During that time he busied himself writing scripts for films in Bombay. Sharadindu did not want to continue the Byomkesh stories, due to which he stopped writing from 1938 to 1951. The stories present a range of crimes from the first story, Satyanweshi, where Byomkesh destroys an international drug racket, to household mysteries and crimes like Arthamanartham and Makorshar Rosh.
#BYOMKESH BAKSHI ETV BANGLA SERIES#
The stories are not very complicated but very engaging, with a long series of surprising events. The later stories (Room Nombor Dui, Chhlonar Chhondo, Shajarur Kanta, Benisonghaar and Lohar Biskut) are not penned by Ajit, who was engaged in his publication business. However, later the stories shift to more colloquial language. The stories are all written in traditional formal Bengali language. But in some cases Ajit also investigates in absence of Byomkesh (examples, Makorshar Rosh, Shoilo Rahasya). In his early stories, Ajit Kumar Banerjee is described as his companion, and chronicler of his stories. I’d like to remind readers the obvious: Saradindu, was a politically-incorrect writer in a politically-incorrect, colonial age.Saradindu Bandopadhyay penned 32 Byomkesh stories from 1932 to 1970 prior to his death. There are also passages in the story which modern post-colonial and feminist readers may find somewhat paternalistic and condescending especially when referring to Satyabati and Phanibhushan. In the end, Phanibhushan decides to kill himself instead of handing himself over to the authorities and admittedly this seems a bit contrived to modern readers. It turns out that Phanibhushan, the very well-read, but crippled youngest brother of the trio is the perpetrator. Murderer, Sukumar, is not, and this is evident in part because the evidence is too neatly stacked up against him. However, she is by far, the most interesting of the characters in Arthamanartham and she displays exhibits exceptional poise in order to protect her brother, Sukumar, who turns out to be the prime suspect once key evidence such as a modified will, and bottle of chloroform are found in his room. I suspect many readers who are not familiar with this story will know this and end up eliminating her name from the list of suspects. The story also has introduces the readers to Satyabati, who of course, Byomkesh later gets married to. If Sherlock Holmes had his impediments from Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard, then Byomkesh certainly had his from Lalbazar! The story also presents a whole range of characters who make it interesting such as the police officer, Bidhubabu, whose incompetence is only matched by his dislike for Byomkesh. The other two suspects were the children of the victim’s sister-in-law, Sukumar and Satyabati. The five suspects who fell in this category included the victim’s three nephews, Matilal Kar, Maniklal Kar, and Phanibhushan Kar- all uneducated brothers with no source of income who would definitely benefit from a windfall. The fact that the victim was very short-tempered and in the habit of frequently changing his will made it possible that anyone who could inherit his estate would have a motive to commit the crime. As Byomkesh determines later in the story, the victim was chloroformed in his sleep and killed by the insertion of a sewing needle multiple times between his medulla oblongata and vertebra, a curious choice that would indicate that this was a premeditated murder and that the culprit had at least some knowledge of medical procedures. Karali Charan Basu, a wealthy Bengali, with no direct heir, has been murdered in his sleep. Sarandindu also displays remarkable economy in setting the stage: the murder is established in the sixth sentence of the story. In this story, Byomkesh demonstrates his knowledge with important factors associated with homicide investigation that are taught to modern forensic researchers such as motive, modus operandi, time of death, condition of corpse, crime scene, and statements of the prime suspects. How can someone seemingly brilliant like the medical student, Sukumar, make numerous idiotic mistakes in committing a premeditated murder? This is the question that perplexes Byomkesh Bakshi in Saradindu Bandyopadhyay’s story Arthamanartham (অর্থমনর্থম্) and it is one that resonates with readers.Īrthamanartham is a magnificent story that demonstrates Saradindu’s skill at the top of his oeuvre.