All language subtitles for Sukumar Ray (Satyajit Ray, 1987) ENG

The Government of West Bengal
and
Satyajit Ray Productions Present

Sukumar Ray

Saumitra Chatterjee, Utpal Dutt,
Santosh Dutt & others

Cinematography: Barun Raha,
Art: Ashok Bose; Editing: Dulal Dutt

Narration: Saumitra Chattopadhyay
Songs: Anup Ghoshal & Chorus

Screenplay, Music & Direction:
Satyajit Ray

There are few Bengalis
unfamiliar with these pictures

They are from two wonderful books
and a great short story

The books are 'Abol Tabol' (The Ridiculous)
and 'Haw-Jaw-Baw-Raw-Law' (Absurdity)

and the story
'The Diary of Heshoram the Clever'

The Author: Sukumar Ray
He was born 100 years ago

His father was
Upendra Kishore Ray Chowdhury

Upendra was the adopted son of
Hari Krishna Roy Chowdhury

Before adoption he was known as
Kamada Ranjan
and was the Second of 5 brothers

The brothers were all gifted

They were Sharada Ranjan,
then Kamada Ranjan (Upendra) followed by
Muktida Ranjan, Kulada Ranjan & Pramada Ranjan

Sarada Ranjan taught Mathematics & Sanskrit
His books were used as Textbooks

He was the principal of Metropolitan College
and the best known cricketer of his time

Upendra was a noted printer and publisher
He was also a painter, a scientist ...

a writer of children's fiction
and a musician

He was the only Indian to regulalrly publish
in 'Penrose Annual' - on printing technology

Mukti Ranjan, also a mathematician and a
sportsman, also taught in Metropolitan College

Kulada Ranjan also played Cricket
and was known for his translations ...

of children's classics from around the world

Pramada Ranjan served in the office
of the Surveyor General of India

He wrote about his experiences in a book
called 'Baner Khabar' - Jungle Stories

Of the 5 brothers 2 were traditional Hindus
Upendra, Kulada and Pramada belonged to
the reformist BRAHMO SAMAJ

Despite the social boycott of the Brahmo Samaj
The relations between the brothers was always cordial

Upendra Kishore married Bidhumukhi,
the daughter of a leading Brahmo Samaj member

and started living at
13, Cornwallis Street in Calcutta

They had six children
The second was Sukumar Ray

Sukumar graduated with Honours
in both Physics and Chemistry
from Presidency College Calcutta

When in College Sukumar established
a group called Nonsense Club

They published
a handwritten magazine on humour
called the "Thity two and a half fries"

It was here that he published
his first humourous poetry

and his famous nonsenseplay
'Jhala Pala' (Cacophony)

Here is a sequencefrom Jhalapala:
Asked to explain the meaning of
'I go up, we go down'

The teacher says:
I stands for the 'eye'
go = cow (Bengali phonetic equivalent)
Up means water (Bengali phonetic equivalent)

so 'I go up' means
"The cow's eyes water" or
"the cow is crying"

the next part tells us why

"We go down"

We means termites
(Bengali phonetic equivalent)

and 'go down' means godown or a warehouse.

So 'I Go UP, We Go Down' means
The cow is crying
because termites have destroyed the warehouse

Another play was 'Laxmaner Shaktishel'
(The magic spear of Laxman)
a spoof based on the Ramayan

Rama and his army have invaded Lanka
the kingdom of Ravana the powerful king

They are about to meet
Ravana in the field of battle

Rama: Last night I had a beautiful dream.
I dreamt that Ravana had climbed a tree

He climbed to the top, his foot slipped
and he fell to the ground unconscious

Then Ravana must be really dead
The king's dream cannot be wrong

cannot be - will not be - can never be

I told Hanuman to
throw the body in the sea

Hanuman said it was unnecessary
Ravana is totally dead

Totally Dead?
Then lets enjoy

But.. But.. There's Ravana's Chariot
And there's Ravana!

Really! That means Ravana is
not dead? He must have 9 lives!

Its all the fault of Hanuman
Why didn't he throw the body into the sea?

