LIFE AS HE KNOWS IT

Renowned Bengali author Sankar's autobiography, now available in English, is as much about him as the people and the city that made him.

- Ishani Nandi

DEAR READER AWriter’s Memoir

by Sankar

HARPERCOLLINS ₹499; 320 pages

IT takes little to sprout a typical, run-of-the-mill Bengali add a session. The trappings commonly associated with that pastime-copious cups of tea, a comfortable living room, bowls of snacks—are all optional. Really, all it takes is two people and a topic of mutual interest. But what it absolutely must have—the very best ones, that is—is a storyteller like Sankar. 

He's a raconteur first; a writer second,” said Arunava Sinha when spoke to him about the master minstrel, Manisankar Mukhopadhyay, or Sankar, as he is more widely known. Sankar’s autobiographical book Eka Eka Ekashi first came out in 2015, and now finds a wider audience in Dear Reader: A Writer’s Memoir, translated into English by Sinha and released by HarperCollins last month.