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In Sesher Kbaita, Rabindranath Tagore knocks away social and familial props just to set a young man and a woman talking to one another. Tagore maps the emotional evolution through a series of scintillating conversations between the two protagonists - Amit Rai and Labanyalata. Seshar Kabita has many layers; it is an unusual love story on the surface, but the deeper one moves into the story, one realizes that Tagore is subtly slipping in other elements as well. Is love important in marriage? Does marriage leave space, physical abnd mental, for both the partners? And then there is Tagore`s awareness of the Bengali language itself, with which he plays elaborate language games. The startingly contemporaneous engagement with issues of romantic love and the responsibilities and everydayness of marriage is gripping: there may be nods of agreement, or spectical headshakes, but to avoid reflection on the questions Tagore raises, is impossible.
Anindita Mukhopadhyay teaches history at the University of Hyderabad. She has translated for search purposes over the last few years. Her Behind the Mask; the Cultural Definition of the Legal Subject in Colonial Bengal 1175-1900 will be published later this year. ISBN - 9788129109378
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Pages : 168
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