Srikanta, the narrator of Saratchandra's epic novel, is an aimless drifter, a passive spectator to his own life, a weak and impressionable soul who cannot survive without the support of an individual stronger than himself. As a child he idealizes the chaste and selfless Annada Didi. Arriving in Burma as a young man looking for new experiences, Srikanta meets the rebellious Abhaya who rejects her violent, bigamous husband to live openly with her lover. Srikanta then experiments with becoming a sanyasi, is bewitched for a while by the Vaishnavi, Kamal Lata, and wanders on till his directionless existence finally finds a focus- when he resigns himself to life with the notorious but stunning Pyari Baiji, breaking free of the social values he grew up with. Through his dynamic and arresting characters, Saratchandra brings alive nineteenth-century Bengal, rife with prejudices and ready for change.
About the Author:

Saratchandra Chattopadhyay(1876-1938) was born in Devanandapur, an obscure village of Bengal. His childhood and youth were spent in dire poverty as his father, Matilal Chattopadhyay, was an idler and dreamer and gave little security to his five children. Saratchandra received very little formal education but inherited something valuable from his father-his imagination and love of literature. He started writing in his early teens and two stories written then have survived-'Korel' and 'Kashinath'. Saratchandra came to maturity at a time when the national movement was gaining momentum together with an awakening of social consciousness. Much of his writing bears the mark of the resultant turbulence of society. A prolific writer, he found the novel an apt medium for depicting this and, in his hands, it became a powerful weapon of social and political reform. Sensitive and daring, his novels captivated the hearts and minds of thousands of readers not only in Bengal but all over India. Some of his best-known novels are Palli Samaj (1916), Charitraheen (1917), Devdas (1917), Nishkriti (1917), Srikanta in four parts (1917, 1918, 1927 and 1933), Griha Daha (1920) and Sesher Parichay published posthumously (1939).

Aruna Chakravarti is a keen academician and a scholar and translator of repute. She has presented papers at several national and international seminars and contributed articles and reviews in many collections and journals. Her translation of Saratchandra Chatterjee's Srikanta, published by Penguin Books India in 1993, fetched her the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award. Those Days, a translation of Sunil Gangopadhyay's Sei Samai, published by Penguin Books India in 1997, received rave reviews and became a best-seller.