He is tall strong extremely intelligent has a remarkable memory, is a voracious reader , well versed on every topic under the sun, writes his notes in Greek , proficient in one on one combat , can use a gun etc. etc..
This superman is none other than Prodosh Mitter or Feluda a desi super sleuth created by Satyajit Ray. He appeared in a series of stories in Sandesh a Bengali children's magazine founded by Ray's grandfather. These stories became extremely popular and were translated into English by various authors.
I came across them as I was rifling through books in my local library. Since I have a special fondness for detective stories Sherlock Holmes , Poirot, Miss Marple, etc. etc.. I immediately borrowed the books and sort of loved them..
The stories are not about the content themselves, but also the characters. They are narrated by Feluda's teenaged cousin who sounds very real. There is a third character the lovable Jatayu a friend of these two who accompanies them on all their mysteries. The stories are mostly set in Bengal, and few others in Lucknow, Bombay, etc.They capture the spirit of Kolkata even in the translation.
Though they are not very contemporary (set in 70's and 80's) , I would still recommend it for any teens or pre-teens that you may have at home .. For adults it may sort of brings back memories of an uncluttered childhood far removed from the pressures of software delivery :)
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I read it quite recently...and loved it...felt its for all the age group.. not restricted to teens or pre-teens..
ReplyDeleteFound it very similar to 80's DD-serial "byomkesh bakshi"..becoz of the association to kolkata
I believe BBC has released a mini series for two novellas as they are called. These may be available as a torrent for download. Did not check though..
ReplyDeleteIn this context, I remember one of the Satyajit Ray interviews where he was explaining the limitation in writting for children. He had to be really cautious of the contents - he told he could introduce more diverse subjects there if there was a scope.
ReplyDeleteyes I believe he said this in one of the books as well when people asked him why his content was not more adult oriented in terms of romance and violence..
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