Coming from a sun-scorched country, a lady is venturing towards the ice cap of the world. The very idea sends shivers down her spine. This is the first time that an Indian lady steps out under the midnight sun on the sledge-driven ice-fields trodden by the reindeer. Little Kamli, once dreaming of Hans Anderson’s fairy tates, has now flowered into Kamal Das and is trekking in the snow covered expanses of Finland, in the incomparable forest lands of Germany and in the Wonderland of the arts and culture of the northern countries. She takes in an unknown new world with her enraptured eyes. Her inimitable pen lifts the screen over the minds of these unknown peoples. Little by little she builds up a picture as vivid as Leonardo’s paintings. At the same time she assesses and compares her own land and people with them. She finds in the eternally wavering Indian mind the conflict that rages ink the soul of Hamlet. It is an incomparably gripping narrative of travel in far-off lands by a daring Indian lady which should be a must for all libraries private or public and for all lovers of adventure.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kamal Das
Mrs. Kamal Das (b. 1921) was awarded the Sahitya Academy Prize in 1983 for her very first novel Amritasya Putree (daughter of Immortality in English Version). She started writing late but ‘arrived immediately. Even as her first writings began to appear in periodicals she was hailed as the Bengali literature’s Discovery in the International Women’s Year and invited to inaugurate the Year’s celebrations at the birthplace of Sarat Chatterji, the great champion of women’s cause in literature. Enriched with the experience of rural districts where her father was a Judge before elevation to the High court and with the experience of life in New Delhi where here husband Debesh Das, ICS, served long until retirement as Secretary to the Government of India, Kamal Das has had there opportunity of bringing a mature reflective mind to bear upon her writings comparing and contrasting different types of people and their minds. Her extensive travels have given her a deep insight and understanding. Within this short period. Kamal Das has produced six novels and three intellectual travelogues in Bengali with two more in the offing. Much more than travelogues these are a presentation through anecdotes and descriptions of an experience, of deep feelings conveyed with rare wit and grace. She has indeed opened a new vista in literature.
There are no reviews yet.