family of five daughters live next door to the family of Nabin Roy, Gurucharan works as a clerk and is in financial difficulties because of his need to find dowry money to marry off his daughters, the last marriage has left him in debt and he has borrowed heavily from Nabin Roy a successful business man. Lalita who Gurucharan considers as one of his daughters is actually an orphan and from the age of three has been a personal helper to Nabin Roy's son Shekhar. She is now 13 years old and is considered to be ready for marriage. She is obviously not suitable for Shekhar because of the family's lack of money, but another neighbour's uncle Girin comes courting. We are told that Lalita is a beautiful girl but a little dark. Shekhar becomes a little jealous that Lalita is no longer around because of Girin and just before he leaves with his mother for a few months away from the city, he sees Lalita on her terrace next door and impulsively places a garland over her head. Lalita immediately returns the garland over Shekhar's head and considers herself married. Some years pass circumstances change and Gurucharan's family move away, but Lalita's situation is still unresolved as Shekhar hears rumours that she is about to be married to a new suitor.

The reader is plunged into a world of arranged marriages, child brides, dowry's, ancient customs, Hindi religion and intimate family relations but it all makes perfect sense as we see it from a Bengali's point of view. There is no criticism of culture and customs as humanity is shown to shine through arrangements that seem very different to ours in the West. There is a ruthless business man (Nabin Roy), but everybody else acts with kindness and compassion in a world that becomes clear to the reader by the end of this short novel. Bengali family terms are kept throughout the book but once the reader learns that mama= uncle, mami=auntie, baba=father, didi=sister and maa=mother then they add to the reading experience of a different culture.

This is a delightful read, which will take just a short afternoon and I hope like me you will be entranced. A four star read