In the Bangla literary pantheon, Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay occupies a very special place – particularly for works such as Aranyak (Of the Forest) and Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road). This post, however, is and upload of one of his lesser known works. In Ahban, an educated Hindu Bangalee youth returns to his village after a long time, where he develops a bond with an old Muslim woman. While the woman increasingly starts regarding him like a son, her actions embarrass the youth in front of the other villagers. Like many of Bibhutibhusan’s stories, Ahban is a window into the heart of rural Bengal, but in its depiction of an unrequited love, it is also a lot more.
In the Bangla literary pantheon, Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay occupies a very special place – particularly for works such as Aranyak (Of the Forest) and Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road). This post, however, is and upload of one of his lesser known works. In Ahban, an educated Hindu Bangalee youth returns to his village after a long time, where he develops a bond with an old Muslim woman. While the woman increasingly starts regarding him like a son, her actions embarrass the youth in front of the other villagers. Like many of Bibhutibhusan’s stories, Ahban is a window into the heart of rural Bengal, but in its depiction of an unrequited love, it is also a lot more.