About the author
One of the most popular novelists in the recent history of Bangla literature, Samaresh Majumdar holds a special place in the hearts of thousands of Bengali readers. Born in the idyllic district of Jalpaiguri, India in 1944 he is best known for his Animesh series of novels, the second of which won the Sahitya Akademi prize in 1984. Animesh Mitra, the protagonist of the trilogy, is one of the few literary characters that have been deeply etched into the minds of the readers. Readers have also found traces of its creator in the character, though Majumdar does not confirm it. Like Animesh, some other characters created by Majumdar such as Dipaboli of Saatkahon and detective Arjun who features in a number of novels have also earned a permanent place in readers’ hearts.
The main characters
Arjun is a fictional young detective character based in the north Bengal small town of Jalpaiguri. Samaresh Majumdar created this goyenda (investigator) / adventurer in 1983. Samaresh babu uses the enchanting north Bengal terrain as a backdrop in his novels, bases Arjun in his hometown of Jalpaiguri - this gives his detective fiction a kind of charm that is missing in most city-centric writing.
Arjun is intelligent and athletic but he's not the finished product i.e. a polished private investigator yet - he definitely doesn't have the gravitas of Feluda, Byomkesh or even Deep Kaku. Rather, he is unassuming and has a certain innocence about him that makes him endearing. As the series evolves, Arjun matures, very similar to Feluda but Arjun has started even younger. Arjun doesn't come from an affluent background - when he first starts off as an adventurer-detective he is unemployed looking unsuccessfully for a job having just graduated with a BA degree. Further, unlike other detective characters, Arjun has a strong relationship with his mother and neighbours like Joguda who works at a bank in Malbazaar.
Of course, Arjun doesn't have an assistant but he has a mentor named Amal Shome who is an established, senior private investigator getting on in years. Arjun and his mentor Amol Shome are distinctly different from many fictional detectives with their Himalayan hill town charm. They are a pair of self professed satya sandhanis (truth seekers). Arjun is a young adult who is the adventurer-detective hero - he is not a sidekick of the older detective.
One of the most popular novelists in the recent history of Bangla literature, Samaresh Majumdar holds a special place in the hearts of thousands of Bengali readers. Born in the idyllic district of Jalpaiguri, India in 1944 he is best known for his Animesh series of novels, the second of which won the Sahitya Akademi prize in 1984. Animesh Mitra, the protagonist of the trilogy, is one of the few literary characters that have been deeply etched into the minds of the readers. Readers have also found traces of its creator in the character, though Majumdar does not confirm it. Like Animesh, some other characters created by Majumdar such as Dipaboli of Saatkahon and detective Arjun who features in a number of novels have also earned a permanent place in readers’ hearts.
The main characters
Arjun is a fictional young detective character based in the north Bengal small town of Jalpaiguri. Samaresh Majumdar created this goyenda (investigator) / adventurer in 1983. Samaresh babu uses the enchanting north Bengal terrain as a backdrop in his novels, bases Arjun in his hometown of Jalpaiguri - this gives his detective fiction a kind of charm that is missing in most city-centric writing.
Here's Samaresh Majumdar talking about Arjun:
Arjun is intelligent and athletic but he's not the finished product i.e. a polished private investigator yet - he definitely doesn't have the gravitas of Feluda, Byomkesh or even Deep Kaku. Rather, he is unassuming and has a certain innocence about him that makes him endearing. As the series evolves, Arjun matures, very similar to Feluda but Arjun has started even younger. Arjun doesn't come from an affluent background - when he first starts off as an adventurer-detective he is unemployed looking unsuccessfully for a job having just graduated with a BA degree. Further, unlike other detective characters, Arjun has a strong relationship with his mother and neighbours like Joguda who works at a bank in Malbazaar.
Courtesy: Arko Chakraborty
Of course, Arjun doesn't have an assistant but he has a mentor named Amal Shome who is an established, senior private investigator getting on in years. Arjun and his mentor Amol Shome are distinctly different from many fictional detectives with their Himalayan hill town charm. They are a pair of self professed satya sandhanis (truth seekers). Arjun is a young adult who is the adventurer-detective hero - he is not a sidekick of the older detective.
