Feluda

Feluda Somogro, Volume 1 and Volume 2, Bengali, Ananda Publishers

Feluda is a character created by Kurosawa of the East, Satyajit Ray.
There is a distinct influence of the Conan Doyle Stories as Feluda is a lot like Sherlock Holmes. There are three Central characters in the book – Prodosh C. Mitter (Feluda) , his assistant Tapesh Ranjan Mitter (Topshe) (his fourteen year old cousin) and Lalmohan Ganguli ( Jatayu – A writer of cheap and popular thrillers).

The novellas in this collection are the author’s own favorites from among the numerous Feluda stories he has written. Feluda, urbane, intellectually-inclined, trademark Charminar in mouth, sets out to solve a series of particularly baffling crimes ranging from a kidnapping in Rajasthan to a locked-room murder in an old Calcutta house.

Each story starts with Feluda and Topshe at home, a client arrives and frames the mystery, and the trio set off on their adventures. Feluda is a combination of mental and physical skills -- tall, agile, sharp and in fine shape due to his early-morning yoga -- and all his skills are called upon during the course of the stories. All stories are set in different cities so the local touch of that city is there that shows Ray was a well travelled man.

Feluda’s world is strange in one notable respect -- there are no women!!!. He is entirely surrounded by men. He has no aunts or female cousins which is common in large extended families. Every person he comes across is male, as is every character on the roadside or in a train. There are little boys, but no little girls. Was satayjit ray uncomfortable with women characters??, but isn’t he the same person who created Charulata, Durga and Arati in his movies.