Mallar Jekhane Name (short story)
| "Mallar Jekhane Name" | |
|---|---|
| Short story by Joy Goswami | |
| Country | India |
| Language | Bengali |
| Genre(s) | short story |
| Publication | |
| Published in | Desh (magazine) |
| Publisher | Ananda Publishers |
| Media type | |
| Publication date | 1994 |
"Mallar Jekhane Name" ("Where Mallar Descends") is a short story by Bengali writer Joy Goswami, written in 1994. It is collected in Sangshodhan Ba Katakuti (2001),[a] and Galpa Samagra (2019).[1] "Mallar," or "Malhar" is a Hindustani classical raga linked to heavy rains.[2]
Publication history
[edit]
"Mallar Jekhane Name" first appeared in the Rabibashoriyo, the Sunday special of Anandabazar Patrika, in 1994. It was Joy Goswami's first short story, written after repeated requests from fiction editor Ramapada Chowdhury. Until then, his oeuvre consisted solely of poetry collections and literary criticism. In 2001, the story was included in Sangshodhan Ba Katakuti[3], along with three others published in Desh, by Ananda Publishers, and later in Galpa Samagra by Dey's Publishing in 2019. The story is set in the 1990s, when Joy worked as a poetry editor of the Desh magazine.[1][4]
Plot summary
[edit]Set in the 1990s, the plot follows a middle-aged poet and a college girl who meets him daily on his commute. A fervent admirer, she bombards him with questions about his works, making the introverted poet uneasy as it draws the curious stares from fellow passengers. The poet doesn’t get angry at the girl because he doesn't know how to get angry. Though at times, something close to anger stirs within him. And he swallows it.
The story unfolds in three parts. In the first, they converse on his way to work. In the second, the poet, seems to be lost in thought, and reflects on his life, relationships, a clash with a political figure at a poet summit, his sexuality, his writing—and finds solace in the raga, Malhar. In the third part, on a train to a literary summit, the girl confesses to writing him a letter she never sent, calling it an imaginary conversation. She keeps ticket stubs from their meetings, which he think is crazy. She asks him to read poems in the summit from her favorite book of his. She won’t stop insisting.
Then, all of a sudden, the poet imagines Malhar is descending. Outside, the sun blazed, and the train paced but the world around him has faded into a night sky sealed with heavy rain. The poet tries resists but he cannot. He imagines, the earth’s heartbeat rising from the deepest trench —a deep, pounding rhythm. And the girl asks, "You'll read it, won’t you? Please say you will."
The poet, unable to control his rage, gets up on his feet. Blood flickers in his eyes. His hands, his legs, tremble violently. And he wails: "Say one more word, and I’ll tear your tongue out! Where were you when I was twenty-five? Where were you?!"[1]
In popular culture
[edit]- The story was adapted into a short film of the same name by Addatimes in 2021, starring Joy Goswami, Debasish Sensharma, and Katha Nandi.
Notes
[edit]- ^ In Bengali, "Sangshodhan" refers to the poet’s act of refining his work, replacing words with better ones. "Katakuti" means cutting out unnecessary words.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Goswami, Joy (2019). Galpasamagra [Short story collection] (in Bengali). Kolkata: Dey's Publishing. ISBN 978-93-89377-51-4.
- ^ Sharma, Manorma (2007). Music aesthetics. New Delhi: A. P. H. Publ. ISBN 978-81-313-0032-9.
- ^ Goswami, Joy (2001). Sangshodhan Ba Katakuti (in Bengali). Kolkata: Ananda Publishers. pp. 9–19. ISBN 81-7756-124-3.
- ^ "গল্পগুলি সব কবিতার ভাষায় সজ্জিত". Anandabazar Patrika. February 22, 2020. Retrieved April 1, 2025.