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Srikanta is a Bengali novel written by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. It has four parts, published between 1917 and 1933. It has been described as Sarat Chandra's 'masterpiece'.
Contents
Form and Structure
In a conversation, Sarat Chandra revealed that the book is partly autobiographical, and his own life experiences provided the basis for the experiences of the protagonist Srikanta; however, he added a caveat:
But they do not follow a common course. Fragments of experience, at different times of my life, have been presented as complete experiences...with the aid of the imagination.
Although not a travelogue, the book is described as involving journeys—both physical and spiritual. On being asked whether he considered Srikanta to be a travelogue, an autobiography, or a novel, Sarat Chandra's reply was: "A collection of scattered memories−nothing else."
Characters
The book features a large number of female characters− most of them based on women Sarat Chandra had known personally. There is Annada Didi, brought up in a conservative middle-class family, who elopes with a snake charmer. Although her husband is a scoundrel, Annada remains loyal to him, for which she is idolized by the young Srikanta. This character is based on a Muslim woman who lived with her snake charmer husband in a village near Sarat's native village. As a child, Sarat would often visit her with a friend. When her husband died, this woman had sold her earrings to the local grocer with instruction that the money obtained be given to Sarat, and soon after that she had left her village permanently.
Another character in the book is Abhaya, who begins a live in relationship with a man in defiance of the existing social norms, after being deserted by her husband. This character is based on a woman Sarat Chandra had known in Rangoon, who lived in a locality inhabited by mechanics and artisans. Her husband would periodically beat this woman, and yet out of a slavish chastity she would not leave him despite there being a man who loved her and who offered to rescue her from her plight. In the book, Sarat Chandra depicts women demanding rights for themselves in their own voice. The protagonist Srikanta has an argument with Abhaya about the propriety of what Abhaya has done; Srikanta argues from the orthodox and traditional point of view, but all his arguments are intelligently demolished by Abhaya.