Author: Amarendranath Bhaumik
Pages: 250
Year of Publication: 2009
Price: HB Rs 150, FB Rs 100
ISBN:
HB 81-8157-839-6 (8181578396)
FB 81-8157-840-2 (8181578402)

About the Author:
Amarendranath Bhaumik writes mostly satires, in Bengali and English. He joined the state government service as an officer in Land Reforms in 1972 and left it after clearing the state civic examination in 1976. He retired as a Deputy Director in 2006. Since 1990 he has been a writer and performer with the All India Radio, Calcutta. At present, he lives in Barasat, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal.

Teaser:
In his preface to the book, Bhaumik writes:

"My entire service under the government, little as it was in its jurisdiction, held a great storehouse for my experience. I had both joy and sorrow out of it, but there was something more that prompted me to write a book about these.

I am yet to define a government and doubt whether I could have ever done it. To me, however, the government service meant the men and the records, of which the men mattered more than the records. These men around gave me a feeling of sympathy, anger, hatred, repentance, wonder and fun, the last feeling dominating, since I could often discover a complete vacuum upon a heavy chair. I had my reactions and mute protests agitating in me, but I could not give vent to these. It was this urge that prompted me to write the book.

I could not help citing incidents here and there that spoke of our inaction and lapses in the work -- these came inevitably by way of my description of the situations which moved me terribly, and in no way had I the intention to malign the organization.

I had three options to denote my government service -- a battle, a game, or a drama. It could not be a battle with timid soldiers as we were in the field, nor could it be a game, as we had no goals to achieve; the striking similarity was with drama, after all. And it was but a farce where I had a role to play on a common stage. That is my observation and the story inside."

Contents:
102 chapters