An anthology of Sherlock Holmes stories (Point 1). Written by authors like Neil Gaiman, Laurie King, Stephan King, Naomi Novik, Stephan Baxter (Points 2, 3, 4, and so on.) So, how many more points does a book like “The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes ”need to be “pick up right now”?

The central idea of the anthology is one single line, perhaps the most famous of Holmes’ quotes (no, not that one. An actual quote from canon). And from that, the authors have gone ahead and given their own meaning to the words “improbable” and “impossible”.

Some have gone the traditional route, the seemingly supernatural tales (like “The Sussex Vampire” from canon) – murders in empty rooms sealed from inside, a child vanishing from a house, the man who stepped back into his house to collect his umbrella and was never seen again. Some have gone ahead with the traditional meaning of improbable, the true supernatural mysteries. This contains ancient curses, mummies, and even few creatures and themes which have escaped from Lovecroftian collection.

Then there are the science fiction stories, or should I say, mysteries set in science fiction genre. And last but not the least, are those which seem improbable, simple because they describe the triumphs of people who are often (rightfully, in most cases) overshadowed by Holmes.

Like the setting, the themes also cover a whole gamut of genres. There are your standard mysteries, the classic who-done-its. There are horror and thriller stories, with your standard spooks and ghouls and other wee-little beesties. And then there are some stories which would be better described as narratives, since they contain no big mystery but just nice story.

Some highlights for me in the collection were Neil Gaiman’s take (I have a feeling I have read it before) on “The Study in Scarlet”, the curious coincidence of both the Kings putting Holmes in the background, and Robert J. Sawyer’s (whose novel “Flashforward” is on TV now) take and solution of the real-life events surrounding “The Final Problem” and “The Empty House”.

I have had a long history with Holmes pastiches. I started out not liking anything not strictly according to to canon, but over the years, those separate viewpoints have yielded quite a few gems. This anthology is one of them. If you are a Holmes’ fan, pick it up without fail. If you are not a Holmes’ fan, still pick it up, and then we will discuss why you are not a Holmes’ fan.

Quote of the Day:

How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?

- Sherlock Holmes, The Sign of Four

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Check out other Holmes pastiches, and other detective stories.

The Great Hiatus of Holmes’ life has always been a source of endless speculation, and inspiration to authors. “The Canary Trainer ” by Nicholas Meyer (published as ‘a lost manuscript by John H. Watson, M.D.’) is third in the series of his books explaining the absence of Holmes from his homeland.

Following his “adventure” with Dr. Freud (more about it later), Sherlock Holmes finds himself on a sabbatical in Paris. There a curious incident at the Grand Opera allows him to fulfill one of his dreams, working as a professional violinist. He is just getting used to the curious culture of the Opera, and the conductor Gaston Leroux, when Irene Adler arrives to take the place of an ill prima donna.

Irene Adler recognizes Holmes in his guise as the Swedish violinist Sigerson, and gives him 2 choices: she can disclose Holmes’ identity, thereby ending his vacation, or he can help protect her friend, the young coloratura Christina Daaè.

It seems the “ghost” who everybody knows lives in the opera (and blackmails the managers into giving him monthly allowance) has taken a liking for the young singer. He trains her as a voice in the walls, and acts as her mentor. But when the new managers stop listening to the Ghost’s warnings and when his love starts endangering the lives of people, including Christina, Holmes has to step in and face The Ghost of The Opera.

Most of you must, by this time, know where the story is coming from. But the insertion of Holmes lore into a story from a completely different genre is almost seamless. None of the characters or events seem out of the line for either stories. There are many tantalizing clues as to what Holmes feels about Irene Adler (although he is mostly clueless about him), and even that does not seem completely out of character.

Perhaps that is due to the entire tone of the series. While the world is thinking that Holmes died at Reichenbachfall, the series starts with giving a completely different explanation for his disappearance. Holmes is much more human in the series, yet keeps his superhuman skills. His sojourn in Paris starts with anonymity, which he enjoys, maybe a bit too much. So much so that he allows Irene Adler to blackmail him, but that may also be due to his ability to refuse an interesting puzzle.

