Funny and Funnier

Ten wonderfully funny stories by the great Bengali writer Shrrshendu Mukhopadhyay. Meet the thief who does not like to steal, the genie that wants to burp, the cow and the tiger that drink together and the gentlemen who is too polite to object even an ox butts him in the ribs. Visit the town where ghosts and people co-exist amicably and the village where anyone who has a drink from the well finds even iron digestible. And join the famous detective Barada Charan as he rapidly uncovers mysterious plots involving stolen gourds and masterful disguises.

Set in timeless little towns with genial folks, the author’s narrative skills and witty observations will make these hilarious stories an instant hit with young people.

Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay started his career as a school teacher and is now on the staff of the Ananda Bazar Patrika in Kolkata. He is associated with the Bengali magazine, Desh. His first novel Ghunpika was published in the annual Puja Manojder Adbhut Baari. He has received the vidyasagar Award in 1985 for his contribution to children’s literature. He has also received the Ananda Purashkar twice and the sahitya akademi award for one of his novels.

Palash Baran Pal is a physicist who works at the Saha Institute of Naclear Physics, Kolkata. His previous translations from the Bengali include stories by Rabindranath Tagore and Parashuram. His Translations into Bengali include collections of poems by Pablo Neruda, Jacques Prevert and Matsuo Basho. Apart from translation works, he has also published a collection of folktales, a treatise on linguistics, several books of popular science, and of course, many research papers in Physics.

Abhijit Gupta teaches English at Jadavpur University. He is a co-editor of the book History in India series of which two volumes have been published and is also the associate editor for south Asia for the Oxford Companion to the book. His other research areas include science fiction, graphic novels, crime fiction and the 19 century.