Satyadas By Bimal Kar Katha, Rs 75

What touches you most about Bimal Kar’s Satyadas is its simplicity. It is a story that you could have read in any one of your Value Education classes. However, what sets it apart from others of its kind is its element of mystery. Bimal Kar, better known for his classic comedies like Bashanta-Bilap and Balika Badhu among others, deserves credit for writing a morality tale for children with the right amount of drama in it.

There are no lengthy prefaces or notes by the translator Enakshi Chatterjee. In fact, there is just one paragraph dedicated to the author and the illustrator, so you get to the story right away. Raghunath is an honest grocer whose business has come to a standstill because of unseasonal rains. Enter Satyadas, a weather-beaten, street magician-cum-vagabond. He is also, as we find out later, a personification of temptation.

Satyadas seeks shelter at Raghunath’s house for a night. He goes away the next day but leaves behind a pouch filled with six gold coins and two stones — one light and one dark. The stones symbolise the eternal clash between good and evil, while the six gold coins embody the six seasons.

A year later, and after Raghunath has spent the gold coins, Satyadas returns. This time he is an embodiment of conscience. For when he goes away, he leaves behind a guilt-ridden Raghunath. The author portrays Raghunath’s inner conflict skilfully as he battles with the demons inside him and debates the rightness or otherwise of having taken someone else’s money.

The description of Satyadas — a man carrying a faded black umbrella, a bundle of clothes under one arm, a box in another, wearing a dhoti and a frayed black coat — is typical of an impoverished Bengali in the early years of the 20th century. Bimal Kar also paints a vivid picture of a rain-lashed, small mining town of Bengal. The water-logged lanes, rain dripping down shrubbery and cows huddling under the branches of a tree to stay dry, complete the portrait.

Apart from a story well told, the illustrations in the book also add to its charm. However, a word about the translation. One wonders why the author chooses to use words like chira and gur in one paragraph and then switches to ‘rice flakes’ and ‘jaggery’ in the next. Surely a degree of uniformity in the use of Bengali words was called for here.

Pick up this slim book. You’ll enjoy its moral story that is told without the slightest bit of sanctimoniousness.