The book is mostly a tussle between his two great talents: as a violinist and as The Detective, and he seems sad with the outcome. We get a much deeper insight into his psyche, because the story is narrated by him during his time at Wessex, and Watson’s role is just writing it down (err, the remembering it and dictating it in his old age home). Which is why it differentiates from the stories in the canon which are narrated by Holmes in a clinical, detached manner. That’s what makes it an interesting tale.

Quote of The Day:

… it now occurred to me that the place I should like to visit was Paris, a city I scarcely knew, which was ironic, as I am of French descent.

- Sherlock Holmes, The Canary Trainer

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If asked which one person we would have liked to see again, true Holmesians would vote for Irene Norton née Adler with a huge majority, if not by an unanimous vote. A Soul of Steel by Carole Nelson Douglas is a novel from her Irene Adler series which tries to fulfill that fantasy.

Irene and her husband Godfrey Norton are spending their “posthumous” lives with their friend cum housekeeper Miss Penelope Huxleigh in Paris, when a man from Nell Huxleigh’s past is thrust in their lives.

Capt. Emerson Quentin Stanhope, presumed dead in Afghanistan, has found that  somebody is trying to silence him because of the secrets he holds about battle of Maiwand a decade past. And by association, the life of the doctor who saved him on the battlefield might also be in danger. When Stanhope is found, sick and dying, by Irene and her friends, they decide to help him find and warn the Dr. Watson. But, helping Quentin makes them a target for an extremely dangerous hunter, and they have to knock on the doors of 221B, Baker Street to bring the mystery to conclusion.

Chronologically, the story does take a few liberties with Holmes canon. Taking place some time after “Scandal in Bohemia”, during and after “Naval Treaty” (possibly placing it back by some time), it introduces a major character before it appears in canon (If we go by timeline according to this novel, there are some serious questions about Watson’s memory re: people trying to kill him). Although, that’s just the Holmesian in me cribbing.

Characters-wise, Godfrey Norton is your Standard English Gentleman, a good friend and a honourable man. He and Irene are completely in love with each other (though their married life sounds a bit more 20th century American than 19th century English) and are equal partners in their adventures. And of course, he is understandably jealous of The Man his wife remains fascinated with.

Miss “Nell” Huxleigh is the typical vicar’s daughter, governess in a respectable family kind of girl. She is Watson to Irene’s Holmes (although she will not approve of that comparison). Loyal to the fault and having lived a sheltered life before sharing in Irene’s adventures, Nell is the voice of caution in the household. And that explains her feelings towards Holmes.

Irene on the other hand is portrayed as the equal and opposite of Holmes. They both share liking for adventure, the ennui coming out of commonplace existence, the flair for drama, as well as the immovable sense of justice. But where Holmes is an analytical machine, Irene the Prima Donna is impulsive and emotional (in short, dare I say, a woman); jumping into whatever catches her fancy without a thought for dangers involved.

This is before Watson’s stories start getting published, and hence Holmes to Irene’s friends is a just paid agent trying to swindle Irene out of her only means of danger. Since this is a story from “the other side”, that was the only reason I could read the portrayal of Holmes for most part. Given that tone of the novel, I was worried about the eventual meeting between Holmes and Irene, but a careful reading was enough to dispel my doubts.

In short, if you can’t get enough of the world of Holmes, or (like somebody said,) you can’t get enough of The Woman who got better of Holmes, this is for you. For me, continuing the series would depend on how they talk about The Man.

Quote of The Day:
And when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her photograph, it is always under the honourable title of The Woman.
- Dr. John H. Watson, A Scandal in Bohemia

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We all know Isaac Asimov as the father of Three (sorry, Four) Laws of Robotics and the creator of the two Foundations, but he also created one of the most memorable groups of amateur detectives, The Black Widowers.

Although the name sounds like an assassins’ cabal, or a menacing secret society (or maybe a support group for serial killers), the reality is far from that. The Black Widowers is a men-only dining group, who gather together once a month at the Milano Restaurant, joined by a guest (chosen by the host of the month). There they spend the evening having a nice gourmet dinner, served by their deferential waiter Henry, followed by “grilling” the guest.

