Novel
হাঙর নদী গ্রেনেড
Not translated into English
Selina Hossain · 1976
Synopsis
Haldigaon, a village in eastern Bengal. Buri, the youngest of twelve children, grew up without tenderness and dreamed of seeing the world; she is married off in the village itself, to a man who already has two sons, Salim and Kalim, whom she raises. A son, Rais, is born to her, with a disability. Then comes the war of 1971: the village boys go off to fight, and one night two young fighters, hunted by the Pakistani army, come to take refuge with her.
Context
The author wrote this narrative in 1972, from an incident that occurred during the war in the village of Kaliganj, in Jessore district, which her teacher Abdul Hafiz, a veteran fighter, had told her; the village becomes Haldigaon in the book, which appeared in volume form in 1976. Satyajit Ray, who had read it, wanted to make a film from it; the project came to nothing, and it was Chashi Nazrul Islam who took it up after Ray's death.
Who it is for
A short novel, of a little over a hundred pages in its current editions; the reader needs to know the broad outlines of the conflict that gave birth to Bangladesh.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as a founding novel of the liberation war, it was adapted for the screen in 1997; the film received three national awards, including the one for best story.