Book Review: Pather Panchali (Song of the Road)

Title: Pather Panchali
Author: Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay
Translated By: T.W. Clark and Tarapada Mukherji
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Anyone in India who is remotely a movie buff has heard about “Pather Panchali” if not watched it. A movie directed by Satyajit Ray which shone as a lone beacon of light for Indian Cinema for quite some time. I had heard the story of ”Pather Panchali” from my grandfather when I was about 8 years old. My grandfather could read Bengali and therefore I had heard the actual translation of the original book in the setting of my village. What a story it was? A village never came to life so well in front of my eyes as I had heard my grandfather reading out the story to me. As a child I imagined seeing Opu in the face of the son of one of the farmers working for my grandfather.

Time has flown and that innocence is lost now. Some weeks back I came to see the English translation of “Pather Panchali” and pounced upon the book. Actually it was Vidisha who had pounced upon the book, but that was only because she was standing near the book :P

“Pather Panchali” is a masterpiece of Bengali writer Bibutibhushan Bandyopadhyay.It was first published as a set of periodicals in 1928 which was later put together as a book in 1929. "Pather" means the path or journey while "Panchali" means a folk poem/song, which can be put loosely as "Song of the Road". The story also glides like a river that's flowing in a pleasant manner with the path that's been beautifully described. The story was originally written in Bengali.. Set in pre-independence India in a picturesque village called Nischindpur, the work is a loose collection of stories from the perspective of Opu and Durga, the children of a poor Brahmin family struggling to survive, plagued by poverty, mother nature and the cruelty of unsympathetic neighbors. We experience rural village life in India through the two young siblings. Though poor and relentlessly teased, Opu and Durga find joy and wonderment in everyday life. Durga, who is constantly derided, often beaten, never quite loved -- is especially heartbreaking. Because she is a girl, she never gets as much food, is berated for not doing housework, is never taught to read, and lives a solitary existence. In other ways, the story plainly captures the ways in which women were powerless and utterly mistreated.

The character of Shorbojoya who is the mother of the two lovely children is very well etched. One can feel the pain of the mother as she walks on the tight rope of life struggling to provide for her two children while her husband Horihor wonders about trying to search for a job as a Brahmin. There are days when Shorbojoya has nothing to offer as food to the children, but just like Devi Annapurna, she conjures up some food which might just be leaves boiled in water for her children. The children are not the epitome of good behavior either but their naughtiness is so lovable that you feel for them. There is the naughty Durga who loiters around the village searching for wild berries, potatoes and fruits. Durga is the quintessential free-spirited girl who refuses to be never bogged down by the difficulties and is presented as a cheerful and happy-go-lucky kind of girl. She has her own shortcomings; especially her propensity to steal things. She doesn't mind taking away the things which she likes very much such as mangoes from trees of other family people of the village; the bead necklace from her neighbors etc. But she has a good and kind heart. Then there is the studious Opu who is good at heart, self-read and shy to an extreme fault. There is a story of Durga offering a berry to little Opu who finds it bitter, but Durga insists that it’s not completely bitter, there is a slight aftertaste of sweetness which according to her qualifies it to be a very good berry. This shows the poverty in which Durga has grown up. A berry which is supposed to be unpalatable tastes sweet to her because she has never tasted anything sweeter than this bitter sweet berry in her life. Similarly when Opu joins his father who is performing Puja in the house of a rich patron and gets offered sweets made with coconut, he cannot believe that something as good as this even exists and initially thinks of gobbling up all of the sweets but then his thought goes out to his elder sister Durga and his mother. He saves some of the sweets because he knows, neither of them would have ever tasted something as heavenly as a coconut sweet.

The book describes the serene setting of the village in an absolute stunning way. I have spent many a summer and winter vacations during my school days in my village and can vouch for the authenticity of the description in the book.

 The people are invariably poor but nevertheless content with their lives. Everyone knows each other in the village. A joy for one family is the source of joy for the whole village. A tragedy for one family is the source of sadness for the whole village. Time is measured not by the tick tocks of a watch but by the position of the shadows of a tree. "Jatra" (Stage Drama) day is the happiest day for each and everyone in the village. Bathing means bathing together with half the village population sharing the pond with you and catching up on all manners of gossip. A rain storm though brings a smile on the face of a farmer also is the reason for an additional crease line on the forehead as it is followed by swarms of children raiding the mango trees for any mangoes which have fallen down. God, I miss my village so much.

I have taken care in writing this review and there are no spoiler alerts needed. This is one book which will remain close to my heart forever. My all-time favorite book until now was “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Fin”....but now I can safely say it is “Pather Panchali”.....In fact I can say, this book is to the Indian child what The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Fin is to an American child.

A must must must read. A definite must read for every fan of Indian literature. It left me in tears as the last pages came to an end. Go ahead and walk the roads of Nischindpur in rural Bengal, while I’m busy kicking myself for not having read this novel earlier. The story is a simple expression of human interactions and emotions that has been presented beautifully and poignantly.