But once it so happens that the guest has a puzzle, a crime he cannot solve. The Black Widowers gladly sink their teeth into it, trying to find the solution. And since they enjoy the experience so much, it becomes routine for the host to seek out a guest with an unsolvable “crime” to narrate, and for the Widowers (along with their unofficial member Henry) to puzzle it out.

The disadvantage of the short stories is that the characters have very little time to take shape. The advantage of a series is that the characters start to emerge from a diverse group into an artist, a patent lawyer, a cryptographer, a math teacher, a chemist and a mystery writer, not to mention the Jeeves-like Henry (no last name known). Each of them brings to the table their individual way of thinking, attitude and of course, cribbing and fights, and with time, their own practical/romantic/cynical ways of looking at the puzzles.

Most of the stories take place in almost the same setting (the restaurant dining room) and follow almost the same format throughout all the books. Even though this makes for a repetitive structure, it also places the whole focus on the crime being discussed (and gives a whole new meaning to the term “armchair detectives”). They get to solve a whole range of crimes, from forgery, espionage, space warps to murder over the series of 66 stories. The guests too cover a whole range of spectrum, from graduate students, spooks, plumbers and so on.

Oh, and Asimov does spread enough clues over the pages for the aspiring detectives to follow (and try to overtake) the Black Widowers. So don’t forget your thinking caps to the dinner.

With Iliad in sonnets, and nice cozy mysteries to mull over, if you are in market for some short (around a dozen pages long) light detective stories, do eavesdrop on a Black Widowers dinner. And if you are lucky enough to be a guest, remember to be ready for a grilling with questions like “how do you justify your existence?”

Quote of The Day:
Thomas Trumbull: It is a rule of the Black Widowers that all members are doctors by virtue of membership. A doctor for any other reason is…
Arnold Stacy: A doctor doctor.
Emmanuel Rubin: You can count honorary doctorates too. But then, I would have to be called Doctor Doctor Doctor…

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Chronologically, I guess “The Mirror Crack’d” by Agatha Christie is one of the last few cases of Miss Marple.

Old and frail (yet sharp as ever), she is watching the world around her (and St. Mary Mead in particular) change with times. The village is all buzzing because a famous actress Marina Gregg and her director husband, Jason Rudd have taken residence in the Gossington Hall. But when the hall is opened for visitors for a fete, Heather Badcock, a local fan of Marina Gregg is poisoned in the private party for local VIPs.

The problem is, it is soon established that Marina passed Heather her drink when Heather’s own drink was accidentally spilled, and so it is more likely that somebody tried to kill Marina. With the investigation muddled, the only clue to the police is that Marina looked horrified/startled to see something while she was listening to Heather tell her a typical fan story of how she got sneaked of the sickbed to shake hands with Marina once before. Inspector Craddock has no choice except to get the help of his old acquaintance Miss Marple.

But after an initial period of no-progress, people start remembering things they saw, and start getting murdered (just as Miss Marple predicted). That is when she has to actively step in and solve the case.

Marina Gregg is a typical “famous film actress”, with myriad unhappy marriages and adopted children in tow. Unfortunately, her biological child is born mentally challenged, and she is just coming out of “therapy” and planning to get back to acting. Her (current) husband Jason Rudd is in love with her, and spends a lot of time protecting her from the world. Which of course gets on the nerves of his secretary. All in all, Gossington Hall is a typical filmy household containing famous people.

As I said, this is one of the last cases of Miss Marple. The old lady is frail, chaperoned by the (too much) fawning Mrs. Knight who is hired to keep her company. Her world is changing, with the village filled with people from The Development (married couples living in fabricated houses they bought on installment). She does not really fit in with the “new” residents, while there are very few old residents remaining around. But she is still as sharp as ever, and though people have changed, they are still the same way inside, and act the same way as ever. That’s why it is easy for her to place people and their motives, and so she is still able to help Inspector Craddock, and solve the case as usual.

