Another ending for the story matchbox by ashapurna debi
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More than a hundred years stand between the birth of Ashapurna Debi and the publication of Matchbox, a collection of some of her short stories translated into English. Wars have been fought and peace has been made in that time, yet her stories remain as relevant as the day and age in which they were written.
"There is no expiry date on great literature," says Prasenjit Gupta, the translator of Matchbox. "We admire and learn from William Shakespeare and Anton Chekhov and Rabindranath Tagore as much today as we did when they wrote, and Ashapurna is of that immortal fellowship. The families Ashapurna writes about are all around us. We recognise in her characters our own uncles and aunts and cousins, people we've lived with and know well. We find truths in her stories that we didn't realise before, and that is what literature does."
In Matchbox, the truths come in the form of life-altering dilemmas (Kathamo/The Scheme of Things), the illusion of sorrow (Shok/Grief) and the skewed perception of people (Chhayashurjo/Shadowsun).
Gupta's own favourite amongst the ones he has translated, is Neejer Jonno Shok (Grieving for Oneself). "It's a beautifully written and moving account of a middle-aged man, who wakes up in the middle of the night sweating and terrified at the thought that he's had a stroke and is paralysed. As he thinks of his life, we begin to observe that he's been sidelined in some things. Finally, a groan is forced from his lips, and the household is roused to a concern about what has happened to him. Even the concern, though, is soon edged with callousness, with a blatant disregard for his feelings. In the end, again, he's left alone in bed, seeing himself as old and irrelevant, unwanted by the very people for whom he cares so much."