Carnival: A Novel – Sayam Bandyopadhyay, Translated by Arunava Sinha

On 6 July 1857, as most of colonial Calcutta eagerly prepares for the first gas lights to illuminate Chowringhee, Rajaram Deb remains locked away in the absolute solitude of his room. He is waiting for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern—trusted associates of a man whose face remains forever obscured by shadows—and his unusual partner, an adjutant stork. The two men have been tasked with escorting Rajaram to a transcendental celebration set to begin at dawn. To join this ethereal, otherworldly congregation, Rajaram has agreed to sever all earthly ties and completely forsake the human form; he has even left his immense wealth behind to an unlikely feline heiress.

As this momentous day unfolds, a series of increasingly surreal elements manifest around him: vivid dreams of blood-red water, noble families dabbling in rum, piles of dusty unsent letters, tattered dictionaries, and a single English word that Rajaram finds inexplicably alluring. A masterpiece of astonishing inventiveness translated by the acclaimed Arunava Sinha, Carnival takes in its sweep the profound interconnectedness of time, the melding of past and present, the myriad mysteries of an ancient city, and one man’s pursuit of immeasurable ecstasy.