Each character is deftly etched, never black, never white, but shades of grey-and each character has a definite character arc: they do not remain always the same. Tagore’s deep understanding of human nature is what makes this novel so unforgettable. In the process, though, Binodini herself does not realize the havoc she will cause with not just Mahendra’s and Asha’s lives, but others as well-including her own. Her befriending of Asha is merely a means to get to Mahendra-and to seduce him. Little does this family realize that Binodini, bitter and resentful at the way she was spurned, sight unseen, by both Mahendra and Bihari, wants her revenge. The married life of the young couple is blissful: they are so absorbed in each other that Rajlakshmi, suddenly bereft of her son’s adulation, finds herself neglected, furious, and at a loose end-and, on a visit to her village, returns from there with Binodini, since married and widowed, in tow.īinodini’s arrival turns the household upside-down: her beauty, her education, her poise and grace, her capability when it comes to supervising the household or looking after an ailing Rajlakshmi… all are in sharp contrast to the abilities of the young and naïve Asha, and all quickly make her indispensable. Bihari falls in love with Asha, but so does Mahendra-and he ends up marrying Asha. Neither of the men do marry her (all without ever having met the girl), and eventually arrangements are made for Bihari to marry the teenaged Asha. There’s a brief but abortive episode in which negotiations take place to get Mahendra-or Bihari-married to a certain Binodini. Mahendra’s dear friend Bihari is considered almost a part of the family as well. Mahendra lives with his widowed mother Rajlakshmi (who is utterly devoted to him, a devotion returned in full by Mahendra), and her sister-in-law, Mahendra’s aunt Annapurna. Set in the Calcutta of the late 19th century, Chokher Bali ( ‘The Mote in the Eye’) is about the dynamics in a small and prosperous family. Why those ratings, I’ll explain towards the end of this review. Mahendra’s dea Let me clarify that rating: 4 stars for Rabindranath Tagore’s novel, 2 stars for Sukhendu Ray’s translation.

Let me clarify that rating: 4 stars for Rabindranath Tagore’s novel, 2 stars for Sukhendu Ray’s translation.

Chokher bali zee bangla