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Ghanada
Ghanada
Ghanashyam Das character
First appearance	Ghanshyam Das
Created by	Premendra Mitra
Portrayed by	Ajit Gupta
In-universe information
Alias	DOS (Das)
Gender	Male
Title	Ghanada
Occupation	Story Teller of Tall Tells
Family	Tall Tells
Nationality	Indian

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Ghanada (Bengali : ঘনাদা) is a fictional character in Bengali literature created by Premendra Mitra primarily for children and teenagers, though readers of all ages enjoys him. The suffix "da" behind the name "Ghana" commonly means elder brother in colloquial Bengali.

ঘনাদা বাংলা সাহিত্যের একটি জনপ্রিয় কাল্পনিক চরিত্র। ১৯৪৫ সালে প্রেমেন্দ্র মিত্র এই চরিত্রটি সৃষ্টি করেন। ঘনাদার প্রকৃত নাম ঘনশ্যাম দাস। ঘনাদার বক্তব্য অনুযায়ী ইউরোপিয়ান লোকেরা তাকে 'ডস' নামে চেনে। ঘনাদা তার মেসের প্রতিবেশী চার যুবককে নিজের জীবনের নানা অভিযান সম্পর্কে গল্প মুখে মুখে শোনান।

The creator of Ghanada, Premendra Mitra (1904–1988) was a renowned Bengali poet, novelist, short story and thrillers writer and film director among many things.

Inspiration for the character[edit]

The Creator of Ghanada[edit]

Premendra Mitra's one of great creations is the fictional character Ghanada [ঘনাদা] (meaning: Elder brother Ghana in Bengali). The character of Ghanada is an uninterested unemployed middle-aged male who can apparently weave adventures almost at the drop of a hat. His adventures cover themes ranging from crime, human ingenuity, science, history, geography, metaphysics and philosophy. It is obvious that while Ghanada himself has not been involved in any of the adventures he claims to have taken part in, he is certainly a learned man with an exceptional gift for storytelling. The stories are notably accurate from a scientific point of view. Ghanada may be seen as Mitra's parody or caricature of the Bengali urban middle class celibate intellectual, who is at home in the world of books and knowledge, but has little practical experience whatsoever.

Like Satyajit Ray's Feluda, the older Ghanada although not abhorring the opposite sex, is not entirely at ease with them either. He stays at an all-male hostel and maintains an almost frugal existence. Ghanada is a self-educated person and his education is mostly due to time spent at the local libraries. In a way, it could be argued that these stories also reflect larger patterns of social transformations.

In every tale of Ghanada, the details of a topic related to Physics, Chemistry, Botany or Zoology is discussed in the form of a story, and the incident occurs at a place of certain historical or geographical importance. Mythology also comes as a subject of Ghanada; we find several references to the great epic, Mahabharata. Mitra was very much sensitive about the names, behaviors, food habits, dresses, festivals, culture, social life, etc. of the contemporary people living that locality and even about the nature of the wild creatures.

In Mitra's words...
The mystery, thrill and surprise- whatever I fell myself in the world of science; to test whether I can share the flavour to the readers, I have sent Ghanada to the stage with a mixture of humor (…নিজে যা কিছু অনুভব করি বিজ্ঞানের জগতের সেই রহস্য রোমাঞ্চ বিস্ময়ের স্বাদ পাঠকদেরও কিছু দিতে পারি কিনা দেখবার জন্যেই একটু কৌতুকের সুর মিশিয়ে ঘনাদাকে আসরে নামানো।).

