What Really Happened: Stories

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Translated into English for the first time, these stories by legendary writer Banaphool cleverly explore how life’s absurdities are negotiated through human relationships—whether between friends or family, lovers or strangers. In the title story, a lovelorn boy waits earnestly in his hostel room for the arrival of his beloved, only to be greeted by a rude shock. In ‘Conjugal Dreams’, the fickle nature of love is at the centre of the story, as two newlyweds confront their respective old loves. In ‘The Homecoming’, an insurance agent travelling home by train for Durga Puja encounters a most unexpected co-passenger. In ‘The Corpse’, a harmless wager leads to very dramatic consequences. Moulded out of everyday occurrences and happenings, these sparkling vignettes range from poignant and tragic to whimsical and satirical. In these tales, Banaphool invokes a host of enduring characters even as he makes sharp observations about the human condition.

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Banaphool is the pen name of the Bengali author, playwright and poet, Bal?i Ch?nd Mukhop?dhy?y. Born in Manihari (or Purnia), Bihar, Mukhop?dhy?y began writing as a teenager and adopted the his pen name Banaphool (wild-flower in Bengali) to hide his work from his tutors. He is most noted for his short vignettes, often just one page long, but his body of work spanned sixty five years and included “thousands of poems, 586 short stories, 60 novels, 5 dramas, a number of one-act plays, an autobiography, and numerous essays. In addition to his literary works, Mukhop?dhy?y was also a physician, and practised medicine throughout his life. He died in 1979 and, on the 100th anniversary of his birth, India issued a postage stamp featuring his image. Arunava Sinha is an Internet professional by day and a translator of classic and contemporary fiction by late night. His published translations include Sankar’s Chowringhee (2007) and The Middleman (2009); Buddhadeva Bose’s My Kind of Girl (2009); and Moti Nandy’s Striker Stopper (2010). Born and educated in Kolkata, he now lives in New Delhi.