Now its like trying to shut the
barn door after the horse has bolted

Here's our spy
Tell us all the news

Sir, I've just arrived

Wonderful!
Is that all you can tell us?

You've just arrived!
Whats so great about that?

Tell us what happened today
In details

Sir, I got up in the morning, bathed
had some rice and vegetables and went out..

I had pumpkin even though the astrologers
said eating pumpkin is not advised today

You see my pumpkin had started rotting!

Stop talking nonsense!
Talk about business

Well, I ate, slept for a couple of hours
and went out

Saw that drums were rolling!

Like this:
Dha Ra Ra Ra Ra Ra...

This guy is repeating 'Dha Ra ra ra ra'
like a recurring decimal!

Are you going to tell us what you saw
sequentially, serially, step by step, chronologically?

Yes tell us everything..
What next?

Ravana is coming, with great pomp
Drums are beating and its very noisy

What next?... What next?...What next?

Drums are beating, cymbals clashing,
The clash of arms is deafening..

What next?... What next?...What next?

Thousands of soldiers
Flags are flying

What next?... What next?...What next?

They are thumping their breasts
The earth is shaking under their feet

What next?... What next?...What next?

They put the fear of god in me,
my heart started beating faster

What next?... What next?...What next?

None of you will survive this day..
You'll all die in droves..

In 1895 Upendra Kishore set up a
printing press called 'U.Ray & Sons'

Upendra Kishore hadn't been abroad, but sent
Sukumar to England to study printing & photography

In 1911, Sukumar went to England
on a fellowship. He was 23 then.

In London he studied for a year in the
London County Council School of photoengraving & Lithography

He then studied
Chromolithography and litho-drawing

at the
Municipal School of Technology, Manchester

His correspondence tells us that his tutelage
under Upendra Kishore was of great help.

This was the time (1912) when
Rabindranath Tagore also went to England

with his translation of "Gitanjali"
(Tagore was to win the Nobel Prize for 'Gitanjali')

Sukumar Ray was one of the
first to welcome him there

Sukumar wrote an article in 'QUEST'
introducing Tagore to the West

Sukumar returned to India in October 1913
He had passed his examinations with distinction

Two months later he married Suprabha

In summer of 1913, Upendra Kishore
started publishing a children's magazine called
SANDESH

Earlier he had published children's versions
of The Mahabharata and The Ramayana

and the 'Book of the Toontooni Bird'
- A collection of folk tales of Bengal

In 1914, the family shifted to
a new house at 100, Garpar Road

His printing press was in the front and
living quarters at the back, facing south.

Sadly, he died just two years
after SANDESH was first published.

But in these two years
SANDESH had become a premium magazine.

The quality of printing in SANDESH
was unsurpassed in its time.

Sukumar took over where
his father had left SANDESH

His first poem for SANDESH was called Khichudi (Kedgeree/mixture)
later included in his famous collection 'Abol Tabol' (The Ridiculous).

Such convoluted verse and such pictures
could only have come from Sukumar Ray..

Was a duck, porcupine (to grammar I bow not)
Became Duckupine, but how I know not.

Stork tells turtle, �it�s a delight--
Our Stortle shape is exactly right!�

The Parrot-Head Lizard feels very silly:
Must he spurn insects, for a raw green chili?

The goat now hatches a plan to wed--
Mounts scorpion�s neck--body unites with head!

The giraffe�s reluctant to wander nearby
With his grasshopper wings, he longs to fly.

Says the cow, �What ails the pen
That my rear belongs to a rascally hen?�

See the Whalephant:
The Whale wants the sea;
The Elephant says, �It�s the jungle for me.�

The lion has no horns, that�s his woe--
He pairs with a deer; and antlers grow!

Covers from early issues of
SANDESH

The standards Upendra Kishore set for
Sandesh
were never lowered in Sukumar's time

The whole family contributed (and
some contributions have become classics)

Family apart, almost every well known writer
(Including Tagore) wrote for SANDESH

But the bulk of pictures, sketches and stories

were penned by Sukumar himself

(They are still read 100 years later)

The versatility of Sukumar
and his thirst for new things was unending

he had given 7 names
to just one handwritten Notebook ..

