Mid-way through reading The Curious World of Uncle Tarini (Penguin India), we realise that most of us would have had a similar ‘uncle’ in our lives. He is a raconteur and a storyteller whose tales are dripping with wanderlust and discovery.
Tarini Charan Bandyopadhyay or Tarini ‘Khuro’ (Bengali: uncle) was created by the master storyteller Satyajit Ray. He crafted 15 stories from 1982-88 about this uncle’s exploits across India, and ensured his busy work life (he had 56 jobs; see box) takes the reader through all kinds of fast-paced, often oddball plots and mysteries as Paltu, the young narrator, reveals to us. The stories have appeared in three Bengali children’s magazines, and continue to delight readers since then. This new title is the first time that it appears as a collection, translated into English by Gopi and Indrani Majumdar.
Sandip Ray, son of Satyajit Ray. PIC/FIONA FERNANDEZ
Curiosity got the better of us (perhaps, inspired by Tarini) when we found ourselves at an adda helmed by his son Sandip Ray, in our quest to know more about the cool uncle since he wrote the foreword of this collection, and possibly had the best seat in the house to reveal more. We arrived at the famous address on Bishop Lefroy Road in Kolkata, where Satyajit Ray lived from the 1970s until his demise in 1992. From the boundary walls of this street that display Ray’s film posters as artworks, to the stunningly-lit façade of his colonial home, and the residence itself, every frame deserved a second glance.
Ray’s bi-colour illustrations of A Duel in Lucknow published in Sandesh in 1985. Later, he created a variation of the same image for the book, which is included in the relevant story. Illustrations Courtesy/Penguin India
In the drawing room, members of the Ray Society trickle in, sharing updates of their recent projects, offering smiling nods to the unknown entity from another city. Soon after introductions by Pinaki De, the book’s cover designer, also a Ray Society member and well-known graphic artist, we prod Sandip da to roll back the years. “My father loved creating characters for children: Professor Shonku in 1961, and Feluda in 1965. After that, he was looking for a character. He created a lot of content for radio and TV programmes, where he would narrate stories to children. He loved that kind of atmosphere, where he could tell weird and exciting stories, and have children listen to them. That idea interested him, and that’s how Uncle Tarini was born,” he reminisces, flipping through the pages of the book.
“Uncle Tarini was created from my father’s love for children; he understood them well. If you look at all his films, children are front and centre.” At this point we notice that the members take a break from their mini adda, to listen as a son recalls his father’s craft. “These 15 stories reflect my father’s penchant for unpredictability, which made them exciting. He enjoyed the supernatural, and occult, detective fiction, as well as eerie and macabre subjects. These stories are lean and unputdownable. The reader is tempted to read it at one go,” he admits. Apart from the thrill-a-page storylines, readers can marvel at Ray’s masterful illustrations.
Satyajit Ray. Pics courtesy/Wikimedia Commons
Talk veers to the translation of the original stories from Bengali to English. Despite the references and local phraseology that are typically Bengali, it resonates with non-Bengali readers. “My father’s stories are identifiable across borders. His craft is his genius while the subjects of his stories are thrilling. If the translations are good, it transcends. Gopa and Indrani Majumdar have done a fine job with this collection, and have done justice to the nuances and tone of my father’s writing,” he adds. By now, the adda buzz gets louder, signalling that it’s time to leave the hallowed living room. We are chuffed, of course, after our imaginary adda session with Uncle Tarini and his brilliant creator.
From the translator’s desk
Indrani Majumdar explains the process and journey of translating Satyajit Ray’s works.
‘Tarini Khuro’ is defined not just by what he tells, but how he tells it. He is the quintessential majlishi (Arabic: sitting room) storyteller — a master of the oral tradition whose charm lies in the performance of the narrative. Here, Ray’s Bengali language is different from the language he adopted to write other short stories, Feluda adventures or Shonku’s escapades.
Dated cover of Sandesh, one of the Bengali children’s magazines in which Uncle Tarini’s stories were published
The stories are framed as leisurely tales told over tea and biri (bidi). Literary merit lies in maintaining this oral storytelling rhythm while transforming the text from Bengali’s unique idioms to a natural English prose that feels equally ‘anecdotal’. The stories often blend horror, mystery, and comedy. Shifting of the tone is seamless — capturing a ‘chilling’ encounter with a ghost in one paragraph and ‘quick wit’ in the face of danger in the next.
Ray adopted the style of storytelling through the innocent eyes and words of the child narrator, Paltu. This perspective is used to subtly critique adult actions, and bridge the gap between child and adult readers through a cultural discourse.
Uncle Tarini took up 56 jobs, which means the translator inhabits dozens of worlds in a single collection. The ‘weight of expectations’ is a delight because the reader expects a world-travelled polymath, allowing the translator to use a sophisticated, eclectic English vocabulary that wouldn’t fit the teenaged voice of young Paltu.
Multi-faceted Uncle Tarini
Uncle Tarini worked in the guise of a secretary, journalist, hotel manager, model, hunter, actor, a double, cricketer, sultan, palmist, and even a paid storyteller. He never held a job for more than 11 months, highlighting his emotional and restless nature and thirst for wanderlust.
