বাসুদেব দাশগুপ্তের ‘খেলাধূলা’ : টাইপরাইটার বিপ্লব অথবা খরার গল্প/ Basudeb Dasgupta’s ‘Kheladhula’: The Typewriter Revolution or a Story of Drought

Abstract

Basudeb Dasgupta’s Kheladhula (1981) occupies a unique position in modern Bengali fiction. Published in the little magazine Dandashuk and extending over only 102 pages, it remains the author’s first and only novel. Though Dasgupta’s literary output was relatively small - around thirty short stories and a single novel - his contribution to Bengali literature is significant because of his experimental narrative techniques and his association with the Hungry Generation movement. His writings represent an alternative literary stream that challenges conventional reading habits and narrative expectations.

           The novel departs from the traditional structure of Bengali fiction. It does not follow a linear plot with a clear beginning, middle, and end, nor does it employ a conventional pattern of narrative progression and resolution. Instead, the text opens in the form of a letter addressed to a friend, Anjan, whose encouragement reportedly inspired the writing of the novel. This epistolary beginning establishes a playful and self-reflexive mode of narration. The story revolves around a central character, Paritosh, around whom numerous minor characters appear and disappear. These characters do not emerge as fully developed individuals; rather, they enter the narrative briefly, perform a specific function, and exit. Their fragmented appearances, however, contribute significantly to the novel’s thematic depth and social realism. Characters such as Bhadurimashai, Shanti, Nibaran Babu, Kamal, the elder brother-in-law, fellow passengers, and participants in local gatherings collectively construct a complex social landscape through their interactions with Paritosh.

           A major feature of Dasgupta’s writing is his innovative narrative style. Critics have sometimes compared his method to William Burroughs’ ‘cut-up’ technique, although Dasgupta himself claimed to have developed this approach independently. He described it as a process of moving effortlessly from one event to another, from one place to another, and from one speaker to another. The resulting narrative resembles cinematic montage, where apparently disconnected scenes and voices are juxtaposed to create deeper patterns of meaning. Through this collage-like structure, the novel captures the contradictions and dialectical processes of social reality. Dasgupta believed that such a method was particularly effective for representing the complex interactions between society and individual experience. Influenced by cinema and screenplay techniques, he emphasized the importance of observation, listening, and selective arrangement in constructing literary narratives. Thus, Kheladhula stands as an important experiment in Bengali fiction, demonstrating how fragmented narration and cinematic composition can reveal profound social and psychological truths beyond the limits of conventional storytelling.