Ghanada - A Fictional Character[edit]

ঘনাদার ষষ্ঠ গল্প টুপিতে প্রথম জানা যায় তিনি কলকাতা শহরে বাহাত্তর নম্বর বনমালি নস্কর লেনের একটি মেসবাসীতে বসবাস করেন এবং তিনি তার অধিকাংশ গল্প এই মেস বাড়ীতেই বলেছেন। এই মেসবাড়ীর চার বাসিন্দা শিবু, শিশির, গৌর ও গল্পের কথক সুধীর সর্বদা বিভিন্ন উদ্ভাবনী পরিকল্পনা করে ঘনাদাকে ঠকিয়ে বা খুশি করে তার কাছ থেকে কল্পবিজ্ঞান, অভিযান বা ঐতিহাসিক গল্পের বিভিন্ন সব গল্পের সম্ভার শোনার চেষ্টা করতে থাকেন। অধিকাংশ গল্পে নায়ক থাকেন স্বয়ং ঘনাদা। একজন বাকসর্বস্ব সাধারণ বাঙালি চরিত্রের বাগাড়ম্বরতার পাশাপাশি অসাধারণ পাণ্ডিত্য, প্রখর উপস্থিত বুদ্ধি ও উদ্ভাবনী প্রতিভা ঘনাদা চরিত্রকে অত্যন্ত জনপ্রিয় করেছে। বিজ্ঞানভিত্তিক গল্প লেখার সময় একজন হিরোর দরকার পড়ল। বিদেসি সায়েন্স-ফিকশনের হিরোকে দেখা যায়, যেমন সে বিদ্যাদিগগজ তেমনই তার গায়ের জোর। আমি হিরো করলাম একজন সাধারণ অন্নভুক বাঙালিকে। সে কলকাতার মেসের ভাত খেয়ে এমন শক্তিমান যে তার মুখের জোরের ধারেকাছে কেউ দাঁড়াতে পারে না। পাঠকের কাছে ঘনাদা তাই এত ভালোবাসা পেয়েছে। কিন্তু নুড়ি গল্পে জানা যায় তিনি শিশিরের কাছ থেকেই সিগারেট ধার করেন। মেসবাড়ির আড্ডা ছাড়াও পার্কের বৈকালিক আড্ডাতে পাড়ার প্রবীনদের কাছে ঘনশ্যাম বাবু নামে পরিচিত তিনি। 'রবিনসন ক্রুশো মেয়ে ছিলেন' গল্পটি ঘনশ্যাম বাবুর মস্তিষ্কজাত।

Most of the short stories and novel featuring Ghanada take place at the all-male mess on No. 72, Banamali Naskar Lane in Kolkata, West Bengal where the four young members of the mess Shibu, Shishir, Gour and Sudhir (the narrator) try to trick or please the middle-aged Ghanada in a variety of ingenious ways to force out his stock of unique stories that range from science-fiction, action/adventure to historical conspiracies. In most of his stories, Ghanada himself is the wonderfully wise and wily hero who travels all-round the globe to tackle sinister bad-guys and international conspiracies. Apart from these four, there are two minor recurring characters, Rambhuj the cook and Banowari the all-purpose butler of the mess; also sometimes, a few temporary members have come, such as: Bapi Datta, Sushil Chaki and Dhanu Choudhury . As in Feluda and Tenida, female characters are generally missing in these stories.

72 Banamali naskar Lane, Kolkata[edit]

Ghanada stories were written at the backdrop of a Messbari (Youth Hostel) at 72 Banamali naskar Lane, Kolkata. When Mitra was going to study Agricultural Science in Sriniketan at the beginning of the unrest of youth, again going to Dhaka to study Science to become a doctor like Dadamoshai, when the house of grandmother at Harish Chatterjee St in Calcutta was on rent for many reasons, then whenever he came to Calcutta he used to stay in a mess in Gobindo Ghoshal Lane in Bhawanipur several times. The reflection of that mess may have fallen on the mess in Banamali Naskar Lane.

The image of Bimal Ghosh of that mess might have helped to build the character of Ghanada – whom Mitra used to call as Tenda – but he was a man of personality and kind hearted. And Mitra was very much charmed by his virtues. We can easily understand by reading the stories that the expenses of mess of Ghanada were born by the charmed members of the mess in the lure of listening to the immensely exciting absurd stories in first person.

Although in the first story it was mentioned that the members of the mess were annoyed by the tall tales of Ghanada. But in the second story itself we found that the members started getting attracted to those stories. In the first story we had found a member of the mess named Bipin, but he was not found later anymore.

