Forgotten Book: Satyanveshi Vyomkesh by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay

Despite my love for mysteries, I haven't read much of our Indian detectives. But this month, I was determined to read the exploits of Byomkesh Bakshi, a detective created by Bengali writer Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay, in 1932 and to whom I was first introduced to by an eponymous TV serial that was telecast in 1993.Though, I …

The House of Healing: Tarashankar Bandyopadhyay’s Arogyaniketan

There was once a blind pir-fakir in Dera Ghazi Khan (prior to 1947 a province of India but now in Pakistan) who could discern what ailed a person just by feeling the latter's pulse. Extremely orthodox Muslim ladies, who would not allow the touch of any man barring their husband, would tie a thread round …

Ties that Bind: There was No One at the Bus Stop

Love was one thing, sin was another – and although it was difficult to tell love from sin, Trina had learnt to identify some of the signs.Ties that bind human beings together are difficult to unravel. What is that which holds a man with a woman? Love? Affection? Pity? Or simply a necessity, a need …