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''Prajapati''(প্রজাপতি), a novel by Bengali author Samaresh Basu caused sensation with its publication. It was first published in 1967 (1374 Bengali Era) in the Sharodiyo ''Desh'' special (page no 174-226), a well known Bengali monthly magazine, a presentation of the Ananda Publishers. This novel is about a young boy who is used as the premises to understand not only his background but of the society at large. Samaresh Basu narrates the novel in first person and uses flashback technique to articulate and stir events of protagonist's life within a short time limit of 24 hours or a day. The methodology of the novel reminds one of the famous Virginia Woolf's ''Mrs Dalloway''. It was a young lawyer named Amal Mitra who first filed a charge of obscenity against the author Samaresh Basu and the publisher Shitangsukumar Dasgupta on 2 February in 1968 for the novel Prajaproti. Later the Government of West Bengal supported Amal Mitra and spoke against Prajapoti. The Lower Court gave the verdict that the book was indeed obscene and had no literary value whatsoever. The High Court went on to uphold the just mentioned verdict. After a long time of almost seventeen years, Prajapoti got rid of the stigma ‘banned’ after a verdict given by Supreme Court of India in its favour. Reportedly, Prajapati had been published by Ananda Publishers as a hard cover book before the charge of obscenity had been made against it. In its second edition in 1985 soon after the verdict had been overturned it made record sales. The 11th edition of Projapoti states that the first edition had printed 8800 copies but from the second through the tenth edition (from 1985–2003), the sales went up to 48,000 copies! ==Plot summary== The novel opens with Sukhen, the protagonist, trying to capture a butterfly. Sukhen goes over to his lover’s house early in the morning. Even as he tries to catch a butterfly, he is simultaneously taking with his lover and analysing his own life as he recollects the past. Sukhen had been brought up in a family where he had found no love or affection. His mother died leaving behind her husband and three sons- Keshob, Purnendu, Sukhendu. Both of his elder brothers are politicians and according to Sukhen mere opportunists. The brothers used people for their own benefit and cheat them without remorse. He remembers his mother as an extremely flirtatious woman. Sukhen’s father is also devoid of any moral depth and realisation. He was a mean money minded man. Sukhen had grown up with in these circumstances. He become venturous and had no respect for elders and women. The neighbours especially the rich ones feared him. Mr. Chopra, manager of neighbouring industry and Mr. Mittir, the labour advisor, always flattered Sukhen out of fear. Sukhen remembers Jina, the daughter of Mr. Mittir who had been seduced by her kaku (uncle), Mr. Chatterjee, a colleague of her father. Sukhen also had seduced Jina. Sukhen had become addicted to women and alcohol at a very early age, soon after having entered college. Subsequently he got attracted to a girl named Shikha. Sukhen fell in love with Shikha when he was taking in a hunger strike conducted on the demand to rehabilitate a teacher of his college who had recently been fired by the college authority and to stop the rising of a multi-storeyed building close to the college gate. Unlike Sukhen, Shikha hailed from a poor family. Her father is a drunkard and numb to the affairs of the family. Shikha’s two brothers were subordinates of Sukhen’s two elder brothers in the respective political parties of the latter. Her only sister, Bela was married but stayed at her father’s house and flirted with several men. However the presence of Shikha in Sukhen’s life offered some respite to his careless and perplexed life. This relationship somehow helped to revive the latent sense of humanity in Sukhen. Sukhen hates hipocrisy. He hated those politicians who cheated and oppressed people for their own ulterior need and those teachers who used his students as a political weapon for personal benefits as well as the owners and governing body members of industries who squeeze the labourers; also the parents who were indifferent to their children, the lechers who abused children for sexual satisfaction. He also disliked the heinous attack of American soldiers on prostitutes. The atrocities around him agonised and traumatized him. He sometimes suffers from a subtle pain down to his shoulder and channelised his energy into anger to numb and forget the pain. He pees under his father’s table, rumples his brothers’ rooms, calls out to servants and so on to divert his attention. Yet, the otherwise brash Sukhen, respected Shulada, an old servant of their house. Keshob, the elder brother of Sukhen, is a powerful political leader. The brother allegedly illegally traded in baby foods and railway spare parts. Keshob has several relations with married women and young girls who were members in his own party. Purnendu, the immediate elder brother is also a political leader and an employee in a governmental office. His political party apparently worked for the poor section of the country and fought for justice but ironically, he is the who copulates with their maid servant’s daughter. Both of his brothers want him to join their party! Sukhen refuses to join either of them and severely criticises their agendas. He ends up being the enemy of both the groups. As we proceed through the novel, we see Suhken breaking off one wing of the butterfly and though Shikha tries to revive it, the fly eventually dies. After having chatted with Shikha for some time, he leaves for home. But instead going home, he moves around on the roads on his bike and sees Nirapodobabu (নিরাপদবাবু), a primary school master watching Ramesh (রমেশ), a worker of Purnendu’s party, delivering a lecture. He wonders about the peaceful life of Nirapadababu and dreams of having a wife like Nirapadababu's. He plans of marrying Shikha and living peacefully like Nirapadababu. He also enjoys the company of the superintendent of police of the local police station, N’Kori Haldar (ন’কড়ি হালদার), and Bimol (বিমল) a devoted worker of Purnendu’s party. As he thinks of living a simple life with Shikha as his wife, he stops by to meet Mr. Chopra and get himself a job. But Chopra refuses him as he known that Suhken is a hooligan and the local mischief. Perturbed, Suhken wonders who are the simple and good boys? (সাধারন বাঙ্গালি ছেলে কারা?) Sukhen then goes in search of Shutka(শুটকা), a friend of his. He ends up finding Shibe (শিবে), another friend of him in Doyalda’s (দয়ালদা) tea stall. Suddenly he feels that strange pain close to his shoulder. To suppress that pain he has alcohol almost voraciously and goes to Shibe's house and there he meets Manjori (মঞ্জরী) and falls asleep. In the evening, he woke up and found Shutka close to him. He goes to Shikha’s house again as he had promised to go there in the evening. At last, he comes back home at night and takes a bath and sleeps without having food. The next day there is a strike. He goes out in the evening and fells in midst of two processions. He gets severely injured in a bomb explosion and is admitted in a hospital. One of his arms had been blown off and he finally succumbs to the injury. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Prajapati (novel)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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