Other than the main characters of Ghanada party Shishir, Shibu and Gour there was someone who had depicted the stories as first person with joy to us that means the “I” of the stories. This “I” gradually unveiled himself and he would tell us his name – but he would do that in next part. In the guise of the characters there were true personalities. Shibu means the pioneer of burlesque literature Shibram Charaborty, Gour means Gourprasad Basu who on one hand a film director on the other hand an editor of many collections of stories and Sisir means Sisir Mitra film producer and actor who along with Gourango Prasad formed Basu-Mitra Chitra Ptratisthan and on this banner they made a film ‘Kalochhaaya’ written by Premendra Mitra.

But besides the stories taking place in No. 72 Banamali Naskar Lane, Ghanada also features in a number of novels and stories set in regular evening meetings of elderly gentlemen on the side of the Kolkata Lake. In these Ghanada is referred to as Ghanashyam Babu (the suffix Babu in Bengali is similar in usage to the honorific "Mr." in English). The four listeners are: Harisadhan Babu, Shibapada Babu, Ramsharan Babu and Bhabataran Babu. The author's style and approach loses the casual sense and gains a more polished, serious and sarcastically formal aura. In these episodes Ghanada never takes on the mantle of a hero himself (as he does in No. 72 Banamali naskar lane), but instead he fashions his narratives on any one of his illustrious, swash-buckling ancestors. Ghanada's ancestors are shown (except one story) to have influenced highly important historical events like the fall of the Inca Empire or Shivaji's remarkable escape from Agra in Medieval India. Unlike the mess-time stories, these stories feature heroines and mature scenes while the latters do not. The Lake-side episodes of Ghanada were targeted at an adult reader-base and all these tales are included in Ghanada Samagra 3 .

The Narrator[edit]

ঘনাদার গল্পগুলিতে গল্পের কথক সুধীর নামের চরিত্র। প্রেমেন্দ্র মিত্র এই চরিত্রটি প্রথম আঠাশটি গল্পে উত্তম পুরুষ উপস্থাপিত করলেও তার নাম জানা যায়নি। এই সকল গল্পে গল্পের কথক শিবু, শিশির এবং গৌরের মতন বাহাত্তর নম্বর বনমালি নস্কর লেনের বাসিন্দা ছিলেন, শুধু এটুকু জানা গেছিল। কিন্তু 'ধুলো' গল্পে প্রথম তার নাম জানা যায়। ঘনাদা এই গল্পে এই চরিত্রটিকে সুধীর নামে অভিহিত করেন।

এরপর 'কাদা', 'ঘনাদার হিজ্‌ বিজ্‌ বিজ্‌', 'ঘনাদার চিঠিপত্র ও মৌ-কা-সা-বি-স' প্রভৃতি গল্পে তার নাম পাওয়া যায়।

History[edit]

Where did Ghanada come from?[edit]

In Das Holen Ghanada [দাস হলেন ঘনাদা] (Ghanada Becomes Das), Ghanada explains how Ganado [গানাদো], his 22nd ancestor, became a slave, and how he was freed. Ghanada claims that Ganado was actually the inventor of tank; named Manta to deploy it in 1520 (the first universally accepted use of tank is on 15 September 1916 during First World War). The novel starts in 1502, when Vasco da Gama came to India for the second time. Once he destroyed a business-ship, where a boy was saved luckily. Travelling Lisbon & Cuba, he was sold as a slave to a Spanish family: Juarez [জুয়ারেজ]. This boy later grows up and he is the great Ganado.

When did he first appear to us?[edit]

Ghanada is a middle-aged, tall and thin fictional character, who first appears in the short story Mosha, which was published in the Puja issue of Alpana (আলপনা) from Deb Sahitya Kutir publishers in 1945 (১৩৫২ in Bengali calendar). In the following Puja issues of several magazines, Nuri (1947), Poka (1948), Ghori (1948), Chhori (1949), Machh (1949) etc. were published. Mou-Kaa-Shaa-Bi-Sh Bawnaam Ghanada is the last story written in 1987 and published in the Puja issue of Kishor Jnan Bijnan monthly magazine in that year. In 1984, some Ghanada-fans founded the "Ghanada Club" [1] at Mitra's residence at Kalighat, Kolkata. Siddhartha Ghosh (the writer of Jhantumama ) suggested this club in Kishor Jnan Bijnan in 1983. Some other members of this club were Rabin Bal and Kinnar Roy.

