A pictorial wonder with layered interpretations

The elegance of cursive writing and fine calligraphy, interwoven with hand-drawn images, can create a wondrous text dramatically different from modern publications.

- MALASHRI LAL

A selection from Paritosh Sen's autobiographical vignettes, A Tree in My Village, has been charmingly produced by Hawakal Publishers, maintaining the fluid stream of Sen's original handwriting along with parallel pages in typescript. The impact is that of a valuable facsimile edition to be held with tender care and enjoyed with visual delight. Paritosh Sen is known as an artist of high repute who established the Calcutta Group and turned innovative under the influence of French masters. Not too many people refer to Sen's autobiographical notes in Bengali, titled Jindabahar, that present a fascinating integration of word, image, and text. A Tree in My Village is a condensed unit from this self-narrative and recalls his childhood years spent in a neighbourhood in Dhaka. Interestingly, Jindabahar Lane still exists in the central city area of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The Tree at the centre of the story is a gigantic and flourishing Arjuna whose root, trunk and branches host a microcosm of the avian and animal world, which in its own way, replicates the travails of human society. The large and powerful birds occupy the topmost branches just as the richest members of a community buy into penthouses. Further down the middle, the smaller birds find their abode, and closer to the soil around the roots are the snakes, ants and earthworms. The description masks the essential philosophy of this book, in Paritosh Sen's words, "It was under the Arjuna tree, I fir