Those DaysWinner of the Sahitya Akademi Award An award-winning novel that uses both vast panoramic views and lovingly reconstructed detail to provide an unforgettable picture of nineteenth-century Bengal. The Bengal Renaissance and the 1857 uprising form the backdrop to Those Days, a saga of human frailties and strength. The story revolves around the immensely wealthy Singha and Mukherjee families, and the intimacy that grows between them. Ganganarayan Singha's love for Bindubasini, the widowed daughter of the Mukherjees, flounders on the rocks of orthodoxy even as his zamindar father, Ramkamal, finds happiness in the arms of the courtesan, Kamala Sundari. Bimbabati, Ramkamal's wife, is left to cope with her loneliness. A central theme of the novel is the manner in which the feudal aristocracy, sunk in ritual and pleasure, slowly awakens to its social obligations. Historical personae interact with fictional protagonists to enrich the narrative. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, the reformer; Michael Madhusudan Dutt, the poet; the father and son duo of Dwarkanath and Debendranath Tagore; Harish Mukherjee, the journalist; Keshab Chandra Sen, the Brahmo Samaj radical; David Hare and John Bethune, the English educationists--these and a host of others walk the streets of Calcutta again, to bring alive a momentous time. |
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Common terms and phrases
Amir Arré asked bajra Bengali Bhujanga Bidhusekhar Bimba Bimbabati Bindu Brahmin Brahmo breast British brother Calcutta Chandranath Chandu Chhotku Chhoto Babu child cried Debendranath dhoti Dibakar door Dulal Dwarkanath English eyes face father feet felt Ganga Ganganarayan girl Goopi Gour hand Hare Saheb Harish head heard heart Heere Heeremoni Hindu College husband Huzoor Ibrahimpur Ishwar Chandra Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Jagamohan Jorasanko Kamala Sundari Khidirpur knew Krishnanagar Kusum Kumari Lilavati lips live looked Madhu Madhusudan Mahabharat Mangal Pande mansion marriage married morning Moshai mother Muslim Nabin Kumar never night palki Pandit Raimohan Raja Rajnarayan Ramgopal Ramgopal Ghosh Ramkamal Ramkamal's rupees Sanskrit Sarojini sepoys servants Singha smile Sohagbala stared stood stop Suhasini tears Thako thought took turned Vidyasagar village voice walked weeping widow remarriage wife woman women words young zamindar