Search for intergalactic twin

‘Me and I’ by Nabendu Ghosh (author), Devottam Sengupta (translator) takes you on a futuristic space ride

One rarely comes across a fiction written in an Indian language by a celebrated film director, screen playwright, with an introduction by his daughter and translated into English by his grandson, an international corporate lawyer, with the title ‘Me and I’.

Bengali writer-director Nabendu Ghosh at the evening of his life wrote ‘Aami O Aami’ in Bengali describing it as modern (or contemporary) fairy tale though it could be projected as Sci-Fi. In ‘A Few Words’ written for the book, he confesses that he had limited knowledge of the vast field of science. After writing the book at the age of 86 in Bengali, he breathed his last in 2007.

His grandson, Devottam Sengupta, Singapore-based corporate lawyer by profession finds time to pay tribute to his grandfather by translating his novelette which runs around 94 pages. His mother Ratnottama Sengupta provided the work with an introduction with the title ‘My father and I’.

The protagonist of the novelette, Mukul, is one day accosted by his father Dilip Ray for taking Rs 500 from his pocket (though it is not explained later also), his uncle a scientist from BARC and ultimately police and the CBI to find out what he is doing in the high security zone. His defense that he did not go there is not accepted.

Mukul’s uncle Noni Gopal aka Noni Kaku, who is an amateur astronomer, tells Mukul that there may be an interstellar twin of Earth somewhere in the far galaxies after Mukul tells him some imposter has been playing havoc with his life.

Mukul, much to his surprise, finds out his lookalike, though a little bit dark, who claims his name Lukum. Lukum can vanish with the help of some device and appears whenever he wants. Mukul is overawed by the scientific advancement of his lookalike wants to know more about him.

Lukum explains that there is the replica of Earth in another galaxy with the name Thrae at a distance of 10.5 light years and everyone on the Earth has a twin on that planet with a mirror image. It is clear by now that Earth becomes Thrae and Mukul becomes Lukum.

Lukum tells Mukul that the people living on Thrae are more advanced and civilised than the people on Earth and they solved the problems of communalism, casteism and others to make it a peaceful planet.

Mukul wants to visit the Thrae and experience the advances they achieved there. Lukum agrees to take him to Thrae in the spaceship stationed in the outskirts of Calcutta. With the heat is on to arrest Mukul on the charges of visiting BARC without permission though it is Lukum, both of them reach the spaceship and board it.

After travelling ten and half light years, they reach the Thrae where Mukul finds the replicas of his own family—Pilid Yar (Dilip Ray), Tajasu (Sujata) and Nidnan (Nandin), the little sister. How he is received at the planet Thrae and how he returns to Earth forms the climax.

Again how he is received at his home after missing for 21 years is interesting. At the end of the novel, the facts and life of Nabendu Ghosh are presented which would be interesting to the readers. Not only the details of the writer but the details of all the family members are interesting.

By: MV Syam Sundar