It took me some time to get into Miss Marple mysteries after the fast-paced world of Holmes and even Poirot. But The Mirror Crack’d is a classical representative of the stories where Miss Marple solves the cases (sometimes literally) from her armchair, just based on psychology of characters involved. Not to mention that this is one more of the novels whose titles come from poems and nursery rhymes (which is perhaps Agatha Christie speciality).

P.S. This is my third book (and first review) for “Book to Movie Challenge“. Although I haven’t watched the movie yet, I am trying to get my hands on it. I just hope they haven’t made it into something akin to “And Then There Were None…“.

Quote of The Day:

Out flew the web and floated wide-
The mirror crack’d from side to side;
“The curse is come upon me,” cried
The Lady of Shalott.
- Alfred, Lord Tennyson

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No series on detectives will be complete without a review of lady detectives. Or at least, I thought so…

But, when I started searching for lady detectives in Indian fiction, I found a veritable dearth of them. Despite real life examples like Kiran Bedi and reel-life examples like “Udaan” (my recollections of which are very hazy, except that it was a nice serial), lady sleuths in mainstream Indian literature are very rare to find. Of course, so are sleuth’s ladies (only Byomkesh’ Satyaboti and Bahadur’s Bela come to mind), but that’s for another article.

That’s why there is no plural in the title…

Uma Rao:

Daughter-in-law of the Deputy Commissioner of Police, wife of a Superintendent, Uma Rao is your traditional housewife, or as “traditional” as you can get while being on first name basis with ministers on both sides of marriage. But, when she starts to write her thesis on criminals, it is not just her introduction to criminals, but to sleuthing as well.

When she finds a hijra vehemently denying that he killed one of the members of his community, she decides to help the person she believes is innocent. With the help of a constable from her husband’s office, she uncovers the truth behind the murder, in the process finding the roots of crime reaching the highest echelons of Bangalore’s society. Flush with her success, she goes on to find the true murderer of a wealthy English Lady (literally), who has come to India to meet her brother who is living in an ashram.

The brother turns out to be a member of Homicide Squad in Britain, and so, when a famous actor (working in a production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” on Independence Day) disappears and is murdered after reappearing, the British counsel gets the help from Uma Rao, who is watching the play. They find out that the wife of the actor is not the real killer, despite their marriage supposedly being on rocks.

Written by Sahitya Akademi Award-winner Mahesh Dattani, the three plays show us a housewife turning into a sleuth, first only because she wants to help a person whom she assumes to be innocent. Later on, as a famous detective, whose renown reaches even British isles, she turns what initially is a thesis into a quest for her own identity.

Of course, her journey to fame and independence is not without obstacles. She has to venture into the most dangerous districts in the underbelly of Bangalore, face attempts on her life, and since that is not enough, face conflict with her husband who is not so happy with her foray into practical side of crime fighting. But despite that, the “intrepid sleuth” brings the criminals to justice.

As I said before, despite a lot of research I could not find any more lady (or girl) detectives in mainstream Indian literature. Have I forgotten (or not found) anybody?

But, I did find an interesting difference between male and female detectives which is not limited to Indian literature. Men (or the detective stories with main characters as men) don’t waste much time on their romantic entanglements or marital descriptions. e.g. Byomkesh is married, but Satyaboti, in spite of being an intelligent lady (which is why Byomkesh is attracted to her in first place) does not merit many lines in his stories (at least, his stories which I have read/seen till now). On the other hand, stories involving lady detectives have a lot more conflict of romantic (or marital) kind, which does tend to hog limelight from crime fighting sometimes, with the main character giving way to her emotions. Why do you think this difference?

Quote of The Day:

But love is an emotional thing, and whatever is emotional is opposed to that true cold reason which I place above all things.

- Sherlock Holmes (The Sign of Four)

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(and I don’t mean comical as in funny)

Try as I may, I cannot find any detectives in Indian comics. I mean, some (all?) of the Feluda stories was made into comics, and Fa Fe found his way into animated format via Tinkle, while we have a plethora of crime-fighters. But there are no detectives solely created for comics.

