read

Sunday Classics: ‘Abol-Tabol’ and ‘Ha-Ja-Ba-Ra-La’ by Sukumar Ray

This Children’s Day, treat yourself to some well-deserved ‘nonsense’

Sukumar Ray’s nonsense verse is as much a part of being Bengali as loving the pashbalish and has delighted generations of readers. While children enjoy the rhymes and absurdities of Abol-Tabol and Ha-Ja-Ba-Ra-La, for adults, much of the genius lies in their nuanced satires. 

Originally written in Bengali, the translation in English is available as The Select Nonsense of Sukumar Ray by Sukanta Chaudhuri and contains 44 of the 52 rhymes in Abol-Tabol along with almost the full story from the novella Ha-Ja-Ba-Ra-La. 

Published by Oxford University Press, the translated version comes with an introduction by Sukumar’s Ray’s son Satyajit Ray, and is an ideal initiation into the magic of Sukumar Ray’s works for those who are unfamiliar with the Bengali language. 

This Children’s Day, revisit these childhood favourites in the Bengali original or with Sukanta Chaudhuri’s masterful translations.