Seemanto-heera
Encyclopedia
Sheemanto heera is a detective
novella
written in Bengali
by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay
featuring the sleuth Byomkesh Bakshi
and Ajit Bandyopadhyay
. Written in 1934, it is the third such work of fiction featuring Byomkesh and is written in first-person narrative, as experienced by Byomkesh's friend, associate, and narrator, Ajit Bandyopadhyay
.
Tridibendra Narayan Roy to recover the diamond. The diamond had been in the possession of the ruler for generations and a legend had been built around it. According to the legend, if the diamond were to ever be lost, then the line of succession would end. Tridibendran was the sole heir of his line according to the rules of succession where only the eldest son became ruler, but he did have an uncle, Sir Digindra Narayan Roy who was the younger brother of his father. Sir Roy was an established painter and sculptor who worked with mixed media
such as plaster of paris. Sir Roy received a lavish monthly pension but since he wasn't heir-apparent, he did not get possession of the diamond. Consumed by greed, he did steal it while the diamond was on display in Calcutta and he replaced it with a fake that looked exactly the same to the untrained eye. He then notified his nephew that he had taken the diamond.
Tridibendra had sought the services of Byomkesh and Ajit to recover the diamond but also requested the utmost secrecy, since he didn't want the press to get wind of this loss. Byomkesh and Ajit returned to Calcutta and checked Sir Roy's house in Ballygunge
. The house was very well protected by high walls and a number of guards. Both Ajit and Byomkesh then applied for the post of a secretary to Sir Roy but were detected by the latter and thoroughly humiliated. Not one to lose heart, Byomkesh still boasted that he would find and recover the diamond by the end of the week to which the arrogant Sir Roy took immediate offence. Sir Roy then offered to let him search the house for seven days because he was so confident it wouldn't be discovered. Byomkesh immediately took up the challenge because he realized that this might be the only chance to examine the house and he had already inferred that Sir Roy had hidden it there.
Searching for the diamond turned out to be an aruduous task with the work been made even harder by the constant scorn of Sir Roy. Byomkesh could not find anything but he did notice that there were quite a few plaster sculptures including various figurines of Nataraj of different sizes. One was placed on a table in the living room and Byomkesh noticed that Sir Roy stared at the table often though the other items on the table were inconspicuous. Byomkesh asked if he could have the small Nataraj figurine to which Sir Roy said he could, but he also said that this was a priceless work-of-art that had been exhibited at the Louvre
and he didn't want Byomkesh to break it because there was nothing hidden inside. Byomkesh took the figurine home but he was disheartened that his major line of enquiry had been busted. Almost casually, he put his initials on the bottom of the figurine. The next day's search seemed to be friutless as well. When he came home though while staring at the figurine, he noticed that the initials were gone and he immediately came to the conclusion that the figurine had been exchanged while he was away. So he had the diamond in his possession for an entire day without being aware of it!
He returned to Sir Roy's house and used a sleight-of-hand to replace the figurine with his initials with the one it had been replaced by at his home. He returned the figurine to Tridibendra and when they broke the figurine, they found the diamond inside.
short stories, "The Purloined Letter
" - object being frantically sought for is placed in plain view and thus never detected. As a character Sharadindu assumed that the average reader would be like Ajit, but in some ways underestimated the sophistication of the average Bengali reader of the time, something he admitted to in a letter he wrote.
Detective fiction
Detective fiction is a sub-genre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator , either professional or amateur, investigates a crime, often murder.-In ancient literature:...
novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
written in Bengali
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay
Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay
Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay was a well known literary figure of Bengal. He was also actively involved with Bengali cinema as well as Bollywood. His most famous creation is the fictional detective Byomkesh Bakshi.He wrote different forms of prose: novels, short stories, plays and screenplays...
featuring the sleuth Byomkesh Bakshi
Byomkesh Bakshi
Byomkesh Bakshi is a fictional detective in Bengali literature created by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. He is one of the most successful detective characters in Bengali Literature. Also, Bandyopadhyay once said that these stories can be thought as and read as social novels only...
and Ajit Bandyopadhyay
Ajit Bandyopadhyay
Ajit Bandyopadhyay, also known as Ajit Banerjee or simply Ajit, is a longtime friend, associate, and narrator of Byomkesh Bakshi in the Bengali detective fiction written by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. His characterization is a substantial throwback to Dr...
. Written in 1934, it is the third such work of fiction featuring Byomkesh and is written in first-person narrative, as experienced by Byomkesh's friend, associate, and narrator, Ajit Bandyopadhyay
Ajit Bandyopadhyay
Ajit Bandyopadhyay, also known as Ajit Banerjee or simply Ajit, is a longtime friend, associate, and narrator of Byomkesh Bakshi in the Bengali detective fiction written by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. His characterization is a substantial throwback to Dr...
.
Synopsis
Unlike most of the novels featuring Byomkesh, this one does not involve any violent crime or major plot twists. The story revolves around the theft of a priceless heirloom, the Seemanto-heera or "Frontier Diamond", belonging to the heir of the Roy clan, one of the minor rulers of North Bengal. Byomkesh and Ajit have been invited by the current heir, a young Rai BahadurRai (Indian)
Rai is a title of honour in India and is also used as a surname mainly by Rajput, Jat of North India and Bunts of coastal Karnataka and Kerala in south India.It is also used as a surname by Bhumihar of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.It is derived from Raja and the Marathi/Telugu variant is Rao, while...
