Entering Rajdipta Biswas’s New Town home, the first thing you notice is the series of photographs on the techie’s living room wall. Some of the pictures are of old Kolkata, but the rest are of Satyajit Ray and Feluda. Soon enough, you are struck by another obvious realisation: the space where you sit imitates almost perfectly the baithak khana of 21, Rajani Sen Street, the house where Ray’s sleuth, Pradosh Chandra Mitter aka Feluda, lived.
Feluda’s drawing room, as seen in ‘Sonar Kella’
Feluda and Ray together form the epicentre of Biswas’s home and passion. For a few years now, he and his wife, Payel Bose Biswas, a political science professor, have attempted to live a life that resembles Feluda’s. “Decorating our house was Payel’s idea. One day, we were watching Sonar Kella, and she suggested that we decorate our living room like in the film,” says Rajdipta, 43. Everything from their bookshelves and aquarium to the Jamini Roy print and the Buddha statue pays homage to their favourite detective, but their love for him isn’t just limited to décor. They’ve also tried to incorporate into their lives his habits.
Everything from their bookshelves and aquarium to the Jamini Roy print and the Buddha statue pays homage to their favourite detective Amit Datta
Much like their hero, Rajdipta and Payel drink only Makaibari tea. Like him, they even wake up and do yoga every morning. “One of our close relatives owns a famous gun shop in Kolkata. I once had the opportunity to hold a 32 Colt revolver that was a lot like Feluda’s. In a way, our lives have become very Feluda-like,” says Rajdipta. “These days I don’t get Charminar cigarettes in New Town. If I could, I’d have offered that, too,” he adds with a smile.
A wood carving by Satyajit Ray collected by Rajdipta Amit Datta
In Feluda’s footsteps
Growing up on Badri Das Temple Street near Maniktala, Rajdipta spent his childhood navigating the lanes of north Kolkata He remembers his grandmother ushering him into the world of storytelling. “She would tell me all kinds of stories. One day, she narrated to me the adventures of Gupi Gayen Bagha Bayen. That was my gateway into the Ray universe.”
The first time he saw Sonar Kella on Doordarshan, Rajdipta was eight. “I was so moved by the film. I remember identifying with Mukul a great deal.” By the time he was 10, Rajdipta had read all the Feluda books and watched Ray’s two Feluda films — Sonar Kella and Joy Baba Felunath — countless times. “My parents always encouraged me. They asked me to build a character like Pradosh Mitter’s — brave, knowledgeable, honest, intelligent and calm.”
Rajdipta at a ‘Sonar Kella’ shooting site in Jaisalmer
Rajdipta’s father would often take him to places where the stories of Feluda were set. “In 1988, we went to Darjeeling. The first story of Feluda – Feludar Goyendagiri – took place there,” he added. In 1991, the family went to Lucknow, the setting of Badshahi Angti, and in 1993, they went to Benaras and followed a Joy Baba Felunath trail. After becoming an adult, Rajdipta travelled to Feluda locations in Kolkata and Bengal — the Park Street cemetery, Gosaipur, Panihati and Bosepukur. “That tradition continues. We are still visiting the places Ray showed in his films and described in his stories,” says Payel, Rajdipta’s “Topshe”.
Rajdipta on his ‘Joy Baba Felunath’ trail in Benaras
Sleuths in the family
Sidhu Jyatha was as integral to the Feluda narrative as Mycroft was to Sherlock Holmes. A bibliophile, he was a reservoir of knowledge and information that Feluda sometimes tapped into. Rajdipta says that Payel’s paternal uncle, Kishore Ranjan Roy, doubled up as his own Sidhu Jyatha. “He was a living Chat GPT. Ask him anything and he’d answer. There was hardly anything he didn’t know. In fact, all our books in this apartment have come from him.”
Old Calcutta and Satyajit Ray shooting photos on the walls Amit Datta
Rajdipta and Payel are so influenced by Feluda that oftentimes everyday events come to feel like mysteries. Their most recent case involves cigarette butts that Payel found on their washing machine. “I am a smoker but it was hard to convince Payel that the butt wasn’t mine. Thankfully, she found a burnt bidi at the same spot the next day,” says Rajdipta. After some investigation, they zeroed in on the guilty party — construction workers in their building.
The couple now feel enthused to see their four-year-old daughter Rajika taking an interest in Feluda films and books. For Rajdipta and Payel, a love for Feluda is nothing short of inheritance.
