Book: Chander Pahar
Author: Bibhutibhushan BandyopadhyayEnglish Translation: Mountain of the Moon
First publication: 1937
It is said that books are a gateway to worlds we can only enter through pages. Reading a beautiful book can be the most exciting and beautiful journey of self exploration of an undiscovered land. And when the book is authored by one of the greatest Bengali storytellers of all time, the world in it becomes as unique and beautiful an experience as finding the golden pot at the end of a rainbow could be.
This book lets you believe nothing is impossible. Just like setting on a journey to find diamond mines did not seem impossible for a lower middle class Bengali boy Shankar while living in a small village.
Shankar our protagonist is in a situation where he has to choose between his dream of seeing the world, inhaling the earth and providing for his family by working a 9 to 5 job in a jute mill (most wild spread industry in specifically Bengal in early 1900s of India). He is heartbroken for having to settle down for an ordinary life of a daily hassles, leaving his dream of being a vagabond.
Shankar is a dreamy eyed 20 years old boy who loves Geography and reading adventure stories of authors from around the world. He dreams of living in a world beyond imagination for ordinary people in a country enslaved by British. His age, his birth makes people think of his dream as just a boyish tantrum to escape the mediocrity of life. But as the author says "One’s age cannot be the yardstick to measure the quality of one’s life (Manusher ayu manusher jiboner bhul mapkathi)"
Fortunately, after a few hassles he still manages to find a job in far far land of east African country Kenya. He takes a job as an engineer for a newly built railway line in the secluded coastal corner of the country, Mombasa. He befriends people from all over the world who came there to work. He befriends the Masai Coolies. He is finally living the life he wanted.
But fate had other plans, and he is forced to leave the job and goes on to become a station master in Uganda where he comes across many other dangers and finally befriends a Portuguese Explorer Diego Alvarez after saving him from almost certain death. Diego Alvarez becomes his life long friend and mentor. He tells Shankar about all his adventures and offers him an expedition to the undiscovered Diamond Mines of Africa.
The duo of two different generations went beyond different countries, languages, continents and became each other's most confidante and admirer. The duo travel through the wilderness of Africa in search of diamond mines while encountering many dangers like an eruption of a hidden alive volcano and evil creatures of Maasai Myths.
Shankar's journey takes him from Mombasa to the most dangerous widespread Sahara Desert. Through his journey the readers get to have an almost accurate experience of Wild Africa, the difficult yet dream land of many adventurers.
This book's brilliance doesn't only lie in its thrilling and gripping adventurous story. It is also amazing how the author had written one of the most accurate descriptions of the wilds of African continent and takes the readers along on this journey with the protagonist, even though the author himself never even left his own hometown. In that pre internet era of no easy communication, being able to tell a story with such accuracy just by reading about the country never fails to amaze me. Creating such a piece of art is a superpower in itself.
Lastly the whole journey never ceases to mesmerize the readers. It remains in one's mind for lifetime, in sickness and health.
Rating: as someone whose life has been shaped by this book in early childhood, it will be absolutely impossible for me to rate this book.