Tall Tales[edit]

Ghana-da is a teller of tall tales, but the tales always have a scientific basis. I try to keep them as factually correct and as authentic as possible.

In every tale of Ghanada, the details of a topic related to Physics, Chemistry, Botany or Zoology is discussed in the form of a story, and the incident occurs at a place of certain historical or geographical importance. Mythology also comes as a subject of Ghanada; we find several references to the great epic, Mahabharata. Mitra was very much sensitive about the names, behaviors, food habits, dresses, festivals, culture, social life, etc. of the contemporary people living that locality and even about the nature of the wild creatures.

Although the stories that Ghanada tells are almost always fake, the facts, trivia and information are almost all correct. Ghanada also provides new explanation to certain events of the Indian epic Mahabharata which are quite witty. In a talk with the famous SPAN magazine (1974), he told:

Trivia[edit]

Ghanada has killed only one mosquito in his entire life as stated in Mosha.
Ghanada even travels the Mars, as he claims in Mongol grohe Ghanada.
In Hnaash, Ghanada claims that he has hidden a secret map of Deuterium in a bigri haans (a type of duck) at the Himalayas. In the successive story, Suto, Bapi Datta [বাপি দত্ত], a temporary resident of the mess tries to find out that map by cutting those bigri haans-es he buys from the Municipal market. Finally after two months, he finds a small vessel inside a duck, in which a piece of paper is kept. But, his joy lasts momentarily as He finds written on the paper Ghanadar gul (Ghanda’s bluff).
Ghanada never admits any donation or unconditional help. In case of necessity, he only borrows and keeps count. At first he borrows cigarettes arbitrarily from the residents of the mess; but in the story Nuri, he borrows only from Shishir. The due count of cigarettes (from Shishir) in Machh is 2357, and that in Chhori is 3298.
He is also expert in swimming, fencing, wrestling, boxing and other miscellaneous sports and martial arts.

Ghanada Stories and Books[edit]

Short Stories (ছোট গল্প)[edit]

১৯৪৫ খ্রিষ্টাব্দ বা ১৩৫২ বঙ্গাব্দে কলকাতা হতে প্রকাশিত আলপনা নামক দেব সাহিত্য প্রকাশনীর পূজাবার্ষিকীতে মশা গল্পে প্রেমেন্দ্র মিত্র ঘনাদা চরিত্রটিকে প্রথম উপস্থাপিত করেন। এরপর প্রতি বছর তিনি প্রতি দেব সাহিত্য প্রকাশনীর পূজাবার্ষিকীতে একটি করে গল্প লিখতে থাকেন।

মশা
পোকা
নুড়ি
কাচ
মাছ
টুপি
ছড়ি
লাট্টু
দাদা
ফুটো
দাঁত
ঘড়ি
হাঁস
সুতো
ঢিল
ছুঁচ
শিশি
ঘনাদাকে ভোট দিন
কেঁচো
মাছি
জল
চোখ
ছাতা
ঘনাদা কুলপি খান না
তেল
ভাষা
মাপ
মাটি
ধুলো
মুলো
টল
নাচ
কাদা
কাঁটা
গান
কীচকবধে ঘনাদা
পৃথিবী বাড়ল না কেন?
ঘনাদার ধনুর্ভঙ্গ
ঘনাদার ফুঁ
ভারত যুদ্ধে পিঁপড়ে
বেড়াজালে ঘনাদা
কুরুক্ষেত্রে ঘনাদা
খাণ্ডবদাহে ঘনাদা
ঘনাদার হিজ্‌ বিজ্‌ বিজ্‌
গুল-ই-ঘনাদা
শান্তিপর্বে ঘনাদা
ঘনাদার চিঠিপত্র ও মৌ-কা-সা-বি-স
মৌ-কা-সা-বি-স ও ঘনাদা
মৌ-কা-সা-বি-স থেকে রসোমালাই
ঘনাদার শল্য সমাচার
মৌ-কা-সা-বি-স -- একবচন না বহুবচন
পরাশরে ঘনাদায়
ঘনাদা ফিরলেন
আঠারো নয় উনিশ
ঘনাদার চিংড়ি বৃত্তান্ত
ভেলা
হ্যালি-র বেচাল
জয়দ্রথ বধে ঘনাদা
রবিনসন ক্রুশো মেয়ে ছিলেন
আগ্রা যখন টলমল
দাস হলেন ঘনাদা
ঘনাদার বাঘ
মৌ-কা-সা-বি-স বনাম ঘনাদা
কালোফুটো সাদাফুটো

