This is an excerpt from Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay's short story "Abhishapta", translated by Dipty Rahman

The lad appeared to be very humble and slowly took a seat. But I noticed that he did not take his eyes off my face even once. He kept on staring at me through his glasses.

"Adarsha Hindu Hotel", an iconic novel by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay, is set to make its way onto screens once again, this time through an OTT platform. The novel, originally published in 1940, weaves the captivating tale of Hajari Thakur, a humble hotel cook, who harbours ambitious dreams of owning his hotel one day.

Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay, the prodigal son of Bengal, remains an icon of breathtaking narrative style with a distinguished body of work. Today, on his 129th birth anniversary, this article revisits the instance when the author met the brilliant Satyajit Ray for the collaboration that weaved and shaped itself in the history of Bengal’s art and literature.