Figuring the Joy of Numbers (English, Paperback, Shakuntala Devi)

In eighteenth-century Bengal, the East India influence and power is growing; the treasuries of the zamindars are emptying out and their mansions crumbling. Young Raj Chandra Chowdhury remains oblivious to these epochal changes. He’s preoccupied with Rongomala, his mistress, a low-born dancing girl. His uncle Rajendta Narayan sees a chance, conspiring to cake over. Meanwhile, Raj Chandrats childlike wife Phuleswari has developed a queer bond of sisterhood with her nemesis. As for Rongomala herself, she dares to defy her caste status by demanding that a lake be dug in her name; she wishes to be remembered after her youth and beauty have run their course. It is an audacity that might cost her dearly.

About the Author

Shaheen Akhtar is the author of five collections of short stories and three novels, Palabar PathNei (No Escape Route); Talaash (The Search); and Shokhi Rongomala. Talaash won the Best Book of the YearAward for 2004 from Prothom Alo, the largest-circulation daily newspaper in Bangladesh. The English translation of the novel was published in 2011 by Zubaan Books, Delhi, India. Akhtar has also edited the three-volume Soti O Swotontora, Bangla Shahitye Nari about the portrayal of women in Bengali literature. She currently works for Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK), a human rights and legal aid organisation in Dhaka, Bangladesh.