Novels (উপন্যাস)[edit]

ঘনাদাকে নিয়ে প্রেমেন্দ্র মিত্র মোট চারটি উপন্যাস লিখেছেন। সেগুলি হল:

তেল দেবেন ঘনাদা
মঙ্গলগ্রহে ঘনাদা
মান্ধাতার টোপ ও ঘনাদা
সূর্য কাঁদলে সোনা

Dramas & Poems (নাটিকা ও ছড়া)[edit]

প্রেমেন্দ্র মিত্রর 'পৃথিবী বাড়ল না কেন?' গল্প অবলম্বনে 'পৃথিবী যদি বাড়ত' নামে একটি নাটিকা রচনা করেন।এছাড়া তিনি 'ঘনার বচন' নামে চারটি ছড়া রচনা করেন।

Compiled Books[edit]

Ghanada Samagra (or, Ghanada Somogro) (ঘনাদা সমগ্র) is a collection of 3 volumes of Ghanada stories & novels. Written by Premendra Mitra in Bengali, these books are published by Ananda Publishers, Kolkata.

Premendra Mitra wrote in the preface of Ghanada Tosyo Tosyo Omnibus: Where truth is stranger than imagination and impossible to believe, to obtain the living description of the astonishing chapters of the World; this time I return to Tosyo Tosyo, that is, to some ancestors of Ghanada (…সত্য যেখানে কল্পনার চেয়েও বিস্ময়কর ও বিশ্বাসের অতীত, পৃথিবীর ইতিহাসের সেইসব আশ্চর্য অধ্যায়ের জীবন্ত পরিচয় পাবার জন্য এবারে ফিরে গেলাম 'তস্য তস্য' অর্থাৎ ঘনাদারই নানা ঊর্ধ্বতন পূর্বপুরুষদেরই কাছে।). Thus, in his own words, this books is about Ghanada's ancestors.

Most of the Ghanada stories takes place at the mess at 72 Banamali Naskar Lane with the four young members of the mess Shibu [শিবু], Shishir, Gour and Sudhir; as in Ghanada Samagra 1 & Ghanada Samagra 2, but all the tales of this book features a new set of audiences and also a new place. Here, 5 elderly gentlemen gather together on the southern side of a big, man-made lake in Kolkata and sit alongside a tree regularly in the afternoon. They are, at the first time, introduced with some adjectives indicating their physical characteristics:

Head as white as a kash flower- HarisadhanBabu [শিরশোভা কাশের মত শুভ্র- হরিসাধনবাবু].
Head as smooth as a stone- ShibapadaBabu [মস্তক মর্মরের মত মসৃণ- শিবপদবাবু]: A retired teacher of history. He generally throws challenge to Ghanada.
Belly like a barrel- RamsharanBabu [উদর কুম্ভের মত স্ফীত- রামশরণবাবু].
Body-weight like an elephant- BhabataranBabu [মেদভারে হস্তির মত বিপুল- ভবতারনবাবু]: A retired govt. serviceman. Now-a-days, reads books on story, novel, religion etc. Generally he remains silent in this assembling.
Thin like a camel and out of order- GhanashyamBabu- [উস্ট্রের মত শীর্ণ ও সামঞ্জস্যহীন- ঘনশ্যামবাবু]: Ghanada himself.

