A book was lying on a table in Literati, a bookshop in Goa housed in an old Portuguese bungalow. Its name was 4 Heroes and a Green Beard. I leafed through it assuming it to be a book on the environment as I am always keen to read books on this subject. however, it was something quite different. I bought it, ordered a nice masala chai, and went out into Literati’s garden where chairs are spread out inviting you to spend a lazy afternoon, reading.
4 Heroes and the Green Beard is translated from Bengali and is a part of a series of adventure stories written by Narayan Gangopadhyay. The four heroes are Tenida, Pyalaram, Habul and Kyabla from Kolkata. Off on a summer holiday to Darjeeling all on their own (because they are in the first year of college), where they meet the strange Sevenpenny Santra who has a green beard in honour of his commitment to the environment. However, much before that, they meet a stranger on a bus on the way to Darjeeling who gives them reason enough to head straight back to Kolkata. What is happAening, they wonder as one strange thing after the other unfolds. Poems that mock and threaten them, crackers that whizz past them in a dark place, Sevenpenny Santra who seems to appear and disappear into thin air, a head that bobs up and down in their room. These are happenings that are frightening enough to make anyone scream and run back to Kolkata! however, the heroes are very tough, and decide to brave it and help Sevenpenny Santra fight against the Japanese spy Kagamachi, even though Sevenpenny might be a ghost.
I think that in India, we have treasures of stories written in regional languages and I am glad that so many are now being translated into English. The 4 heroes series was written in the late nineteenth century, a time when my great grandparents were young and lived in a world so different from ours. I did some research on the author Narayan Gangopadhyay and found that he was and continues to be a beloved author. His creation Tenida is one of the most famous characters in children’s literature. Imagine not knowing that till now!
4 heroes reminded me of the Fundoo Four by Annirudha Sen Gupta, who I met in Goa and with my husband. We spent a lovely afternoon with him and his wife in their Portuguese bungalow being supervised by their six dogs.
I must hasten to point out that these two books are not similar in concept but are about simple everyday folks who suddenly find themselves in the thick of danger and adventure. Love for nature and concerns for the environment are reflected in both these books that are so many generations apart. I hope that when I am an old and toothless woman, the beauty of the natural world that I see around me and that is brought out so well by these two authors is still there. I really do not want to live in a space station near Mars (though I might visit it for a holiday).
Meanwhile, I remember that afternoon in Literati, sipping chai, reading and petting Frida, the labrador who owns and runs Literati.
(Yasmine Claire teaches high school students and attempts to write twisted-inside-out fairy tales. Write in to claireyasmine@gmail.com)