Research & Publications
Research & Publications
A dark work of fiction penned by newbie author Kaberi Dutta Chatterjee Neil Must Die is designed to shock the bourgeoisie from its socially strait jacketed complacence. And yet, it would be unfair to dismiss it as a social romance shocker. For there are layers, some quite gentle, that bespeak social indictment rather plainly. The main female protagonist, called Tuli, for instance, is stopped from going to college and married off to Mr. Suitable Boy Soumen Roy from a bhadralok family based in Kolkata. Never mind that she had excelled at school. On her wedding day her "friends came and informed her that they had got their admission in colleges. She looked out of the window and wanted to fly away." The quiet anger at this injustice is just about obvious.
And, to top it all, never mind the fact that she and her groom are utterly incompatible.
The typical Bengali wedding rituals have been described with some amount of subtle ribbing. Witness this:
"She was pulled out of bed at wee hours of the winter dawn and made to undergo several weird rituals. She had to cut the water of their pond with a piece of metal, before sunrise, which she felt very silly about and eat puffed rice with curd…"
The author dwells on the details of a typical Bengali household with the eye of an observer. Take for instance, her description of the terrace adjoining Neil’s room: "The terrace was in tiers… It looked wonderful in daylight. Strings run across bamboo poles where the clothes were hung, and thick and ornate cements railings adorned the boundary… " Very reminiscent of a Ray film set.
She also describes Soumen’s bestiality without being lurid and with a touch of indignation. But it is enough to prod the reader’s disgust while inspiring awe for the young girl, still a child, who takes it in her stride. What option does she have anyway, one may well ask?
Reading Neil Must Die one cannot help wondering about the vast population of women – a huge silent minority – subjected to humiliation of the carnal kind. In Tuli’s case she does not question it. When she does object once, it is involuntary- a smack in public.
The female protagonist is portrayed as a free spirited teenager who likes to climb trees and slide down banisters without bothering about protocols. Her greatest sympathizer is Neil, her brother-in-law. It is no wonder that the two feel drawn to each other and get into a relationship. Being the weaker of the two, he flees to Mumbai on being discovered. Tossing between conventionalism and non-conformism, Neil’s story ends in tragedy as is evident from the title.