The suffix Babu in Bengali refers to an honorary gentleman, a substitution to Mr. in English. The author's style and approach loses the casual sense and gains a more polished, serious and sarcastically formal aura. As mentioned earlier, Ghanada is not the hero in these tales; rather he describes how his great ancestors changed the course of history. They are shown to influence highly important historical events at different times all over the globe. These tales contain heroines and a few love-relationships, which are generally missing in the tales he tells at the mess.

Mitra had to study a lot to write these 3 short-stories and 1 novel that are included in this book:

Das Holen Ghanada [দাস হলেন ঘনাদা] (Ghanada Becomes Das) - Ghanada explains how Ganado [গানাদো], his 22nd ancestor, became a slave, and how he was freed. Ghanada claims that Ganado was actually the inventor of tank; named Manta to deploy it in 1520 (the first universally accepted use of tank is on 15 September 1916 during First World War). The novel starts in 1502, when Vasco da Gama came to India for the second time. Once he destroyed a business-ship, where a boy was saved luckily. Travelling Lisbon & Cuba, he was sold as a slave to a Spanish family: Juarez [জুয়ারেজ]. This boy later grows up and he is the great Ganado.
Surya Kandle Sona [সূর্য কাঁদলে সোনা] (Golden Tears of the Sun)- A huge novel concerning unbelievable experiences of Ganado in South America. The fall of the Inca Empire is described here.
Agra Jokhon Tolmol [আগ্রা যখন টলমল] (While Agra Was Trembling)- A short novel of Bachanram Das [বচনরাম দাস] at Medieval India. It contains a breathtaking account of Shivaji's remarkable escape from Agra.
Robinson Crusoe Meye Chhilen [রবিনসন ক্রুশো মেয়ে ছিলেন] (Robinson Crusoe Was a Lady)- A story of Nan Su[নান সু], a princess of China, which Ghanada describes to be the authentic source of the famous Daniel Defoe novel Robinson Crusoe. But, no reference to Ghanada or his ancestors is found.

New Ghanada Stories[edit]

A number of new stories of Ghanada wee published during the last 30 or so years following Premendra Mitra’s gharana.

For a few new stories check here.

There might be many more around.

It is hoped that more people will write new Ghanada stories following the same style and flavor as the origianl Ghanada and having a lot of interesting scientific, geographical and old and current world news.

Ghanada Club[edit]

Ghanada Club was originally formed in July 1983. The first meeting was probably sometime in 1986. Sadly it did not survive for that long.

Ghanada Club was reopend on Sep. 15, 2019 at 90 Muktaram Babu Street, Jorasanko, Kolkata (4 mins walk from Mahatma Gandhi Metro Station) Time: 4PM – 8PM Refreshments: Light snacks and tea were served. We hope this time we will meet on a regular basis and keep the memory of Ghanada alive within us.

You can join Ghanada Club WhatsApp group. Visit https://www.ghanada.com/ghanada-club/ for details.

Ghanada Club Agenda[edit]

We have a lot of dreams. Below is a short list.

Reach out to Ghanada fans via this website, facebook, WhatsApp and YouTube channel.
Audio Dramas and Stories: There are a few good on YouTube. Our goal is to publish more Audio Drama and Stories. (in progress now)
Translate all Ghanada stories into English and publish them from renowned publishers like Penguin who published one Ghanada book “Mosquito and…” in 2004. (in progress now)
Graphic Novels: Create Graphic Novels (Comics). Here is one example. (in progress now)
New stories of Ghanada: Search for creative Bengali authors to write new stories with the same flavor as the original. Click here for read some attempts.
Annotate all the stories with details on remote places and uncommon events described in the stories. Here is an example – Annotated Mosha. (in progress now)
Old interviews, advertisements, articles etc. on Ghanada and his creator Premendra Mitra need to be collected.
All books and stories on Ghanada published by all publishers from the beginning need to be collected and finally open a library.
Bibliography: Create a complete bibliography of all publications on Ghanada.
Ghanada Museum: Ultimately open a museum for Ghanada like the one for Sherlock Holmes.
Who knows some day Ghanada may come back to the Mess Bari with new roommates. We are waiting…

Ghanada Museum[edit]

One day we wish have a museum for Ghanada.

