A classic Bengali children's story filled with funny characters and bizarre happenings.

Sukumar Roy is undoubtedly the finest writer of nonsense tales and verse in Bengali. This book presents his chief works--Rhymes without Reason and A Topsy-Turvy Tale--in English. The skillful translations convey the genial intimacy of Ray's creations and his original illustrations accompany the text throughout.

Celebrating 100 years of Satyajit Ray A classic keepsake edition, featuring 12 fascinating stories by a master storyteller Featuring Ray's original artwork Another Dozen Stories brings to you the magical, bizarre, spooky and sometimes astonishing worlds created by Satyajit Ray, featuring an extraordinary bunch of characters! While 'The McKenzie Fruit' trails a humble man trying to leave his mark in history, 'Worthless' is a moving story about a seemingly hapless character not quite able to win the confidence of his family. Meet Professor Hijibijbij, the eccentric scientist bent on creating living replicas of peculiar creatures and follow Master Angshuman into a nail-biting and unexpected adventure on the sets of his very first film. This collection includes twelve hair-raising stories that will leave you asking for more! Translated for the very first time into English by noted translator Indrani Majumdar, this edition is a tribute to Ray's immaculate literary genius and a gift for his many fans and followers on the centenary of his birth.

The book elaborates the basic principles of Auction Theory in a non-technical language so as to make them easily accessible to even those not trained in the discipline. Auctions as allocation mechanisms have been in use across the world since antiquity and are still employed in different countries for purchase and sales of a wide range of objects, both by governments and by private agents. Auction has gained popularity over other allocation mechanisms since the rules of auctions are very precise, involve much less subjective judgements compared to other alternative allocation mechanisms and lead to a more efficient process of discovering the true willingness of the buyers to pay. Moreover, the principles of Auction Theory are used in other contexts, for example in designing contests, or in controlling emission levels through allocation of permits and licenses.

‘If you hear this, you will find your heads are getting muddled. Some of you will fathom fully, some will stay befuddled’ The Bengali language has never been quite such a living, breathing creature of whimsy as in Sukumar Ray’s hands. His creations—wild and wicked, dreamy and delirious—have thrilled children and adults alike. This selection offers you the best of his world—pun-riddled, fun-fiddled poetry from Abol Tabol and Khai-Khai, stories of schoolboy pranks from Pagla Dashu, of madcap explorers from Heshoram Hushiyarer Diary and the unforgettable harum-scarum classic Haw-Jaw-Baw-Raw-Law—for the first time in its entirety. All the stories and poems are accompanied by Sukumar Ray’s inimitable illustrations. Sampurna Chattarji’s vibrant translation captures the freewheeling play of sound and sense we associate with Ray’s writings, and promises to win him a whole new generation of admirers.

Close on the heels of the original Rhymes of Whimsy - The Complete Abol Tabol, follows, by popular demand, this dual-language edition with side by side Bengali originals and their English translations. Formatted to enable effortless at-a-glance comparison of each original line with its English translation, this edition offers twice the enjoyment, twice the fun, and is a fabulous learning tool for children. Abol Tabol is a collection of fifty-three children's poems by late author Sukumar Ray, whose nonsense verse has been compared by scholars to the likes of Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll. For the first time in more than one hundred years since the publication of the earliest poems in 1915, comes an English translation of the complete collection. Preserving every single rollicking rhyme, and maintaining the exact same cadences as in the originals, Niladri Roy's translation is a superbly line-accurate rendering of every poem in Abol Tabol, that amazingly manages to read as if the poems had originally been penned in the English language to begin with. Each translated poem evokes immediate nostalgia of the original in both rhyme and rhythm. A must-read for enthusiasts of humorous nonsense verse, as well as for academicians and students engaged in comparative literature, South Asian literature and translation studies. Praise for Rhymes of Whimsy from verified purchasers of the original all-English edition: "Wonderful translation. Preserves the original flavor of Abol Tabol. "A+ job in translating the original rhymes to English while retaining the excitement, feelings and fun." "The translator has done a fantastic job by keeping the rhyme exactly the way as it is in the Bengali verse. A brilliant piece of work." "Maintains meter and flavor with ease, without compromising meaning." "The poems read very well and do not appear forced, as some translations do." "The essence, the fun, the magic, the rhymes - have all been carefully cultivated."

Welcome to the extraordinary world of Sukumar Ray – King of Humour and Wizard of Wordplay! A gifted poet, writer, playwright and illustrator, Ray wrote stories of various shapes, colours and flavours, transforming words into things of wonder and whimsy for generations of readers. Featuring broken stars and enchanted forests, cures for anger and greed, lazy pigs and sly parrots, wicked sorcerers and talking dolls, many of the tales in this unusual medley have been translated into English for the first time. The collection highlights not only Ray’s crazy imagination but also his ability to breathe life into fables from faraway lands. Brimming with wit and magic, this dazzling display of Sukumar Ray’s storytelling genius is sure to leave you utterly spellbound.

This book examines textual representations of Africa in the Indian imagination from 1928 to 1973. It critically analyses Bengali literature during this period, their imitation of colonial racial prejudices and how it allowed Bengalis to fashion their identity. It analyses the development of ‘Africa’ as an idea and historical reality through the writings of five Bengali writers including the Bengali novelist Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay, the children’s author Hemendra Kumar Roy, the poet and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore, the playwright Ganesh Bagchi and the surrealist poet and founding editor of Transition magazine Rajat Neogy. The book shows how these writers engage with the idea of Africa and their influence in the construction of the Bengali cultural identity during the freedom struggle, the Partition of Bengal in 1947 and the creation of Bangladesh in 1971. The book offers readers a glimpse of the exotic imaginary locales of Africa while offering an in-depth look into the interconnected histories, cartographic routes and cultural exchange between India and Africa. A first of its kind, this book will be an excellent read for students and scholars of literature, comparative literature, history, cultural studies, postcolonial studies, South Asian studies, African studies and diaspora studies. .