Choker Bali (Novel) by Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore,as we all know as an important renaissance figure of Indian literature had left his own impact on us with his songs,poems,dramas,essays,novels and an array of his paintings.Of course,he embarked on painting at the dusk of life.Choker Bali,it's one of the novels I was aspiring to have gone through and the same has been done with it a couple of days back.The story set in the typical  Bengali family ambiance of the feudal sort.It's a story of menage a trios.Really to be considered as an avant-garde theme for those days of almost one century back.

Mahindra was a medico and got married Asha,a village belle.He was happy teaching his wife at home in leisure times,their conjugal life on cloud nine until the entry of Binodini,a widow and a distant relation came to Calcutta settled for a few days in their home.Rajalaxmi,mother of Mahindra asked Binodini to be here in helping domestic chorus.Asha was a naive one in terms of worldly affairs and which proved to be advantageous for Binodini to lure Mahindra.In other words,she grew a jealousy of happy marriage life of Mahindra and Asha.

She manages to captivate Mahindra with her expertise of love play.At the same time she maintained the bosom friendship with his wife Asha.Poor Asha trusted Binodini as her Choker Bali.Lot of things had taken place,meanwhile.At last,they flew away from the house,leaving Asha estranged.Binodini,interestingly,never surrendered to Mahindra.And she wants to marry Bihari,a family friend of Mahindra.Because he was a bachelor and future security is guaranteed comparing to Mahindra.

Binodini's character emanates various hues at the same time.She was jealous of seeing happy couple as she got deprived of sexual pleasure.She never cared Mahindra after he completely had surrendered to her.There were other characters like Annapurna,Sadhucharan and so on.Bihari was a strong character in all respects.Story ends with an unexpected turn even though Bihari proposed Binodini to marry.The landscape of Calcutta and village of average Bengali life portrayed well.

In other sense,we could understand it as a novel of  psycho analytical attempt to put in brief.Translation style of Sukendu Ray was touching while composing the sense of original flavor into English.To avoid discomfiture,he provided glossary of  Bengali words such as Thakur-po,Topse,Kakima,Pishima,Bouthan and etc.Try to give a read,if you wish to have a tale of universal appeal.And to confront the muse of Tagore.
---Murthy Kvvs