The Unnecessary Notebook

The Nonsense Notebook

The Fanciful Notebook

The Notebook for Drafts

The Just-Like-That Notebook

The Wasted Notebook

The Collections Notebook

This Wonderful Notebook with its
many scribbles, riddles and notes

Gives us an insight
into the mind of Sukumar Ray

Sukumar had a life outside Sandesh too..

He was the central figure among
the youth of the Brahmo Samaj

When there was a dispute about
admitting Tagore to the Brahmo Samaj

The youth, led by
Sukumar and Prashanto Maholanobis

stood up against the establishment

Ultimately Tagore was admitted
by a popular vote

In 1915 he founded the 'Monday Club'

It attracted the cream of
young intellectuals of Bengal

Some members were

Satyendra Nath Dutta (Poet)

Ajit Kumar Chakrabarty

Atul Prasad Sen

Suniti Kumar Chattopadhyay

Kalidas Nag

Prashanto Chandra Maholanobis

Hiran Sanyal etc.

The invitations to the Club Meetings
were unique in their contents and composition

Sukumar personally composed them
and they were printed at U Ray and Sons

Most were in verse

some have passed into folklore
(recitation in Bengali)

The discussions in this
club were on serious issues.

Poetry, literature, Art, philosophy, politics
Nothing was left out.

The poet Satyendranath wrote a poem
(Recitation in Bengali)

Sukumar wrote two plays for older audiences
One was 'Chalachitta Chanchari'

And the other 'Shabda Kalpa Droom'

In 1921, aged 33 Sukumar fell ill
with a tropical disease that knew no cure then.

His son Satyajit was born the same year

Despite his illness
Sukumar kept writing for Sandesh

'Haw Jaw Baw Raw Law'
(Absurdity) was written at this time

This, his greatest creation, was
inspired by Lewis Carrol's Alice in Wonderland
.

The world of Haw Jaw Baw Raw Law
is a world of fantasy and dreams

Whats your weight?
I don't know

2.5 kilogram
How can that be?

Patal is younger than me
and even he weighs 21 Kilograms

Your measures are different

Write down
Weight 2.5 Kg, age 37

That's nonsense.
My age is 8 years 3 months

Is it increasing or decreasing?

What do you mean?

Is your age increasin or decreasing?

How can age ever decrease?

Are you saying
age can only increase?

40-50-60-70-80...
I'd grow old and die!

A person won't grow old at 80?

How idiotic!
Why should I let my age grow?

As soon as I age to 40, a
reverse countdown starts

40-39-38-37...

When it comes back to 10
it starts increasing again

My age has increased and
decreased so may times

Its now 13

In 1922, Sukumar was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society

In 1923 he published "Ateeter Chhobi"
A history of the Brahmo Samaj

His health was deteriorating
but his creativity was unabated

He published printer's manuals

A new book of verse was
taking shape in little pieces

He was writing the Mahabharata in verse

A recuperation visit to Sodhpur led to
this painting of a sunset on the Ganges

A dummy copy of 'Abol Tabol'(Ridiculous)
was prepared with his own sketches

Even the cover of the book
was painted by him - in color

Sukumar did not live to see it in print

In the last poem of Abol Tabol
He clearly foretells his death

Today before I leave/I will speak out my heart
Even if it is meaningless/ Let people not understand

I have let my imagination flow today
Thee is no one who can stop it any more

and the last two lines...

Its now time to sleep,
my song is over today

Tagore visited him at this time

10th September 1923 -
there was an eartquake in Calcutta

That morning Sukumar Ray passed away
He was only 36

Heraing of Sukumar's death, Tagore said

I have seen many deaths. But I have never
seen anyone like this young man

who facing death,
nevertheless sang songs to life.

Sitting beside his death bed I have heard that
song and my heart is overflowing with it,

Early pictures of
Satyajit Ray, Sukumar Ray's son