Tridibendra Narayan Roy to recover the diamond. The diamond had been in the possession of the ruler for generations and a legend had been built around it. According to the legend, if the diamond were to ever be lost, then the line of succession would end. Tridibendran was the sole heir of his line according to the rules of succession where only the eldest son became ruler, but he did have an uncle, Sir Digindra Narayan Roy who was the younger brother of his father. Sir Roy was an established painter and sculptor who worked with mixed media
Mixed media
Mixed media, in visual art, refers to an artwork in the making of which more than one medium has been employed.There is an important distinction between "mixed-media" artworks and "multimedia art". Mixed media tends to refer to a work of visual art that combines various traditionally distinct...
such as plaster of paris. Sir Roy received a lavish monthly pension but since he wasn't heir-apparent, he did not get possession of the diamond. Consumed by greed, he did steal it while the diamond was on display in Calcutta and he replaced it with a fake that looked exactly the same to the untrained eye. He then notified his nephew that he had taken the diamond.
Tridibendra had sought the services of Byomkesh and Ajit to recover the diamond but also requested the utmost secrecy, since he didn't want the press to get wind of this loss. Byomkesh and Ajit returned to Calcutta and checked Sir Roy's house in Ballygunge
Ballygunge
Ballygunge is an upmarket and elite locality in South Kolkata, India. It is flanked by Park Circus in the north, Kasba and the Eastern Railway south suburban line in the east, Dhakuria and the Lakes in the south, and the localities of Bhowanipore and Lansdowne in the west...
. The house was very well protected by high walls and a number of guards. Both Ajit and Byomkesh then applied for the post of a secretary to Sir Roy but were detected by the latter and thoroughly humiliated. Not one to lose heart, Byomkesh still boasted that he would find and recover the diamond by the end of the week to which the arrogant Sir Roy took immediate offence. Sir Roy then offered to let him search the house for seven days because he was so confident it wouldn't be discovered. Byomkesh immediately took up the challenge because he realized that this might be the only chance to examine the house and he had already inferred that Sir Roy had hidden it there.
Searching for the diamond turned out to be an aruduous task with the work been made even harder by the constant scorn of Sir Roy. Byomkesh could not find anything but he did notice that there were quite a few plaster sculptures including various figurines of Nataraj of different sizes. One was placed on a table in the living room and Byomkesh noticed that Sir Roy stared at the table often though the other items on the table were inconspicuous. Byomkesh asked if he could have the small Nataraj figurine to which Sir Roy said he could, but he also said that this was a priceless work-of-art that had been exhibited at the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
and he didn't want Byomkesh to break it because there was nothing hidden inside. Byomkesh took the figurine home but he was disheartened that his major line of enquiry had been busted. Almost casually, he put his initials on the bottom of the figurine. The next day's search seemed to be friutless as well. When he came home though while staring at the figurine, he noticed that the initials were gone and he immediately came to the conclusion that the figurine had been exchanged while he was away. So he had the diamond in his possession for an entire day without being aware of it!
He returned to Sir Roy's house and used a sleight-of-hand to replace the figurine with his initials with the one it had been replaced by at his home. He returned the figurine to Tridibendra and when they broke the figurine, they found the diamond inside.
Analysis
This is a rare detective story featuring Byomkesh that does not have any violent crime being committed or any culprit at large. The sole focus is to discover where an artifact has been hidden. As such it is one of the first of this category in Bengali literature although not without precedent. The story does follow the pattern of one of Edgar Allan Poe'sEdgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
short stories, "The Purloined Letter
The Purloined Letter
"The Purloined Letter" is a short story by American author Edgar Allan Poe. It is the third of his three detective stories featuring the fictional C. Auguste Dupin, the other two being "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt". These stories are considered to be important...
" - object being frantically sought for is placed in plain view and thus never detected. As a character Sharadindu assumed that the average reader would be like Ajit, but in some ways underestimated the sophistication of the average Bengali reader of the time, something he admitted to in a letter he wrote.
Trivia
- The National Library of IndiaNational Library of IndiaThe National Library of India at Belvedere, Calcutta is the second largest library in India after the Anna Centenary Library in Chennai and India's library of public record....
is mentioned as the Imperial Library, the name by which it was known prior to Independence. In 1953, the location was changed from The EsplanadeEsplanade, CalcuttaEsplanade is an area in central Kolkata, earlier known as Calcutta, in the Indian state of West Bengal. This is not a conventional esplanade in the sense that the place is not exactly situated alongside a waterbody. However, the river Ganges, also known as the Ganga or the Hooghly, is located nearby...
to its current location in Belvedere Estate. - The Calcutta Grand HotelGrand Hotel (Calcutta)The Grand Hotel, officially known as the Oberoi Grand, is situated in the heart of Kolkata on Jawaharlal Nehru Road . It is an elegant building of British era and is a famous building in Kolkata. The hotel is owned by Oberoi chain of hotels.-History:The Grand Hotel had humble beginnings as Mrs...
, which is now the Oberoi Grand Hotel, was even in the 1930s, a hotel for the rich and the elite.