Byomkesh Bakshi
April 11, 2007 – 9:11 pm
Byomkesh Bakshi
 
Byomkesh Bakshi is a fictional Bengali detective created by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay in 1932. The character though inspired by Sherlock Holmes is completely adapted to Indian situation by the author. At that time detective writing was looked down upon in Bengali literature circles and Bandyopadhyay himself would not have expected that Byomkesh Bakshi will become such popular.Â
There are fours set of stories, all of them set in Calcutta of the 1950s, which displays Byomkesh Babu’s remarkable skill to solve mysteries. The book titled “The Menagerie and other Byomkesh Bakshi Mysteries†has “The Menagerie†in which the detective is trying to solve case which involves broken motor parts, a death which looks deceptively natural and strange people residing in Golap Colony who have a tainted past. The Menagerie was made into a movie by Satyajit Ray under the title of “Chiriakhana†(zoo) in 1967. “The Jewel Case†is a story of disappearance of an expensive necklace; “The Will That Vanished†has Byomkesh solving a case so that last wish of a close friend of his can be fulfilled. In “The Quills of the Porcupine†the detective foils the plans of a ruthless opportunist.
Byomkesh and his friend for life, Ajit, meet in “Satyanneshi†and later share a flat on Harrison Street. Ajit, who had ambitions to become a writer, narrates their cases. Ajit also taught Byomkesh how to play chess. They are shown getting most of their leads from “Dainik Kalketuâ€, their favorite newspaper. Byomkesh later marries a girl he met during solving a case. Through all their novels Puntiram is their faithful servant.Â
The stories were made into television series by Basu Chatterjee featuring Rajit Kapoor as Byomkesh Bakshi.
One Response to “Byomkesh Bakshi”
Nice article. Thanks for writing it.
By Varun Nagwekar on Dec 10, 2009