Pather panchali is iconic novel of Bibutibhushan Banerjee. The story originally written in Bengali. It was first published as a set of preodically in 1928 which was later put together as a book in 1929. The story is basically a bildungsroman of the child protagonist Apu whose narration is somewhat related to the author’s own childhood. “Pather” means the path or journey while “Panchali” means a folk poem/song,which can be put loosely as “Song of the Road”.
The plot:
The plot is set in the village of Nischindipur where the family of Apu lives in a ancestral home of their Grandmother Indir Thakuran who happens to be the aunt of Apu’s father Harihor Rai who is the priest but not a man of pratical affairs. Another important person in this story is Indir Thakurun who has lost her whole family and is forced to live alone. So she accepts the proposal of letting in Harihor and their family members who were far off relatives to her. While Sarbhojaya is overly offensive on the old lady with whom they are forced to share their meager rations (although they are living in the old lady’s home) Durga,her daughter and Apu’s elder sister is sympathetic and has a filial affinity towards the old lady. Whenever the old lady leaves the house unable to bear the indifferent attitude meted out on her by Sarbhojaya,it is Durga who drags her grandma back to the home,with her innocent and gleeful talk.One day after an altercation between the two, Indir Thakrun refuses to come back forever and despite repeated calls by Durga she yields no ground. 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 neighbours etc. But she has a good and kind heart. It is just that poverty and failure to fulfill her desires forces her to steal them and behave like a kleptomaniac. Apu is more of an innocent kid who has followed in his father’s footsteps as it can be seen that he is more interested in the scholarly books and articles that are brought home by his father and is more happy to be left alone writing poems and plays of his own, unlike his sister who is an bubbling with hyperactivity and easily approaches any person with whom she wishes to interact. He is more of a shy kid who driven by her sister’s actions. Together they share the simplest of joys which any young brother and sister can have,like eating secretly the stolen mangoes from neighbour’s backyard,running after a candyman who passes through the village,watching a kaleidoscope shown by a vendor and being marvelled by its exquisiteness,walking miles far away from their home just to have a glimpse of the train and so on. As Harihor fails to make any considerable income from the village,he decides to try his luck elsewhere. He promises Sarbhojaya to come back soon with lots of money and gifts for kids. Although he goes here and there,his search goes in vain for the major part. So occasionally he sends a small token amount home which is not at all sufficient to run the family chores. They fall into greater poverty in this period. Adding to their woes Durga falls ill and cyclone hits them at the same time.Due to lack of medical facilities in the nearby village and monetary problems she fails to fully recover from the fever and on a stormy night the dilapidated house collapses partially and also takes away the life of Durga.
Finally Harihor gets a good opportunity as a family priest of a rich family. Brimmed with joy and unaware of the recent happenings in his house he comes back to inform them of the new job and and brings with him new gifts for the family.
Filled with anger and sorrow,when Sarbhojaya breaks down in front of him,he is equally overcome with grief and decides to leave the house and take the whole family with him to the new home where they can lead a better life and leave their bitter memories behind.
The story is a simple expression of human interactions and emotions that has been presented beautifully and poignantly.Even a movie was made in the name “Song of the Little Road” post independence by legendary director Satyajit Ray which was his directorial debut. It was hailed as a master-piece of its own.
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