ইন্দ্রকুমার সিংহর গল্প সংগ্রহ

This book collects sixteen short stories by Indra Kumar Sinha, who was born in 1932 at Barmuni (Narsinghpur). He is widely regarded as a pioneer of modern Bishnupriya Manipuri fiction. Most of the stories first appeared in little magazines such as Fagu, Nuwa Ela and Chinta between the 1960s and the 2000s. Smriti Kumar Sinha spent about three years tracing them, and the Amarmanu Foundation, Silchar, published them together in 2016. In his introduction, “Indrakatha,” Smriti Kumar Sinha calls the author the “Indra” of Bishnupriya Manipuri fiction. He also praises Sinha’s strong women characters. The stories cover a wide range of moods. “Sati” is a bold tale of a hill-village girl who takes revenge on the man who betrayed her, while the village credits a shaman’s mantra. “Post Office” and “Abishkar” are tragic love stories, and “Hunar Oringi” follows a kirtan singer who longs for freedom.

Alongside the tragedies runs a rich comic streak. “Coat,” “Magic Chhati” and “Khamtolor Hojokari” poke fun at stern village schoolmasters. “Aari” satirises a scheming astrologer. “Rajar Gang Baro Madoi Gang” turns the Meitei and Bishnupriya vocabularies into a playful marital quarrel. In “Porishodh,” a poor man dies before he can repay a debt of four annas. Across the collection Sinha keeps returning to poverty, love, faith and village life, and sometimes echoes Shakespeare and Tagore along the way.