Recently I have read ‘Pather Pancha

Recently I have read ‘Pather Panchali’. It is a novel written by the immortal Bengali litterateur Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay. The novel is about a little village boy called Apu. It gives a touching account of how Apu grows from childhood to adolescence. The novelist presents the child’s world of wonder, his curiosity and his love of nature with artistic perfection. The novel is a study of different human relationships. Apu’s bond of love with his near relations, particularly with his dearest sister Durga has found a special dimension here. Fraternal relationship has been so introspectively delineated nowhere else as it has been done here. The author uses nature as a character in the novel. He shows how the untimely death of Durga saddens nature. Tears roll down my cheeks when I read this part of the novel. The book also gives a living picture of the beauty of rural Bengal in minute detail. I have had an unforgettable experience of reading the book. It is worth reading time and again.