Prem Nei by Gour Kishor Ghosh [Hardcover]

The day the Ramon Magsaysay Award was announced, when the news reached Kolkata, where was Gourkishore Ghosh? He was at the Bengali Muslim Literary Conference, as the chief guest. This important conference, held in Kolkata for the first time after so many years of independence, was organized with the aim of standing against the neglect of Muslim life in literature and inspiring the depiction of a clear and realistic reflection of Muslim life. Without a doubt, Gourkishore Ghosh was the most fitting person to be the chief guest at such a conference. After all, he is the one who wrote an extensive and intimate account of Muslim life, titled Prem Nei ("No Love"). When the second part of the epic trilogy "Desh-Mati-Manush," called Prem Nei, was serialized in the Desh magazine, it created quite a stir. While reading this novel, one feels as though the author, being an intimate companion of Shafikul or Dawood from their childhood, has closely observed their customs and conflicts, their struggles and inner dilemmas, their love and hatred, their religious and political consciousness— and countless other details that no one had observed in this way before. It's as though he has made us, the readers, his neighbors in their lives, whether in the village or in the city. And by the end of the novel, we inevitably arrive at the eternal truth where the cry "No Love" is established as a false reality. Prem Nei is a vast canvas depicting the timeless reflection of Muslim life.