Sankar’s Calcutta, still alive

Mani Sankar Mukhopadhay, aka Sankar, a leading Bengali writer whose stories reflected the hopes and moral dilemmas of urban India, passed away on February 20.

- ATANU BISWAS

As Charles Dickens did in 19th-century London, or as in James Joyce's Ulysses, which provided a detailed insight into Dublin, Sankar brought Kolkata (then Calcutta) to life from the corridors of the Calcutta High Court to the bustling streets of Chowringhee.

A July 2024 paper in the International Journal of Advanced Research showed that, apart from recording the changes in the physical and socio economic landscape of Kolkata, Sankar also wrote about colonial heritage, modernisation, social and economic disparities, and human relationships. The city was not only a setting but also a major character in his stories, providing the readers insight into the ever-changing and complex nature of Calcutta.

Noel Barwell, the last English barrister practising in the Calcutta High Court, employed young Sankar in the 1950s. After Barwell’s death, Sankar wanted to commemorate the man who “thought so well of me.” The tribute, originally serialised in the prestigious Desh magazine, was titled “Kato Ajanare”, Brilliant but erratic filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak reportedly attempted to adapt it but failed due to lack of finances.