Nirmal Kanti Bhattacharjee's translation of "The Dreadful Beauty" originally written in Bengali as "Bhoyonkor Sundor" by eminent litterateur Sunil Gangopadhyay has been nominated for excellence by International Board on Books for Young People in its Honour List 2012, according to publisher Ponytale Books.
The book contains the first adventure of Kakababu, an anti-thesis of a conventional detective. Created in early 1970's Gangopadhyay's adventures of Kakababu is very popular in West Bengal. Raja Roychowdhury, a k a Kakababu, who was earlier with the Archaeological Survey of India probes the mystery behind well-known historical facts.
The sleuth is is always accompanied by his 13-year old nephew Santu. "I strongly believe that there are excellent books for children and young adults in Bengali which need to be projected on a national and international platform. If the selection of my translation in the IBBY Honour List motivates more people to undertake the task of translation in this area, I will feel my effort rewarded," says Nirmal Kanti Bhattacharjee.
Bhattacharjee, currently Director of K K Birla Foundation, has been translated Mahasweta Devi's "Armani Chamapar Gaachh" (The Armenian Champa Tree), Sirshendu Mukhopadhyaya's "Gosai Baganer Bhoot "(The Ghost of Gosain Bagan). He is currently translating short stories from Bengali into English and yet another adventure of Kakababu. (MORE)