A quiet but determined effort to preserve the legacy of Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay — author of Bengali literary classics like Pather Panchali, Adarsha Hindu Hotel, and Ichhamati — has taken the form of a line of thoughtfully designed souvenirs.
Leading the initiative is his younger grandson, Trinankur Banerjee, a Delhi-based designer who is using his skills to generate resources to maintain the author’s house in Barakpur village, around 11km from Bongaon town.
“People tend to associate Boral, near Garia, with Pather Panchali, since Satyajit Ray shot the film there. But Nischindipur, the setting of the story, is actually Barakpur, where my grandfather spent his childhood,” Trinankur told Metro.
The house that Trinankur wants to preserve was bought by Bibhutibhushan in the late 1930s, when he was in his early 40s.
The author had spent nearly three decades in a city lodge — the initial years in penury — after leaving for Calcutta for college. “The original house he grew up in was destroyed in a storm, leaving only ruins. Once his financial situation improved, he
wanted a place in his own village and he bought a house two plots away from
his childhood home — a single-storey, three-room structure in Bongaon,” Trinankur explained.
“He would divide his time between that house and Ghatshila, where he received a home from a debtor.”
The Bongaon house is where he wrote Ichhamati, which won the Rabindra Purashkar, and another novel, Anubartan, set during World War II.
After Bibhutibhushan’s son, author and bureaucrat Taradas Bandyopadhyay, died in 2010, the house fell into disrepair. “It became hard for Ma (Mitra Bandyopadhyay) to maintain it from Barrackpore,” Trinankur said.
Trinankur has since repaired the house, which now sees 10 to 50 visitors daily, but he wants to do more — including restoring the interiors and the surrounding grounds.
“Visitors want to see more. I want to add family photographs and my grandfather’s personal belongings. But I can only do that after putting in a security system, including CCTV coverage,” said the 45-year-old, who frequently returns to Bongaon.
Trinankur is firm that the house will never have ticketed entry. “Bibhutibhushan saw himself as a common man and wouldn’t have restricted visitors. Though he earned enough later in life, he had no real sense of money. When he died suddenly, cash was found tucked in odd places and outdated cheques he forgot to encash,” he said.
Instead of charging for entry, he wants to offer visitors souvenirs to take home and has developed a souvenir line, designed by himself. “I avoided local crafts like pottery and tried to use materials Bengal consumers aren’t used to,” he said.
The collection includes bookends made from laser-cut perforated metal sheets sourced from Uttar Pradesh; enamelled metal trays featuring hand-drawn sketches of flowers that appear in Bibhutibhushan’s works — ghnetu, kalkashunde, dholkolmi, ashshyaora; crochet doilies, reimagined with delicate motifs, such as woven Titpalla or Amaltas blossoms, his favourite country flowers; and T-shirts themed on Taranath Tantrik, Pather Panchali, Chander Pahar and Aranyak.
Trinankur has also created a metallic photo frame etched with the façade of Paradise Lodge, Bibhutibhushan’s former Calcutta residence — a crumbling old mess bari at 41 Mirzapur Street, now Surya Sen Street. “It’s now a decaying building crammed with businesses in pigeonholes,” he said.
The souvenir exhibition will be held at AranyaBaari café in Jodhpur Park, from August 29 and will conclude on September 12, Bibhutibhushan’s birthday.