We will recreate the Mess bari and keep all the items mentioned in all the stories.

Of course, we are going to collect all publications related to Ghanada.

Interviews[edit]

The oft-quoted interview with Premendra Mitar in Span, 1974
Kaar Aadoley Toiri Holo Ghanada (The Model For Ghanada) Interviewed by : Kartik Majumdar

First Published in: Anandamela, 28th May, 1986
The author reveals he had no initial plans for a Ghanada series

Ghanada Elo Kothaa Thekey (How Ghanada Appeared) Interviewed by : Kinnar Roy

First Published in:Kishore Jnan Bijnan,Bishesh Ghanada Shonkhyaa [Ghanada Special], June 1986
First featured in the book: Brihat Ghanada Shankalan (1993)
The author incorrectly mentions 1928-29 as the year of Ghanadas debut. In fact it was 1945. For a random selection of interviews with author Premendra Mitra concerning Ghanada... check here

Research on Ghanada[edit]

There are a few research papers on Ghanada.

1. Premendra Mitra’s Ghanada: Environmental Consciousness in Popular Bengali Literature by Purba Hossain
This paper analyses the Bengali works of 'Ghanada' (by Premendra Mitra) in terms of its role in disseminating environmental awareness among the Bengali middle-class, using it as a lens to reflect their reception of environmental research in 1960-70s Calcutta.
For the complete paper, go to [1]

2. Premendra Mitrar Jagat (World of Premendra Mitra) by Ramranjan Roy (Publisher: Pustak Bipani, Kolkata)

Ghanada Comics[edit]

জনপ্রিয় বাংলা বিজ্ঞান পত্রিকা কিশোর জ্ঞান বিজ্ঞান মশা, তেল, হাঁস, মাটি ও মঙ্গল গ্রহে ঘনাদা এই গল্প পাঁচখানি নিয়ে সাদা-কালো কমিকস প্রকাশ করেছে। এই সমস্ত কমিকসের চিত্রনাট্য অনিল কর্মকারের লেখা আর সাদাকালো ছবি এঁকেছেন গৌতম কর্মকার। এছাড়া আনন্দ পাবলিশার্সের জনপ্রিয় বাংলা শিশু কিশোর পত্রিকা আনন্দমেলার শারদীয়া সংখ্যায় মশা, পোকা, কাচ, তেল দেবেন ঘনাদা, নুড়ি ও ছড়ি এই গল্পগুলি নিয়ে রঙিন কমিকস প্রকাশ করেছে। কমিকসগুলির চিত্রাঙ্কন করেছেন শুভ্র চক্রবর্তী।

There are at least three different Comic Strips based on Ghanada.

The first series (black and white) of four comics is written by Anil Karmakar and illustrated by Goutam Karmakar published in Puja issues of Kishore Jnan Bijnan [কিশোর জ্ঞান বিজ্ঞান]. The stories it contains are: Mongolgrohey Ghanada (serially published from May 1985 - May 1986), Tel (1986) and Maati (1985),
The second one is colored and illustrated by Shubhra Chakrabarty published in various Puja issues of Anandamela and Ebala Newspaper. The stories which are presented include: Mosha, Poka, Kaanch, Tel Deben Ghanada, Nuri and Chori
The third series by Ranjan Dutt appeared in Puja annuals published by Ujjwal Sahitya Mandir: Nuri (1996), Phuto (1997), Hnaash (1998) and Ghori (1999),

Audio Visual Comics/Graphic Novel[edit]

Audio Visual Comics/Graphic Novel-Mosha
This is a proof of concept on how a Graphic Novel can be converted into an audio visual format as a video which can go on YouTube or some other paid subscription site online.

This format has the scope to have much more story to tell making it a more complete story close to the original written story.

