Arogyaniketan, a novel with an offbeat theme is set, like most stories of Tarashankar Bandyopadhyay, in the red soil of Birbhum, West Bengal. On one level the theme is a clash between the old and the new, between ancient Indian traditional medicine and Western allopathic medicine. The traditional system of Ayurveda or ancient medical treatment focussed on yogic exercises, herbs and diet, for health and well-being. It is based on the Hindu concept of rebirth and dignity of death, with the belief that death is only a part of the continuous process of renewal, an integral part of the life cycle. But no modern doctor would be willing to accept death as a means of graceful exit. He would consider it morally wrong to let a patient meet his end without a fight. This conflict of purpose is the most intriguing part of this fictional narrative.
However, it is not just a clash of medical ethics and practices that the novel highlights. On a deeper level the theme is man's confrontation with death and his attempt to come to grips with it. The author represents the human weaknesses with tenderness and sympathy. Therefore on many levels, social, philosophic and inter-personal, this novel is accredited as being an outstanding work of art. Expectedly, in a novelist of the range and depth of Tarashankar Bandyopadhyay, the local gradually merges into the universal. It is the essential human experience that stands out and moves the reader deeply.
Tarashankar Bandyopadhyay (1898-1971) was born in a village in the Labhpur-district of Birbhum, West Bengal. He left college to participate in the Non-cooperation Movement in 1930 and served a one year term in jail for his political activities. After a few stints at various odd jobs, he decided to devote his entire time to writing and was active in his pursuit till his last days. He published 130 books and wrote for several magazines, and has been acclaimed as one of the most outstanding novelists of his time. He was eminently successful in his authentic representations of poorer communities of the village-the workmen, the snake-charmers, the 'pata' painters and the tribal people, among others. He anticipated the emergence of the business class and the sun setting on the feudal system-his novels like Kalindi and Jalsaghar bring this conflict alive. Many of his novels and stories were made into films and plays- Arogyaniketan being one of them. He received the Sahitya Akademi Award for Arogyaniketan and the coveted Jnanpith award for his novel Ganadevata.
Enakshi Chatterjee (b.1934), a bilingual writer, has a number of books to her credit including children's fiction, books-on popular science, biographies and translations. The wide spectrum of Bengali fiction translated by her ranges from the fiction of Tarashankar Bandopadhyay to new and emerging writers such as Sohrab Hossain. She has also translated fiction from English to Bengali-Vikram Seth's Suitable Boy being one of them. She received_the-Rabindra Puraskar for popular science, Katha Award for translation and Vidyasagar Award for children's literature.
**Contents and Sample Pages**
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