Malloban

Set in North Calcutta in the winter of 1929, this novel follows Malloban, a lower-middle-class office worker who lives in the College Street neighbourhood, an area known for its bookshops, publishers and universities. He shares his home with his wife Utpala and their daughter Monu.

The story moves through ordinary domestic scenes marked by friction and dissatisfaction: quarrels over the bathroom and the household budget, outings to the zoo and the cinema, and a visit from Utpala's brother's family that pushes Malloban out into a boarding house. A regular late-night visitor to Utpala's upstairs bedroom adds to the strain, and young Monu bears the brunt of her parents' lack of love for each other.

Jibanananda Das is often described as the most loved modern Bangla poet after Tagore. He also wrote many novels and stories that came to light and were published only after his death, and Malloban is the most popular of his novels.