He is a small-town boy from North Bengal. Buying a red bike is one of the highlights of his career. There are numerous references to the era gone by such as Arjun never smokes in front of elders especially Amal Shome. However, for a small town boy with limited means, Arjun is remarkably well travelled overseas to USA (Lighter Rahasya), the UK (Jutoy Rakter Daag), and even to neighbouring Bangladesh in his adventures.
The third recurring character in the series is Major. He brings in much needed comic relief. I found Major to be very similar to Captain Haddock of Tintin series. Major is introduced in Lighter as an eccentric, cheroot smoking, globe trotting, nature loving adventurer who is also bachelor like Amal Shome. Major is related to Amal Shome’s friend, Bishnu saheb (Bishnucharan Patranabis). Major is his sister’s husband’s brother. Bishnu Saheb is from Kalimpong and features in a couple of early stories.
Habu, Amal Shome’s servant also appears as a recurring but peripheral character in several stories. Habu is deaf and dumb, but exceptionally strong. He is loyal and has a deep sense of responsibility - Amal Shome trusts Habu to look after his house in Hakimpara in Jalpaiguri when he’s away for months on end. However, Habu is a terrible cook!
What are the stories like
Arjun stories are not really goyenda golpo - they often read like adventure laden travelogues or even historical fiction. Samaresh Majumdar’s simple lucid writing make these stories a true ‘time capsule’ of life in moffusil towns in the 1990s. The stories set in the foothills of the Himalayas, especially in the forests there are my favourites including Khutimari Range and Joyontir Jongole as they seem to have the special local touch.
Some Arjun stories have rather outlandish premises like time travel in Arjun Beriye Elo. The range is wide: from looking for lost treasure in Kalapahar, quest for a mysterious flower with lethal smell in Phule Bisher Gondho, helping village of self-exiled Britons hidden in the hills of north Bengal get the better of middle Asian warriors in search of their reincarnated spiritual leader and in the process finding a Stegosaurus in Hisbebe Bhul Chilo, apprehending an orangutan that is trained to be a cat burglar in Salt Lake neighbourhood of Kolkata in Labonhrad Landobhando, to searching for the abominable snowman in Yetir Atiyo.
However I must say that Samaresh Babu showed wonderful futuristic vision in Arjun Beriye Elo to predict T20 cricket, video calling and self driven cars. It was wonderful serendipity to hear about T20 cricket player 174 years in the future from 1994 at Lords and being projected holographically in Jalpaiguri, while I was actually on a bus and passing Lords! Thank God, we didn’t have to wait that long to see T20 cricket as it became a reality in early 2000s! As did video calling thanks to Skype initially and later WhatsApp, and now post COVID19, Zoom. Self driving cars are not that far away with Google being amongst those who have started testing the concept.
Samaresh babu has been prolific with the Arjun series with nearly 50 stories being published since the first one in 1983. I have read that he started writing Arjun stories at the request of a person called Nirendranath Chakrabarti and the first story was published in Anadalok.
There was an excellent series of radio natok (drama) adaptations by Amit Chakraborty called 'Ami Arjun' on 91.9 Friends FM that was quite popular. They adapted around 10 stories - you can find these on YouTube by clicking the link below. It was through these stories that I got introduced to the series and discovered Arjun.
- Ami Arjun
- Khutimari Range
- Khunkharapi
- Lighter
- Derdin
- Rotnogorbha
- Arjun Ebaar Kolkata e
- Macsaheber Natni
- Berosik
- Arjun Hotobombho and Arjun O Aditi
Since then, several other channels have also narrated Arjun books.
The only Arjun film, ‘Kalimpong E Sitaharan’ directed by Prem Modi, had an unflattering debut in 2013. The film an adaptation of two early stories of Arjun - stories — Khunkharapi and Kalimpongey Sitaharan.
