Pather Panchali, Bends in the road- BOOK REVIEW

Pather Panchali, Songs of the Road is considered one of the remarkable books in the Bengali literature. The book became famous worldwide because of the Satyajit Ray’s movie based on the novel. The movie, considered to be a classic, is among one of the finest pieces of cinema India has ever seen. Probably one of those rare cases where a movie helped in the book’s success. Enough about the movie, lets come back to where it all began.

Plot:

The story is about a poor Brahmin household in a village in Bengal portrayed through the eyes of the two young children in the family, Durga and Opu. How they manage to find happiness amidst the poverty, how they find satisfaction in their day-to-day mundane chores. For these poor kids, happiness is about finding wild berries in the jungle and the luck to have atleast one proper cooked meal.  Durga and Opu’s love for each other makes life more than bearable, rather one filled with contentment.  The author creates a very sad yet surreal village scene, something that touches your heart.

Although grim, the language is smooth and hauntingly beautiful.  Wonder if that’s how I feel about the translated work, how would it feel reading it in Bandopadhyay’s own Bengali. Not that I know the language. You fall in love with the children, the characters are too real and the author has managed to capture the innocence completely  (especially Opu’s)while maintaining the authencity. Durga being the elder one and perhaps not so loved and pampered at home as Opu, passes time wandering in jungles and picking up food. Its heart wrenching to imagine a child having to wander around for food, as stomach of the poor is never fully filled. Sharing your food with your younger brother when you yourself are hungry and that too at such a tender age, epitomizes a sister’s love for her younger brother. Perhaps, that’s the reason Opu will also never forget her elder sister, even when he eventually grows up. Being the youngest and the most pampered, Opu gets more time for his passion which is reading. Opu’s opinion about right and wrong and the simplicity in his judgement moves you in an unimagined way. Books become his way of escaping from the reality into his dreams. And with him, you lose yourself to the innocent, simple dreams of a child.

One of my favourite part in the book is when Opu’s father, Horihar, gets a subscription of newspapers for two rupees as he knows how much his son yearns to read. He has seen his child go through the old stack of newspapers repeatedly. Although his wife wouldn’t have agreed and that money could have been used for some other pressing need, Horihar chooses to subscribe to those newspapers to see the smile everyday on his beloved son’s face.

The translation does complete justice to the beautiful work that  Bandopadhyay must have created in Bengali.  Was in tears by the end, an untimely death due to poverty continues to haunt you long after you have completed the book. It cannot help but make you wish that it should have been just a mere piece of fiction.