‘Ishwarer Ontim Shwas’ commemorates 132nd Death Anniversary of the legendary social reformer Shri Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar
‘Ishwarer Ontim Shwas’, a book that sheds light on the last few years of the legendary Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar authored by renowned novelist Ms Debarati Mukhopadhyay, was launched at Press Club Kolkata today. Mr Baridbaran Ghosh, Chairman, Bangiya Sahitya Parishad, Mr Nrisingha Prasad Bhaduri, Author, Mr Abhirup Sarkar, Economist, Mr Saikat Mukhopadhyay, Author, Mr Krishnendu Mukhopadhyay, Author & Mr Debojyoti Bhattacharya, Author were present at the gathering.
Debarati Mukhopadhyay’s novel revolves around three young travel vloggers who went to Karmatar to shoot a vlog series on the legendary Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, who chose to distance himself from his known world during 1873-74 and migrated to Karmatar, a sleepy hamlet in Bihar to spend the last 18 to 20 years of his life in isolation and oblivion. These three vloggers plunge into unearthing the forgotten history and end up facing an unpredicted present.
“‘Ishwarer Ontim Shwas’ is a novel that trajectories the last few years of Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar before his demise. The novel highlights some untouched facets of the man of mettle himself. Deep Prakashan is delighted to have released this well-researched book of Debarati Mukhopadhyay, known for her writing prowess. We are hopeful that our readers will love indulging in this novel,” said Shri Sankar Mondal, Proprietor, Deep Prakashan.
“I first went to the Karmatar village around four years back while on my way home from Madhupur. I tried to carve out as much time as possible to visit the national library and the Karmatar village. The more I worked on the research, the more I realized that the entire Bengali community is strangely airheaded about the last days of such great scholar, the author of Barnaparichay. It took me back to the village multiple time during the weekends in the last two and a half years, I was mesmerized by his activities as described by the caretaker Jitenbabu and felt thoroughly ashamed of our own ignorance about the last days of one of the greatest personalities in the history of Bengal. I am hopeful that after going through this novel and interpreting Vidyasagar in a way not as boring as school textbooks, the bibliophiles will be able to realize the real meaning of living. If that ‘influences’ them, even a little, then that will be the biggest accomplishment of penning down the chronicles of the man who taught us how to read,” Ms Debarati Mukhopadhyay said.
The book, published by Deep Prakashan and priced at Rs 250, will be available across offline retail book shops and various online platforms.
