Proverbs are products of different ages, and as such, it isnecessary to set aside any criteria for exclusion based on bigotry,īias and chauvinisms of various kinds. Proverbs are things of thesocial milieu, and the thought here is to present them in a bookthat brings alive for the reader such a setting. Rather, here is an attempt to givethe reader a broad and light context. Many existing books - most of them scholarly and some evenclassic - on Bengali proverbs. This book is not meant to complement or supplement the Ghosh has sinceremained steadfast in extending tangible help by editing and as Hisenthusiasm and encouragement gave me the confidence that thecollection could be made into a book. Kindly introduced me to Dr Sujit Ghosh, a retired Reader ofBengali, West Bengal Universities and a literateur. The whole thing simply snowballed after that, and thecollection now stands at over 1400 entries. Amazingly, the project became a socialpastime, and everyone reached into their memories to add to thecollection. I took my notebook with mein anticipation of adding a few more proverbs during my stay, tothe then grand total of 41. In November 2006, 1 went toKolkata to visit family and friends. This book happened purely because of a special request fromour son Proshun who showed interest every time I quoted aīengali proverb and wanted it repeated and explained. Thanks also go to Jayashree Maitra and Bijan Saha fortheir respective contribution. Special thanks go to Saktidas Roy, Chief Librarian of AnandaBazaar Patrika (one of the top Bengali dailies in Kolkata) andMandira Das Gupta for promoting the book with passion in All proverbs from other languages and culturesquoted here are from the English translations. Similar moral and social paradigms are to be found in otherwisedistinct cultures. In the first edition, attempts were made to match proverbswith similar proverbs from 41 different languages and cultures.That number has now increased to 71, further reflecting how Appendix I now has more background stories,the Subject Index has been expanded and Bibliography updated. More recentfinds, too late to be incorporated in the main body, are includedin Appendix II. Seventy selected proverbs from that workhave been added to enrich the original collection. In 2010, I cameacross A.T Devs Notun Bangla Abhidhan (1933) which becamean invaluable resource. All entries have been revised and the literal andinterpretive meanings made more concise. So, this edition is an enlarged and upgraded
Interest in improving the book started soon after the firstedition came out. In my own experience, I waspleased to discover that more non-Bengali speakers appeared toīe interested in the book than Bengali speakers, reflecting themulticultural nature of the book. The first edition of The Meditating Cat was very well received.It was a pleasant surprise and very humbling to discover thenumber of good reviews it had both in Kolkata (5) and in UK (2)īeing more of a reference book, interested groups comprisedlibraries, academics and individuals with a passion for languagesas well as colleges, universities and other institutions teachingBengali, both in UK and USA.
, mailto: ://Ĭhapter 2 aa 'ST 28Cha pters e, ee $, ^ 45 Publishing services by Into PrintnetPrinted and bound in UK and USA by Lightning Source Without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the Stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without theprior written consent of the publisher or a licence permitting copying inthe UK issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way oftrade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated inany form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and The rights of Mondira Sinha-Ray to be identified as the author of thiswork have been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright,Designs and Patents Act of 1988.Īll rights reserved no part of this publication may be reproduced, Published by Mondira Sinha-RayPublishing partner: Paragon Publishing, Rothersthorpe2nd edition published 2011 Mondira Sinha-Ray 2011Ĭover: Biral Tapasvi (the meditating cat) by Jamini Roy.Gouache on card, 1940s (private collection, Nirmalya Kumar).Ĭomments and suggestions about this book will be highly appreciated andany reports of errors may kindly be sent to: