Rendezvous with Satyajit Ray Right from my college days I have hold Bengalis in high esteem when it comes to intellect profile.More often than not I had been simply mesmerized by their passion to acquire knowledge and more knowldge about the world in and around us.And i can bet my last tooth on the quantum data that an average bengali holds in his brain,which can give rest of Indians a run for the money. Make no mistake in inferring that this blog is of the bengali,for the bengali and by the bengali.Rather its a tribute to the society who most often than not is been clubbed as cowards or at best submissive.Notwithstanding our very own DADA revoloutionsed the way Indians played their cricket from being a good looser to a swaggerful aggressor. One of my closest buddies in college days used to be a bengali,ankur chakraborty.In his comapany it was a humble and delightful experience to just have a peek into the world of bengali literature.Prior to that only notable name that echoed my mind as bengali literary figure was that of Rabindra Nath Tagore.But when i started reading the translated versions of the bengali literature,I was overwhelmed by the rich pedigree that they carry. One of the most fascinating writers i came across was Satyajit Ray.A person whose nebular description in my mind was that of a film director and Oscar award winner.But to say he was a Leanardo Da Vinci of Bengal wont be an overstatement.Apart from being a film personality,he was a writer, painter,musician and an avid photographer.The first work of Ray that caught my imaginations was that of Feluda series of Adventures. Feluda ,the sleuth, whose character was loosely inspired by the legendary Sherlock Holmes.But the similarity ends here itself.After that its the sublime quality of Satyajit Ray in weaving a spell binding story.What sets apart these novels are that they are more than a collection of detective stories,in a way its an odyssey to the greater mystery called India. Each novel is set into one of the scenic locales of this vast geographia of India.And through the storyline you are in for an adventurous ride across the length and breadth of the region. The first story that i read in Feluda series was "The Golden Fortress".Set in desert kingdom of Rajasthan,through out the story Ray potrays a vivid description of history,culture and tourist destination across Rajasthan.From Jaipur to Udaipur to Jaiselmer.It turns out be a good Travelogue.Such was the impact of his writing that when i actually went to Rajasthan form Udaipur palace to Jaipur market to camel ride in Jaiselmer those words of the novel kept ringing in my ear and examplified my experience. Apart from the stories of Feluda,Satyajit Ray wrote several short stories for Anand Bazaar Patrika(the first vernacular newspaper of India).His stories had the mystic aura were the real world meets the supernatural events.And it lives an uneasy buzz in your heart where you too starts accepting the possibilty of non-ordinary powers.These stories where later published in form of a book called "Indigo". Satyajit Ray was director,producer,musician,editor,script writer and truly a doyen of Bengal society. My first blog pays rich tribute to such an idol who inspires me to write more.