Indigo:Selected Stories - Satyajit Ray

A sheer entertainment and pleasure...Satyajit Ray's Indigo is a wonderful compilation of 21 stories..Some of the stories were translated by the author himself and some by Gopa Majumdar.

These stories would certainly bring one's childhood back..I observed one common thing in all these stories,every ending leaves us in a great feeling of amazement..For the first time,I feel confused to choose my favourite story among these because I loved each and every story equally...Every story is unique and different in its own way..This book,I enjoyed very much after being fed up with  regular monotonous stories with similar success matra..

I strongly feel that the one,who intensely connected with his childhood can only write such kind of tales..These stories often reflected the fairy tale world,childish illusions,subconscious fears and insecurities..Furthermore,nevertheless living in a civilized society,most of the lead roles in these stories are completely isolated lives..The protagonists mostly love to be alone and are very close to nature and pets than to people or society..They observe very minute details in day to day life and had a unique way of imagination..Although,the stories about ghosts and haunted houses are pretty enthralling,we couldn't believe that a person like Satyajit Ray,who is one of the greatest auteurs of Indian cinema can wrote such wonderful stories..Through out reading,we keep wondering about his unusual love towards the supernatural element..Of course,the Feluda kind of magic is proved to be a huge success among children and adults..I'm sure,there is a child in this author..Mentioning about Deodar trees,Shimul trees and Mimosa plants proclaims the authors love towards nature..

Image from Google

Here I'm sharing few lines from the book,
From 'The Hungry Septopus':
Abhijit could never sit still.He was very much a city man;the beauties of nature offered by the country side,the leaves on a peepal tree,trembling in a slight breeze,or the call of an unknown bird,did nothing to move him.

From 'The small world of Sadananda':
How could she have known that people could pester me by saying,'Why are you so glum when your name means 'ever-happy' ? Such fools! As if laughing like a jackass was the only way to show that one was happy..

I get fun out of things which most people don't even notice.

From 'The Pterodactyl's Egg':
People think science has progressed only in the west.And that nothing has happened in this country.I tell you,a tremendous lot has indeed happened here,but how many know about it ? We were never a nation to show off our knowledge,were we ? The true artist has always stayed in the background. hasn't he ? Look at our history.Does anyone know the names of the painters who drew on the walls of Ajanta ? Who carved the temple of Ellora out of ancient hills ? Who created the Bhairavi raga,Who created the Vedas ?

The story,'Patol Babu,Film Star' reminded me of a plot in the movie,'Bombay Talkies' named 'Star'..The movie plot seemed so similar..Coming to the book,the stories are very simple with non-complicated descriptions,yet we feel,there is something in depth happening in the story and the final impression turned out to be so rich..If I have to choose my favourite stories among these,which is so hard,I liked  'Ashamanja Babu's Dog','Mr.Eccentric','The Pterodactyl's egg' And ofcourse 'Pikoo's Dairy'.After reading these stories,now I completely understood the magical and child-hearted mind behind the master piece Pather Panchali.

Pages :264
Publisher :Penguin Modern Classics
Price :350/-

Enjoy reading..Bye for now friends :)