The spiritual relationship between women and nature:'Rupkatha fire ase'/ নারী ও প্রকৃতির আত্মিক সম্পর্ক : ‘রূপকথা ফিরে আসে’

Abstract

A unique Bengali novel with the concept of environmental consciousness by the author Tapan Banerjee ‘Rupkatha Phere Aase’ (2008) is analysed here. The background of the novel is a village called Apanpur, an hour's journey by rail from Calcutta, which was given the name ‘Bankella’ by a village historian. It is well known by that name. Ranima made this village, two kilometers away from Jhau Palash station, full of natural beauty by planting numerous trees of different species. Throughout the year that village was filled with the shade of flowers. The current heirs of the old royal family want to bring modern civilization to the village. Ranima had planted a Shisham tree in the middle of the village entrance. For that tree, no motorized vehicles other than bicycles and rickshaws could enter the village. The village surrounded by numerous trees had the wonderful fragrance of pure air. The current heir to the dynasty cut down the Shisham tree in the middle of the road to drive his hobby car into the 'bankella'. In Bankella village there was an unwritten prohibition of Ranima against cutting trees, which was believed by all the people of the village. But the people of Rajbari broke that rule and cut the first tree in Bankella. It was Ranima who forbade everyone not to cut any tree. She had heard in the prophecy that if the tree is cut down, disaster will come closer to ‘Bankella’. The narrative of the novel begins with the cutting of the Shisham (Dalbergia Sissoo) tree and ends with destruction.