Audio Stories and Dramas[edit]

ঘনাদার মশা এবং নুড়ি এই দুইটি গল্প নিয়ে রেডিওতে দুখানি শ্রুতিনাটক প্রযোজিত হয়েছে। এই দুইটি নাটকে প্রখ্যাত অভিনেতা শেখর চট্টোপাধ্যায় ঘনাদার চরিত্রে কন্ঠ-সংযোজনা করেছেন।

Two audio stories were published in mid 1980’s on audio cassettes. Shekhar Chattopadhyay’s rasping voice brought Ghanada to life in a 1986 audio album. Shishir turns narrator here. Ram, mentioned in ‘Nuri’, also appears. The cassette cover featured a suave Bond-like Dos. Most probably the cassettes are not available right now in the market.

[Premendra Mitra's Ghanada Audio Story]
Narrator: Subhasis Khamaru; Producer: Dilip K. Som (C) 2019

Ghanada Club started producing audio stories of 60 or so Ghanadar Golpo since September 2019. It is hoped that majority of the stories would be done by early 2020.

The stories can also be translated into English to bring Ghanada to the young Bengali generation, particularly who are not into reading Bengali literature.

Some Ghanada Audio Stories/Dramas are available on YouTube. Most of them are pirated copies. You have to use your discretion.

91.1 Friends FM also broadcast dramatizations like Ghanadar Gul (2012, Hnaash & part of Shuto combined) and Ghanada o Snuch (2012, Snuch).

Translations[edit]

Translations of Ghanada stories in English and Hindi

As of Aug 2019, there are only two books on Ghanada in English.

The Adventures of Ghanada Translator : Lila Majumdar Year : 1982, Revised Edition : 2006 Published by National Book Trust, India

Mosquito and Other Stories Translator: Amlan Das Gupta Year: 2004 Published by Penguin, India

Hindi translations of Ghanadar Gawlpo respectively. As in Awphuronto Ghanada, Ajit Gupta's original sketches appeared in b/w.

Ghanshyam-da, Radhakrishna Prakashan, 1975

Ghanshyam-da Ke Aur Kisse, Radhakrishna Prakashan, 1976

Illustrations[edit]

Many amazing artists breathed graphic life into Ghanada through the years. The backstage talents we know so little about…

The Artists[edit]

Protul Chandra Bandyopadhyay (1903 - 1974): A master of the traditional realistic style, Protul Chandra Bandyopadhyay created the first visual model of Ghanada. The Bengali who autographed his artwork in Devanagari or English. In over twenty tales through two and a half decades, Ghanashyam Das' handlebar moustache stood testimony to the Premendra - Protul partnership.

If Protul Chandra spiced and tensed up the understated action scenes to match his own style, Ajit Gupta’s visuals complemented Premendra’s literary USP. Reduced years, kilos, facial fur and flab gave the revamped graphic avatar a chiseled uncertain-aged poker face.

Ajit Gupta (1928 - 2013): Ajit Gupta's preference for the stylized over the sensational, demonstrated in this cover for Premendra Mitra's horror / thriller Haana Baari [The Haunted House, 1952]. This Hindi translation Ghanshyam-Da (1975) and its sequel, retained Ajit Gupta's trademark sketches, proving his popularity. Ajit Gupta modeled his trademark Ghanada on a certain Nitishbabu belonging to Premendra Mitra's film unit.

Balaibandhu Roy: Some artists like Balaibandhu Roy pursued the Protul-prototype

But more than two dozen ace artists also gifted Ghanashyam their distinctive touches...

Ghanada's reign (1945 - 87) spanned Bengal's most decisive four decades of teen fiction. More than two dozen ace artists gifted Ghanashyam their distinctive touch. Notable names included: Ahibhushan Malik, Alay Kumar Ghoshal, Alok Dhar, Anup Ray, Balaibandhu Roy, Debasish Deb, Dhruba Roy, Dilip Das, Goutam Roy, Narendra Dutta,Onkarnath Bhattacharya, Prashanta Gupta, Robin Basu, Samir Mondal, Samir Sarkar, Shuvaprasanna Bhattacharya, Subodh Kumar Dasgupta, Subrata Chowdhury, Sudhir Moitra, SuTushar Chattopadhyay, Uday Deb and...

References[edit]

Ghanada Club

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External links[edit]

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