Vikram Seth is such a humble person, he was very nice when I met him in London. The Hindi translation of Chowringhee came out almost immediately after the book was published, and Vikram Seth and Khushwant Singh had both read the book in Hindi. Many years later, when Penguin Books approached me through my Bangla publisher, I said, there is already an English translation. And so he did a translation but it was not published. When Arunava Sinha вЂ“ he was my daughter's contemporary вЂ“ said he wanted to translate Chowringhee into English, I said, if he wants to waste his time, go ahead. But you didn't try to get your books translated? Not really. Unless they reach London, nothing will happen. But really, since Tagore's Gitanjali, Bengali writers have known that translation is the gateway to world success.

Bengalis, you know, they only talk, they do nothing ( laughs). Fast unto death!? Seriously? It was a joke, but only partly. He said, I will fast unto death, because if this English translation materialises, then the world will find out where Bengali writers have been stealing their stories from. But the editor of a Bengali magazine named Achal Patra was dead against it. At one point someone thought that the best of Bengal should be translated. When were you first translated? There was not much English translation in those days, when I started writing. It sold so well that I myself was embarrassed. I think it has sold some 100,000 copies, easily. Ek Bag Sankar is just the name of my collection of stories for children. I believe you did some marketing of your own books? I read on your Wikipedia entry that you sold collections of your books in blue packets under the name Ek Bag Sankar ( A Bagful of Sankar)? I never did that. My books have only received one award in Bangla: for excellent binding.Д«ut your books have always sold astoundingly well.

Many of them said I was a one-book author. Those who controlled the market were fond of dismissing me. In fact, reviewers would spread canards of every sort about my books. Did your books become popular with Bangla readers quite early? Were your book sales connected to book reviews, press coverage or literary awards in Bangla? Bengali reviewers have been historically very mean-spirited towards me ( laughs). It appeared in instalments in the well-known literary magazine Desh, in 1955. Did you start your fiction career writing for literary journals and periodicals, or did you first publish directly in book form? Since the 1950s, the practice in Bengal has been to get serialised in magazines, and that is how my first novel, Kato Ajanare, was also first published. He talks about his fraught relationship with the Bengali literary establishment, about being translated, and why English is the gateway to the world. In recent years, several of his books have also done well in English translation, winning awards and new readers in India and elsewhere. Two more of Sankar's novels, Jana Aranya (The Middleman) and Seemabaddha (Company Limited), were made into films by Satyajit Ray. With its cast of colourful characters, Chowringhee was a perfect choice for big screen adaptation, and sure enough, the 1968 film in Bengali starring Uttam Kumar was a huge hit. His most widely-read book is Chowringhee (1962), a slice-of-life narrative set in and around a fictitious hotel in central Calcutta. Born in 1933, Sankar has published over 70 books, including 37 novels, five travelogues, several biographies, essays and stories for children. Sankar (Mani Sankar Mukherjee) is arguably BengalвЂ™s best-selling contemporary writer. Explained: How sugar differs from other natural and artificial sweeteners.вЂKaun Banegi ShikharwatiвЂ™ review: The bar is low but the spirits are high.Britain badly wants a trade deal with India вЂ“ and it may offer thousands of work visas in return.Away from the spotlight, Covid-19 cases are surging in Bihar and Jharkhand.Top 10 Covid-19 updates: Maharashtra imposes night curfew from Monday, gyms, salons to remain shut.The big news: India issues new quarantine rules for foreign arrivals, and nine other top stories.ReadersвЂ™ comments: Kalicharan did more than just criticise Gandhi вЂ“ he was glorifying violence.India recorded over 30 lakh Covid-19 deaths till July, shows analysis.Coronavirus: India makes 7-day quarantine mandatory for all international passengers.Fact check: Has crime really reduced in Goa by 101%, as BJP chief JP Nadda claimed?.вЂWe already inaugurated itвЂ™: WB CM Mamata Banerjee to PM Modi at virtual inauguration of hospital.Watch: Comedian Shyam Rangeela re-imagines PM ModiвЂ™s Punjab trip (after visits to Manipur and a gym).