So , I am going to take this opportunity to talk about some crimefighters who don’t really make it into a Superhero grade, but are beyond your normal comics-guy-next-door.

• Bahadur: Son of a dacoit, raised by a police officer, Bahadur grew up to be a crime-fighter, with special interest in rehabilitating former dacoits. This he accomplishes with the help of his fiancée (and later wife) Bela, and Lakhan (a reformed dacoit) and his Citizen’s Security Force.If this sounds a lot like a hindi movie to you, don’t worry. Bahadur bears a lot of resemblance to the original angry young man Amitabh Bachchan, as can be seen from his features and his clothes (though he changed from kurta to t-shirt with times).While he battles mainly dacoits, he has fought every kind of criminal from common thieves to antiques smugglers to spies and terrorists. In the process, he has done a lot of detective work in uncovering common criminals, finding an ancient treasure in a Rajasthani fort and uncovering the “well of amrit” in a mythical city.Of course, if you think the guy who destroys terrorist training camps is not really a detective and hence should not be in this series, hey, I like the guy for being one of the few original comic heroes in India, and I can put him on this list if I want (for lack of any “real” detectives to write about), so sue me…
• Chacha Chaudhary: With a “brain faster than computer” and the help of his Jovian (and mostly jovial, unless fighting some villain) friend Sabu and dog Raacket (sorry, that’s how it’s written in Hindi), Chacha Choudhary has fought many criminals in his life, the chief of them being the accidently-turned-immortal Raaka. But apart from fighting Raaka, he has spent his life fighting crime in every guise.Again, this red turban and black jacket clad, white big moustachioed Chacha is not your traditional detective. But then, even though most of his time is spent thinking of new ways to imprison Raaka (who being immortal and super-strengthened now needs new ways to capture him like a cyclone, a magic bottle in the belly of a whale or orbiting the earth in space), a brain faster than computer cannot be wholly occupied with one single task, can it? Of course, Chacha Choudhary does spend some time in solving your normal crimes too.I think I should mention at this point that the TV serial, though having Rajpal Yadav as Chacha didn’t fulfil my expectations.

Again, as I said, I didn’t find any famous black-sunglasses and trench-coat clad detectives made into comic series, so I took chance of plugging a underrated (according to me) hero I like and everybody’s favourite uncle.

Do you have a favourite detective I should have mentioned?

P.S. Want more on Detectives? Check out my “Jasoos Series“.

Quote of The Day:

Brain: an apparatus with which we think we think.

- Ambrose Bierce (1842 – 1914), The Devil’s Dictionary

Also cross-posted at Desicritics.

Technorati Tags: detectives, India, Bahadur, Chacha Chaudhary

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Marathi has had its share of paperback detectives and kid detectives, but probably the most famous of all Marathi detectives is a kid, who goes by the name of “Faster Fene”. If English children had their “Secret Seven”s and “Famous Five”s (about whom we learnt later), more than one generation of Marathi kids had our one and only Fa Fe (as he is popularly known among the fans), who was match for all and then some.

No kidding guys, your favourite “Detectives” series is back, this time with a kid detective.

Faster Fene

Banesh Fene, born and brought up in Fursungi (a small village near Pune), was christened “Faster Fene”, when he (on his trusty bicycle) left behind a rich, spoiled kid while racing across the length and breadth of Pune to gain the last seat in a prestigious school. This nickname was later proven worthy many times over when he bested criminals, spies, ghosts and much more, in terms of speed and brains.

Apart from Tintin, this kid must be the most travelled of them all. He has travelled to almost all corners of India, solving mysteries and defeating criminals, while still in school. Gifted with intelligence, quick wit and bravery, he has an uncanny knack of attracting trouble. So, when visiting Mumbai, he gets attached to a runaway blimp and lands in the midst of smuggled goods. When visiting Kashmir, his visit turns up more terrorists than tourist spots, and when the India-China war is on, running off to fight on the front, he manages to be caught by enemy and escapes with their plans.

