The Mountain of the Moon: Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay

Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay (1894-1950), a leading Bengali writer, was both popular and critically acclaimed. He is remembered for the simplicity of his style and his enchanting portrayal of nature and rural life. Among his 16 novels and 200 short stories, Aranyak, Chander Pahar, and the autobiographical novels Pather Panchali and Aparajito are considered classics in Bengali. The last two also posthumously introduced Bibhutibhushan to a wider audience after the well-known film maker Satyajit Ray created his Apu trilogy (Pather Pachali, Aparajito, and Apur Sansar) based on parts of them. Bibhutibhushan?s father, a professional raconteur, had little financial success in life but he seemed to have passed on his story-telling genes to his oldest son. Bibhutibhushan?s simple, unadorned prose does remind us of the village raconteur, a species that has possibly become extinct. Born in a poor family in rural Bengal, Bibhutibhushan lost his father when he was in the eighth standard. He struggled with financial difficulties and worked in different professions, but he was a school teacher for most of his adult life. After travelling and working in different places, he returned to his village towards the end of his life. There he taught at a school and wrote some of his major novels, including Ichhamati. Translator Santanu Sinha Chaudhuri (born 1951) began his career as a banker. Since reengineering his career in 2000, he has taught English to adult learners at different institutions including the British Council English Language Centre in Kolkata. He writes on learning the English language and other topics and translates Bengali fiction into English. His published translations include Manab Jamin by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, and two collections of short stories. He also has to his credit a book titled Learn English, A Fun Book of Functional Language, Grammar, and Vocabulary. Illustrator Suddhasattwa Basu (born 1956) is a painter, illustrator, author, and animation film maker. The Song of a Scarecrow (2002) written and illustrated by him received the Chitrakatha award, and a special mention at the Biennial of Illustration, Bratislava, Slovakia. He has conceptualised and illustrated many titles for the National Book Trust, such as Whatever you give and Ravan?s Remedy. Suddhasattwa also designed, directed and animated the first indigenously produced animation TV serial for children in India, Ghayab Aya.