Legendary madcap Pagla Dashu emerged in the pages of the Sandesh. It was that Sandesh which children liked like the sweet meat sandesh. Pagla Dashu is a legendary character created by the legendary storyteller Sukumar Ray. Dashu did have the lunatic quality with which he could create amusing situations and the school campus in Ray's stories was that precious place that could give him that space. Dashu's activities may seem to be lunatic but his activities are key elements that evoke laughter. Other characters or legendary students who make Ray's school campus famous are Shyamlal, Palowan, Bishnubahan, Jyagidash, Naren, Rampada, and others. The trivial and naughty activities of these legendary students really make these stories famous and at the same time the school campus to which they belong. Without these students, Ray's school stories remain incomplete and it can be said that their activities are the lifeline of these stories.
This translation aims at retaining the ease and feel of the original stories. Here, those stories have been featured which feature different aspects of the school campus. The naughty activities of young students that Ray captured in his stories really entertain the kids. Pagla Dashu and Other School Stories tries to cater Ray's legendary tales. It includes the school-related stories composed by Sukumar Ray that were published in the Sandesh. This is a translation of Sukumar Ray's stories.
Tridib Khan teaches in the Department of English Chandrakona Vidyasagar Mahavidyalaya, affiliated to Vidyasagar University. He has published articles in international journals and edited books. He has presented papers in national and international conferences. His special areas include-translation studies, culture studies etc.
The stories that I have translated were published in Sandesh from Baishakh, 1323 to Ashwin, 1329. Then Sukumar Ray was the editor of Sandesh. After the publication of these stories in Sandesh different anthologies containing these stories were published and the number and selection of stories had different parameters. On 22nd November 1940, M.C.Sarkar & Sons published Pagla Dashu which contained Pagla Dashu and other stories. Rabindranath Tagore wrote an introduction for this edition. On 22nd June 1946, an edition entitled Pagla Dashu was published by Signet Press, Kolkata. This edition of Pagla Dashu didn't include some stories such as Drighanchoo, Hingsuti, Bajegolpo-1&2, Hasir Golpo, and Heshoram Hunshiyarer Diary, which were included in other editions by some other publishers. The Signate edition of Pagla Dashu was launched and made Dashu a crazy star among the children. Most of the illustrations printed on the pages of this edition were painted by Satyajit Ray. Another edition was published by Ananda Publishers and in this edition, the selection was more or less like the Signate edition. An edition of Asia Publishing Company also followed the Signet edition to some extent. They made certain changes in the selection of stories.
This edition marked these stories as Iskooler Golpo and included Khnora Sudhir which was neglected in other editions. There are other several editions of collected works of Sukumar Ray and special editions on Pagla Dashu. Those stories which were neglected in other earlier editions are included in these editions. Pagla Dashu serves the purpose of including almost all humorous stories for children. But it doesn't serve the particular purpose that Iskooler Golpo does. Iskooler Golpo mainly captures the stories that exclusively present different aspects of school boys and different funny activities of some legendary characters. The funny incidents are captured brilliantly by using some simple Bengali words.
Here I have taken eighteen stories that extensively focus on school-related issues. The humorous situations sketched in stories like Chine Potka, The New Teacher, Sublime Poetry, The Funny Punishment, Kalachand's art, Nandalal's Bad Luck, and other stories are really exciting. These stories focus on the funny and naughty activities of the children on the school campus. School days are enjoyable as these days are full of so many funny incidents; again these days are critical for some children who are of lower merits. That the clever one dominates and makes fun of some students of low merit is a fact. But this fact is narrated in the mould of humour in Ray's story. The funny and witty activities narrated in these stories can be found in any school now also. On the other hand stories like Bishnubahan's Digwijay and Dashu's Funny Acting throw light on the performance-related issues in school. The preparation, selection of actors, and the actual stage performance have been narrated brilliantly. The exercise of the upper hand of some enthusiastic children and the effect of it has been narrated by emphasizing the funny elements.
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