So why did I include this adventurer as a detective? Because in his illustrious career, he has caught a Chinese spy in Pune (Pune was and continues to remain one of the most important military stations in India), uncovered the mystery of a ghost in an oil-well in Gujrat, helped authorities to track and catch many criminals and smugglers and tracked a treasure or two, while he was still in school. He was aided by his cousin and a lot of school-mates (with whom he became pretty famous after his “entry” in school).

Written by Bha. Ra. Bhagwat (a Marathi author, famous for his adventure novels for kids), the stories have their fair share of adventure, mystery, improbable escapes at the last moment, scary and/or bumbling villains… in short, all the ingredients that make a nice adventure series (though the action might get repetitive at times, this being a series of novels). Written for kids, the stories have their fair share of wit and humour to occupy even the adults. The series was originally written in 60’s, with India-China war providing the backdrop for more than one novel. It was later converted into a TV series in 80’s.

With his intelligence, bravery and wit, Fa Fe has enthralled more than a generation of Marathi kids. In fact, I think I can safely say that almost every kid I knew in school had dreams of being this lanky kid (with bones protruding out of his skinny legs and hands) with his chequered-shirt and half-pant (a dress he was rarely seen without, even when he dropped on the border with a parachute), flying on his bicycle, outwitting his (and of course, country’s) foes.

Coming up: Detectives in Indian Comics (Well, crime-fighters if you want)

Quote of The Day:

The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children.

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Technorati Tags: detectives, fiction, marathi, kids

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Update: The Feluda mystery “The Mystery of the Elephant God” is currently playing on BBC 4 Saturday play this week.

Why do most of the mainstream detectives in India come from Bengal? This is one of the questions which needs a Byomkesh to solve. Because, second in my “detective” series is also a Bengali “Da” (Not to be confused with Kannada “da” as in “what daa?”).

Feluda:

His Name: Pradosh Chandra Mittar
His (biographer) Watson: Topshe (Tapesh Ranjan Mittar), his cousin
His (clueless) Watson: Jatayu (Lalmohan Ganguly), a crime thriller writer
His Moriarty: Maganlal Meghraj

I have already written about Satyajit Ray’s science-fiction and mystery stories. I need not say anything about his movies. But he has also left his mark on detective genre, with his Feluda stories.

For the uninitiated, Feluda is a card-carrying (literally, he carries his business cards with occupation as “Detective”… I know, bad joke…) working detective. He is helped by his cousin in his cases (when his school permits), who is also encouraged to write about them by Feluda. On one of these adventures (Sonar Kella/The Golden Fortress), they meet Jatayu, a crime thriller writer who later becomes their friend and accompanies them. Despite being a bestseller author, Jatayu is as clueless about real-life crime as Watson on his worst day (or maybe as Lestrade is on his best day). Feluda’s best source of information on anything under the sun is their uncle, Shidhu Jyatha, a living encyplopedia who has clippings and books on every subject on the earth.

As for the bad boys, Maganlal Meghraj is a smuggler, has his own gang, and is a thoroughly sophisticated and dangerous criminal. He crosses sword with Feluda many times in his career. In almost all these cases, it’s Jatayu who suffers the most (and Maganlal seems to take particular pleasure in targetting the hapless author), but all their lives are in peril more than once.

Feluda gets involved in high-profile crimes, like theft of a historical stone, smuggling, murder. So, unlike Byomkesh he finds himself in mortal danger more often, along with his associates (which explains his carrying a gun I guess). He is also probably the most energetic detective I have ever seen, as he is roaming all over India and abroad (with Topshe in tow when the schools permit). Among other places, he travels to Agra, Ajanta, Rajasthan, Mumbai, Lucknow and even Kathmandu for his cases, or the cases find him on one of his travels.

Also unlike Byomkesh, there is a clear influence of Sherlock on Feluda. Among other things, he frequently refers to Sherlock as is “Guru”, and his cases as well as his techniques show that clearly. I guess, I can safely say that he is Sherlock to Byomkesh’s Poirot.

Unfortunately, I haven’t seen any of the movies or telefilms as they are in Bengali, but if they do justice to the stories (which they should, given that Ray himself directed at least some of them), these feature high on my list of “Movies I Won’t Understand but Will Read Subtitles For”… Can somebody convert them in Hindi TV serial?

