What Really Happened  (English, Paperback, Banaphool Sinha)

What Really Happened: Stories is a collection of translated stories originally written by Bengali writer Banaphool.

Summary Of The Book

For the first time comes an English translation of classic tales written by one of the most renowned Bengali authors, Banaphool.

The book begins with a preface by the translator who takes an opportunity to talk about the original author of the stories and explores his writing style and passion for literature. He informs readers that Banaphool is best known for his short stories, most of which are not longer than a single page. From the first sentence itself, he moves on straight to the story and prefers talking about the characters without providing details on the background.

What Really Happened is one of the stories in the book. It is about a dejected lover who keeps waiting for his beloved in his hostel room and later gets a cruel shock. Another story, called The Homecoming, is about an insurance agent who is going home to attend Durga Puja and on his journey by train, he comes across an unanticipated co-passenger.

Conjugal Dreams is about two newly wedded couples who confess about their ex-partners and demonstrate love’s fickle nature. In The Corpse, the protagonist is like an innocent wager that is thrown in the hands of destiny and has to face dramatic consequences.

The stories collected in What Really Happened: Stories are some of the best written by Banaphool and many of them deal with certain issues of life such as love, unrequited love, ghosts, caste system, and even loneliness. A salient feature of these stories is that they have been inspired from day-to-day occurrences. These narratives range from emotional and tragic, to quirky and satirical.

Banaphool was among those writers who liked to provide a close-ended climax to their stories. He always loved to delve deep into the absurdities related to human relationships and explain how these could be negotiated when family and friends are involved. He also talked about the dubious association of humans with dissimilar situations. Banaphool’s rich stories offer immense delight in just a few words.

About Banaphool

Banaphool is the pen name of famous Bengali playwright, author, and poet Balai Chand Mukhopadhyay.

Banaphool’s stories have been collected in various books, some of which are Wildfire And Other Stories, Banaphool Kishore Samagra, and Banphooler Byanga Kabita.

Banaphool was born on 19th July, 1899, in Bihar, to Bengali parents. He completed his education at Hazaribag College and later received a medical education from Calcutta Medical College and Patna Medical College and Hospital. When his first poem got published in a popular magazine, his headmaster was scared that his literary passion could spoil his education, so he decided to take on the pen name of Banaphool. He wrote around 60 novels, several essays, vignettes and a few dramas. He worked as a physician with a few hospitals. Many of his works got adapted into films. This classic Bengali writer died on 9th February, 1979.