CHOWRINGHEE was one of the most popular books in Bengali literature in the 1960s. I recently finished reading the translation by Arunava Sinha. Set in 1950s Calcutta (long before Kolkata was accepted as the norm), Chowringhee is a story of the intimate lives of managers, employees and guests at one of Calcutta’s largest hotels, the Shahjahan.
Shankar, the newest recruit, recounts the stories of several people whose lives come together in the suites, restaurants, bar and backrooms of the hotel. Behind the façade of the glitzy hotel, lies a disturbing yet intriguing reality - unfulfilled desires, broken dreams, callous manipulation and unbidden tragedy.
Quite true. What unfolds is not just the story of individual lives but also the incredible chronicle of a metropolis.Sinha’s style of writing is crisp and fast paced, sometimes even reportage-style, which makes for a gripping read. There is no flowery language, neither long philosophical discourses. The characters and situations speak for themselves. Chowringhee is as much a dirge as it is a homage to a city and its people.