Folklorist Alvin Schwartz has said, ‘Humour is a slippery subject’. What is humorous for someone might not be so for another. Moreover, humour is influenced by many elements such as society, culture and, most importantly, age. It is an art in itself to write humourous tales that can be read by all age groups and, in that sense, Bhabendra Nath Saikia is an artist. A doctorate in physics, Saikia wrote profusely for children. To consider them narratives meant only for the young would be underrating these realistic tales which are fun-filled experiences for kids and nostalgia for grown-ups. Most of his humorous stories deal with settings and characters that everybody can relate to.
Mohadustor Dustobuddhi is a compilation of stories by this renowned writer and filmmaker. The stories anthologised in this book were originally published in the popular children’s Assamese magazine,Sofura, where Saikia was the editor from 1982 to 1996 and from 2002 till his demise in 2003. First published in 1999, the book became very popular and it was later given the form of a video play.
The most striking feature of these stories, or rather episodes, is the realistic characterisation. Each chapter deals with a single incident. While introducing the characters the author casually mentions their names without making any effort to tell us where they are from or who their parents are. For instance, “Do you know Shri Dhananjay Kumar Bhattacharyya? You don't remember? You will recognise him if I tell you his pet name. He is more popular by that name. Poltu.” Indeed, we do not know Shri Dhananjay Kumar Bhattacharyya. But we do know Poltu. We know every kid in that familiar locality by their pet names as we live in a similar neighbourhood. And aren't Dhan, Bharati, Poltu, Bhola, Xorubapu or the others a mirror image of any other kid? The beauty of his narrative technique is that we immediately start relating them to the people we know. Thus, when the author narrates the mischief done by the children, we immediately think of the naughtiest kid of our locality or the countless pranks played by us in the carefree days of our childhood.
The characterisation suggests that the author observed people and life minutely. There are only a few writers who can create mirth out of day-to-day incidents in a household or a locality. Some of the events have probably occurred in every household:
Bolai’s father keeps on shouting advice to his mother from his room:
“Hera, cook khar with amita today.”
“Hera, cook mati maah dail with thekera today.”
“Hera, cook sojona with xorioh today.”
One day Bolai shouts, “Ma today…“
Mother interrupts him, “You are also going to place an order?”
Bolai says, “Cook dail with salt today.”
Saikia beautifully traces the fun and frolic of childhood, the squabbles between siblings and the countless thrashings awarded by the parents as medals for mischievous acts. We see the character Dhan persistently bugging his sister who is preparing for her Master’s examinations (not a matter of joke, as the author gravely informs the reader). He makes a list of his brilliant inventions and leaves them among the books on his sister’s table:
1. Rice soaked in water is called poita-bhaat. That is why hot rice is called apoita-bhaat. (Actually the term is pointa; but the chandrabindu has gone missing from Dhan’s dictionary.)
2. Cows (goru) smell bad. His sister also smells bad. The watery thing that his sister uses to get rid of the smell is called agoru (a kind of perfume).
…
4. There is no value (mulya) of reading books because books are priceless (amulya)!
5. The things that the women from Lanka don’t wear, but which his sister does wear, are called alankar (ornaments)…
Saikia says in the dedication that Mohadustor Dustobuddhi is a book of pranks. And those who do not understand pranks should not keep this book with them. True to his word the author pulls a prank on the reader as well:
Do you know Indrajit? My goodness! What a naughty kid! If you hear about his mischiefs you will become speechless, sometimes you will get angry, sometimes you will laugh so much your stomach will start aching, you will laugh to the point of tears. So many mischiefs. My mouth will start aching if I start talking about them.
So, I won’t tell.
Mohadustor Dustobuddhi is coloured with delightful tales. In the last decade, humour literature has seen very few works that are not satire or marked by the chaos in society. The doyen of Assamese literature, Lakshminath Bezbarua, who influenced much of 20th century literature of the state, was adept in both satire and innocent humour. After him, Bhabendra Nath Saikia brought us humour we could delight in. In contemporary times, Sofura and Rongmon continue to give writers a platform to narrate tales that are untainted with the disorder in society. Rongmon, the only Assamese comic magazine for children, is quite popular among children and adults alike. Its publishers have now started a website.
Perhaps because these are magazines for children, they aim at unadulterated humour and pure amusement. After all, who would want to pollute a child’s mind with the ugly reality of society? Maybe the region needs more writers like Lakshminath Bezbarua and Bhabendra Nath Saikia to teach people how to laugh despite all the decadence in the community and find humour in the canvas of life.
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