Himadri by Subhas Bagchi [Hardcover]

Himadri is a real character. From the age of about five, this boy, who lost his mother, was driven by destiny. In other words, he was a lifelong victim of circumstances. This is not an unusual story. Just as biographies are written about famous people, similarly, among the five seemingly ordinary individuals, one like ‘Dhondai’—the fifth—can also have a timeless story written about him. It is better to call it a reality-based narrative rather than a pure fiction. The story of Himadri is just like that.

Like Rabindranath’s “Chheleta” (the boy), Himadri grows outside the family circle, propelled by sheer willpower and vitality. With the same liveliness as the loud noise of a gourd sprouting in the rain, he grows up. At the age of fifteen, one early morning, he runs away from his uncle’s kitchen and joins the Congress volunteers’ march from Bhatpara to Mahishbathan, inspired by Gandhi’s Dandi March. From that day, the essence of Himadri’s character is anchored firmly outside the family circle—among the people.

Amidst love, unemployment, and existential confusion, this fiery, rebellious youth, desperate in his various relationships, finds himself in the battlefield of life—an epic historical struggle; fighting against the German general Rommel, known as the “Desert Fox.” Then, one by one, he is in Libya, Tunisia, Cyprus, Italy... and finally returns to his homeland; scarred by the violence of the partition and riots, and becoming a second-class citizen.

The story of Himadri is an extraordinary tale of an ordinary man set against the backdrop of World War II, the freedom struggle, riots, and partition.