Homage to Feluda

“I see Rajen babu come to the mall every afternoon...” begins Feludar Goendagiri, the first among the 35 stories and novellas that comprise Satyajit Ray’s Feluda series. Over the course of a short story, Feluda goes to Darjeeling with his nephew and solves the case of Rajen Babu’s life-threatening letter. When I read it as a child, I decided I had to know more about Prodosh Chandra Mitter, the fictional private investigator who lives at 21 Rajani Sen Road, Ballygunge, Calcutta.

I was looking for a new fictional hero when I found Feluda. And while Satyajit Ray may be celebrated worldwide for The Apu Trilogy (1955-1959),The Music Room (1958), The Big City (1963), and Charulata (1964), back then, I thanked him most for creating the detective – my introduction to the world of mystery and mayhem.

Feluda made his first appearance in Sandesh, a Bengali children’s magazine founded by Ray’s grandfather, Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury. After Feludar Goendagiri, he went on to become one of the most impactful Bengali characters of all time. The taciturn detective is usually accompanied on his adventures by the Watson to his Holmes, his cousin-cum-assistant Tapesh Ranjan Mitter, affectionately called “Topshe” who is the narrator of the stories. In Sonar Kella (The Golden Fortress), the sixth story featuring Feluda and Topshe, the duo meets the bumbling Jatayu, a popular thriller writer who becomes their partner in crime.

Early on, Ray admitted that writing mysteries for young adults was challenging. “To write a whodunit while keeping in mind a young readership is not an easy task, because the stories have to be kept ‘clean’,” he said . “No illicit love, no crime passionel, and only a modicum of violence.” But he did the most splendid job, ensuring that Feluda remains the quintessential Bengali even as he follows in the great British detective fiction tradition..

I returned to Feluda a couple of months ago when my almost-teen was looking for new books to read, new heroes to know. Needless to say, she’s on her way to becoming a Feluda fan as well. After all, the detective isn’t difficult to like.

Ray’s Feluda is a man of around 27, with a tall, athletic figure. He is adept in martial arts and owns a .32 Colt revolver, but relies on sharp observation skills and analytical abilities that help him to solve cases. A voracious reader, he has a keen interest in almost every subject -- geometry, geography, history, and more. His two apparent vices are smoking Charminar cigarettes and chewing betel leaves. He’s extremely choosy and only takes up cases that offer a chance at doing the best brainwork.

In Ageless Hero, Sexless Man, Sayandeb Chowdhury writes that Feluda is “informed, conscious of his credentials, keenly observant of the world, and urges Topshe to be respectful of the topography, cartography, and history of a city, place or region that they are chasing their case in”.

Feluda has many traits that young adults could admire and aspire to: a photographic memory, an ambidextrous nature, a gift for word games and puzzles, and a desire to get to the bottom of things.

“But most importantly there is in Feluda that distinctly brotherly figure, just old enough to be more than a mere peer, but not old enough to be distant and forbearing like the father. The suffix da reinforces Feluda’s next-door likeability, his spunky localism, without taking anything away from his professional accomplishments. Along with his intelligence, the combative, battle-ready, no-nonsense impudence of Feluda marks him with the candour of a trustworthy friend, secured in his commitment and vigilant of human values while setting him apart from the orderly, proprietorial, governing adulthood of the police who work the hand of the State,” writes Chowdhury.

Feluda’s stories have been brought to the screen numerous times, with varied actors playing the indomitable character: Soumitra Chatterjee, Sabyasachi Chakrabarty, Ahmed Rubel, Shashi Kapoor, Abir Chatterjee, Parambrata Chatterjee, Tota Roy Chowdhury and Indraneil Sengupta.

Ray himself directed two Feluda movies — Sonar Kella (1974) and Joi Baba Felunath (1978). His son, Sandip Ray, made a new Feluda film series, beginning with Baksho Rahashya (1996), and a stand-alone Feluda film Badshahi Angti (2014), featuring Abir Chatterjee.

Ray’s admiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is reflected in his character’s appreciation of Sherlock Holmes – and mentioned several times. In Kailash Choudharyr Pathar, Feluda praises the way Holmes used his observations to make conclusions. And years later, in Londone Feluda, he makes a visit to Baker Street, calling Holmes the “master” of all private detectives. A couple of stories reveal his fondness for Bruce Lee and Tintin.

