Having lived in typically Goan houses in villages like Moira and Socorro, Sudeep Chakavarti
values the tranquillity Goa has to offer. “My work takes me to some very
violent and dangerous places, and it is nice to be able to come back to my
village home and be rejuvenated. This rejuvenation helps in my writing. And the
monsoon is by far my most favourite season in which to write. The rain calms
and energises me. Goa is a precious place, and it is precious to me,” says
Sudeep, who is releasing his eighth book, ‘The Bengalis – A Portrait of a
Community’.
What inspired Sudeep to write the book? “I
have, for long, wanted to write a book on the social and political aspects of
Greater Bengal – by that I mean West Bengal and East Bengal (now Bangladesh) –
with a personalised touch. My personal history is rooted in both Bengals, as it
were, and such an approach lends a touch of reality and immediacy to seemingly
dry history. ‘The Bengalis’ assumed a more rounded avatar after my discussion
with David Davidar, the editor of Aleph Book Company, whose idea was a fuller
portrait of the Bengalis, almost a biography.”
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He further adds, “More than my roots, I
looked at it as a story that could do with some telling. The Bengalis
constitute among the largest ethno-linguistic communities in the world, with
fascinating history, politics and culture. They have had great impact on the
subcontinent’s regional history, even world history in some ways. And this
effect, for better and worse, continues to this day and will certainly continue
well into the future. I am a storyteller not bound by convention of subject
matter: it was a story waiting to be told, so I told it. There have been some
books on communities written in Europe, but I believe it is the first such
biography of a people in our part of the world.”
The book is divided into three major chapters. Book I, which is
called ‘Genesis & More’ deals with the origin of Bengal and Bengalis. Book
II is called ‘Culture Chronicles’ and deals with the Bengal Renaissance,
passion for food and sports, particularly football, nuances of language, love
of culture and travel, the Bengali attitude and character and how Bengalis
treat those who are not Bengali. Book III is titled ‘Age of Fire’ and deals
with the revolutionary phases in Bengal.
Describing his journey of creating a self-portrait of an entire
community, Sudeep says, “The difference with other books I have written and
‘The Bengalis’ is that I am involved in the story, as a narrator and
occasionally as a participant. But I was determined to maintain a distance, and
address thorny issues of history and ethnicity alongside all that is justly
celebrated about the Bengalis. This is necessary: ‘The Bengalis’ is not a
brochure; it’s an attempt at a portrait of a people painted with what I hope is
honesty, honour, some horror and a lot of humour.”
Speaking about the target readership for the book, Sudeep says,
“I have written it so that anyone, a Bengali, part-Bengali, an NRI Bengali, a Bengali
who does not know much about his or her own collective past, or a Bengali out
of touch with Bengali roots can benefit from the book. And the readership
extends most certainly to those not-Bengali, because such a person may have
Bengali friends and associates, or may even be married to one—and may therefore
be curious about knowing their collective history. Beyond this audience, I hope
the book will interest anyone interested in a good story.”
The book is easy to understand for non Bengali readers too and
many have even written back to Sudeep about how they have gifted several copies
to their Bengali friends, colleagues and business associates.
The
book, ‘The Bengalis – A portrait of a community’ by Sudeep Chakravarti will be
released today, December 2, 2017 at Literati Bookshop and Cafe, Calangute at
7pm