As I said, in Indian literature I have come across only these two cases of fairly famous detectives. Of course, the only languages I read include Marathi and English, and I have tried reading Hindi once before. So my main source is translated-into-English versions and Marathi literature. Even in Marathi, I have come across famous detectives only in kids’ literature, the detectives being kids as well. So please feel free to tell me about any famous detectives in your language, and direct me to the books.

Quote of The Day:

Oh dear, I never realized what a terrible lot of explaining one has to do in a murder!
- Agatha Christie

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A bomb is ticking away, and there is no chance that anybody can diffuse it in time. Two brave officers volunteer to take it out in a helicopter and let it blast over the sea, so that nobody will get hurt.

Now if you think I am talking about a Dan Brown novel, think again…

Oh well, I am one of the people who (try to) watch CID every week, without cracking a smile (or cracking the TV, whatever). Trying to figure out which story (or show) has influenced the episode is a real nice fun. But when the officers start brandishing their weapons (I know, wrong choice of words) on the street and start firing across Mumbai streets in the middle of afternoon, even I feel something is wrong. Incidentally, one of the recent episodes was copied almost completely from “Murder on the Links” (Of course, the copy was not complete as the victim/murderer’s wife was not shown to be bound by the assailants).

Given the current condition, I felt it was necessary to have a review of tradition of great detectives we have had in India. Let’s start with the most famous of them:

Byomkesh Bakshi:

His Name: Byomkesh Bakshi

His Watson: Ajit, an aspiring writer

His Moriarty: –

This is the first name anybody thinks of when you think of “India” and “Detective” in the same sentence. Now, Byomkesh is not really a detective, but a “Satyanneshi” (Seeker of Truth). The combination of Rajit Kapoor and great stories made for a real entertainer. Of course, as the series was based on original stories, there were fixed number of episodes after which the series ended. The series was pretty faithful to the original story, apart from a few bits which really did not take away anything from the suspense.

For those of you who have not read or seen the stories, an aspiring writer Ajit takes up a room in a not so fashionable part of the city. There, he shares his room with a young man. There is a murder on their doorstep and in the next room. After the young man is suspected of committing the crime, he is revealed as a detective who is helping the police catch a drug racketeer. After catching the criminal, Ajit moves with Byomkesh to his house and joins in his adventures later.

Even though sometimes we can detect a small influence (not “influence”) from Sherlock or Poirot, the stories are completely Indian in every sense. The stories are mainly about crimes like murder, theft and other domestic problems. But, as Sherlock says, “…strangest and most unique things are very often connected not with the larger but with the smaller crimes…”, and the mysteries are not trivial. Of course, given that the stories take place in the pre-independence Calcutta, it would have been hard if not completely impossible for him to get involved in crimes of State Importance like Sherlock or Poirot does living in the capital. He does help police take on crimes of local importance like a drug racketeer, a (kind-of) serial killer etc. He also has run–ins with at least two ghosts that I know of.

Like most of mainstream detectives, Byomkesh is clever than people surrounding him. But unlike mainstream detectives, he is very human. Apart from his Sherlockian humour and a bit of secretive nature, he comes out as a pretty straightforward person. Unlike Watson, Ajit knows a lot about his plans after he joins the detective as a biographer and a friend (He even knows when Byomkesh is playing the dead). Also unlike most mainstream detectives (and I’m not talking about Paperback detectives who get a girl in the middle and at the end of every story), Byomkesh gets the girl at the end of one of its adventures and marries her.

The best part? Byomkesh Bakshi episodes are back on the air…

P.S. 1. All the reviews and comments are based on the english translations of the stories and the few episodes I have watched recently. Any Bengali speaking people who have read the original are requested to correct me wherever I am wrong.
2. Anybody who tells me where the title comes from, gets to choose what post comes next… Hint: “Bahut limited hai aap ka knowledge“
Quote of The Day:
“It is your commonplace, featureless crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is the most difficult to identify.”
- Sherlock Holmes (“The Red Headed League”)

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