Review on 'Those Days' by sunil Gangopadhyay

               Manish Kumar Meena
               entry no.- 2011me10689
               HUL232
               review on ‘those days’ by              
               Sunil Gangopdhyay             

‘Those days ’ written by Sunil gangopadhya and translated by Aruna Chakravarti is a great novel  which tells us a story of mid 19^th century. This is a historical fiction work that also includes the main social players of that time like Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar, Poet Madhusudan Datt, Raja ramamohan etc although this as a fictional creativity by Sunil Gangopaghya. This is a very large about 900 pages novel in bengali but she confined it in about 600 pages with sustaining the effect of original for reader to a very good extent means she did a great justice with this novel by translating so effectively.  This novel really makes me excited for reading the original copy if I can. The time location of the story is mid 19^th century the time of Bengal renaissance .  The story moves around zamindar and peasants and social reformers of that time. The author must be a great story teller because with the zamindar he described the village life though the characters like servants (like Dalal and his mother)and through Zamindar’s visits to village. The story also makes us familiar with the bad and superstitious things of that time . This novel highlights Bal Vivah, Widow Marriage, Women Education ,Brahma Samaj etc  types of things in a very clear way though the example of characters of the novel  . This is because at that time indian youth started readimg English and other material breaking their bonds .and this knowledge make them  familiar with the problems of society that is why they started movements against them. The story is build around two immensely wealthy Singha and Mukherjee  families  and How their relation develops with time . Ganganarayan’s love for Bindu , the daughter of Mukherjees , Nabin’s brilliancy , and great work he did by translating the Mahabharat,  the love between twobother’s with their mother . Their father , Ramkamal Singha is a part of different story in which his love for his mistress Kamala Sundari and the pain he felt within his heart of Nabin which revealed at the time of his death that Nabin was not the real son of Ramkamal , he was Bidhusekhar’s son. His life was totlly different  from  the story goes next to his son’s generation .  That generation of all educated men who came forward to dismay the bad things from the society . Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar , who took the responsibility of girl’s education because though looking into the conditions of the girl’s in society all around and also completed his work to a great extent.

 The character of Ganganarayan is one of the most important and very vast in itself. At childhood he was like a very good boy , obeying parent’s and Bidhushekhar’s order, very intelligent in study, no bad habit’s like drinking like his friend from wealthy family. He was not the real son of Ramkamal and he accepted the fact by obeying his younger brother’s order later. Then his first love Bindu, the daughter of Mukherjee , brought a great change in him  and this gives us the real feeling of love that doesn’t depend on the fact who is the person you are loving.  And then he face the anger of Bidhushekher till the end of the story , The terrible things that he did for getting his love again and again like he went to kashi and lived there like sanyasi for more than 2 years. Then his comeback , marrying a widow , love for his brother and mother, his work against the indigo planters and thus  others represents a leading character of the novel. By his character author wanted to describe a lot of things like good mannered child , a great lover, also social reformer who fought for his farmers and author did a good job with this.

Then the character of Nabin is also very important like all other social players   of that time. His love for literature was a great  thing , he translated the Mahabharata on behalf of his idol Vidyasagar. Although he was very  far from his family zamindari system but when he knew the problems of his tenants  then he came forward for their uplift like a social reformer like Vidyasagar. He also published a newspaper  on the cost of most of his property for social service. Thus through his character author did a lot of work that brings   attraction for a reader .

Another character is Michal Madhusudan Datt , who belongs to a immensely wealthy family , extremely talented boy , his story also makes us familiar with a lot of things of that time . Like his turning to Cristian as that was a passion of that century youngs , then his great poetries ,  and the fact that they should not confined  within Bengali and move to English that is the future language. His  story makes us feel the fact that how our boys  had mistaken the English at that time in the way of drinking. This character taught the result to all the young. His great love of poetry brought a life change in him . through this author expresses his views for young reader to fulfil their passion.

In this also the great English men also described like David Hare and John Bethune- the English  educationist. They did a lot of work in education field by seeing it’s necessity in India. They end their life here spreading the education and made his pupils to take forward this aim of complete education for all boys and girls. Through this author makes us feel not like the boys that time for English. Author did a fabulous job by creating these characters because it was like the necessity of the situation like this as I feel from my heart after readind this.

In between there is a very clear and brilliant description of beginning of !857 KRANTI. And the story in this period among different part of INDIA very honestly like story of Mangal Pande and Bahadur Shah Jafar and the description that how this movement spread in all over the country.  This work gives a nice feel of patriotism in between.

The main social issue in this novel that takes our most attention is widow  remarriage . And author listed it beautifully through the character of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar who is a indian social reformer and his friends . His character also gives a bright hope to Indians for their great future. Actually when he saw the poor situation of child widowed  in his society that makes him sorry for all that and he started working in this direction. Although  he didn’t belong to a wealthy family but by his intelligence and good virtues he reached to the post of head of Sanskrit college and then he became able to do something in social area. Author has described the really poor conditions of women’s that time like they  were tied  in marringe at the age of 7 to 10 year maximum, they were not allow to take education like boys and there could be seen widowed of the age of 12-18 years. Such things put a great life in this novel and made reader to be emotional. Also women’s who were considered as bad women’s like Kamala Sundari and Heeramoni . both were most famous mistress for wealthy men like Ramkamal and others . Their life is also described with a great justice like Heeremoni’s son Chandu’s admission in college and how they are protested by society creates a unknown curiosity in reader to know what will happen next. This shows that author did a great job by writing every character’s story so brilliantly.

  Thus this seems like one of incredible writing.