In Feluda on Feluda: a letter to Topshe, Rochona Majumdar discusses how Ray develops a private investigator, “a middle-class man who was not bourgeois” and remains completely indifferent to material benefits. Feluda is nothing “but a representative of the educated ‘bhadralok’ whose life found meaning in serving their country through honest endeavours. [Feluda] epitomised an ideal of modern Indian citizenship . . . a modern man who did not seek to reproduce himself through family and property”

The Bengali love for travel didn’t spare Feluda, Topshe, and Jatayu, and the “three musketeers” travel far and wide to solve a range of cases – from Darjeeling, Gangtok, Jaisalmer, and Lucknow, to Shimla, Varanasi, Mumbai, and London. This combination of travel, trivia, and mystery creates unputdownable short stories, ones that children and adults alike continue to enjoy.

In celebration of Ray’s 103rd birth anniversary that was on 2 May, here’s a look at his top Feluda stories.

Sonar Kella

The Golden Fortress put the then sleepy town of Jaisalmer on the global tourism map in the 1970s. It all begins with Sudhir Dhar, the father of eight-year-old Mukul, seeking Feluda’s help to solve the mystery surrounding his son’s memories of a past life – a time when he lived in a golden fortress. Hidden treasure, encounters with criminals on the trail of jewels, a meeting with parapsychologist Dr Hajra, an impromptu camel ride, and a memorable meeting with Jatayu – this desert adventure ends up becoming one of Feluda’s most complex cases.

Joy Baba Felunath

The Mystery of the Elephant God sets the stage for a spine-tingling mystery during Durga Puja celebrations in Varanasi. The Ghosal household reports the theft of a valuable statue of Ganesh, and Feluda must give it his all as he faces off against arch-villain Maganlal Meghraj. Along the way, while exploring the tiny, crowded streets of the holy city with Topshe and Jatayu, he solves a murder case, unmasks the mysterious Macchli Baba, and brings home the statue of the elephant god.

Tintorettor Jishu

Ray drew inspiration from a real-life story to pen Tintoretto’s Jesus, the story of the theft of a miniature painting belonging to the aristocratic Neogi family of Baikunthapur, now in in Bangladesh. Not many people are aware of the value of a painting by Italian maestro Tintoretto when it is gifted by the aristocratic Italian Cassini family to the Neogis. However, one family member in the know steals it and is swamped by international buyers keen to get their hands on the valuable work of art. Feluda tracks down the criminals, chasing them all the way to Hong Kong.

Gangtokey Gondogol

Feluda and Topshe are holidaying amid gorgeous nature and scenic surrounds when Trouble in Gangtok begins. They meet a man and learn about a accident involving his partner and a taxi. The mysterious murder in the mountains has plenty of twists and turns: an estranged son, a visit to a Tibetan institute, a death threat, mysterious characters, and a practitioner of the occult. But it doesn’t take too many pages for Feluda to unravel the tricky case.

Badshahi Angti

The first Feluda novella, The Emperor’s Ring, was serialised in Sandesh magazine in 1966–67. Feluda and Topshe find themselves in the thick of things when they are on holiday in Lucknow and a priceless Mughal ring is stolen. The old-world charms of Lucknow bring the city alive as the duo find themselves trailing a devious criminal. The hunt takes them to Laxmanjhoola, and leads to a deadly encounter with a python in a log cabin. Full of adventure and intrigue, this is Feluda at his best. .

Kailash Chowdhury’r Pathar

By the time Kailash Choudhury’s Jewel rolls around, Feluda has attained fame as an investigator. He’s approached by Kailash Chowdhury, a lawyer and shikari, after receiving an anonymous threat letter. Investigations reveal that the Chowdhury family owns a blue beryl, an expensive jewel that the letter-writer might have his eyes on. However, surprises abound: Chowdhury’s twin has returned from Switzerland only recently; his nephew also comes under suspicion, and Feluda and Topshe are attacked during the probe.

Londone Feluda

At 221B Baker Street, Feluda says: “Guru, you showed us the way. If I am an investigator today, it is only because of you. Now I can say coming to London was truly worthwhile.” In Feluda in London, the three comrades travel overseas on the request of a client to investigate a dead British man. The person is connected to the client’s student life in London, something that the client has no memory of. A boat ride, a drowning death, a survivor’s loss of memory – all are tied together by Feluda’s investigation.

Teja Lele is an independent editor and writes on books, travel and lifestyle.