Write a short note about the case of Ratan Haldar. Why is it an
important case?
Answers
Answer:
Ratan Haldar wrote about a letter that revealed to me that Benjam Burnham, a character in Sea of Poppies and River of Smoke, had a real life counterpart (the letter was actually from one of his descendants). Even stranger, I later found out that my wife had been taught by a member of this family, and that my son had been to school with another. Synchronicity is a mysterious thing…
On April 21, this year I received a message about another character in the Ibis Trilogy– Neel Rattan Halder, the Raja of Raskhali and originator of the Ibis Chrestomathy. This message prompted the correspondence that is posted below.
Dear Amitav Sir,
It is refreshing, as is always for a regular reader of your blog, to know about your encounter with Mr Mohammad Hossein Mohammadi. What strikes me most profoundly in your article is the fact that the content of Mr Mohammadi’s writings mostly highlight the daily lives of Afghan society, something beyond the widely held stereotype of the country surrounding its wars. It actually reminds me of a lecture by Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, titled ‘the danger of a single story’ that I listened online in Youtube. That talk also addressed the futility and limitations imposed by literary or artistic stereotypes. I am not fortunate enough so far to have read one of Mr Mohammdi’s writings but I will definitely make an effort to do so in future.
I wish to mention to you about one more thing. Our last and only communication before this was in October 2011. I am currently pursuing Pediatric residency training in Flushing Hospital, Queens, New York. I came across one article written in Bengali by our family physician and local historian, Shri (Dr) Akshay Kumar Adhaya, which explores the connection between Prankrishna Halder (Neel’s real life shadow) and my hometown,
'A View of Chinsurah, the Dutch Settlement in Bengal' (Wikimedia)
‘A View of Chinsurah, the Dutch Settlement in Bengal’ (Wikimedia)
Chinsura on the river Hooghly, which also serves as a source of Neel’s finest cotton dhotis in Sea of Poppies.
I hope this helps you.
Mark me as a brainliest.