Konkaboti

Troilokyonath Mukhopadhyay’s tales are excursions into fantasy, where fact confronts the unreal. He belongs to a group of writers (including Sukumar Ray and Lewis Carroll) who elevated nonsense in literature to an art form. Konkaboti, Troilokyonath’s first novel (1892), begins with the childhood years of the eponymous heroine and Khetu, a boy from her village, who goes to Kolkata to study. In time, their mothers want them to marry, but Konkaboti’s avaricious father plans her wedding with an aged zamindar. The prospect appals her and she falls seriously ill.