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Bengal Nights
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Wikipedia article
'La Nuit Bengali' is a 1933 Romanian novel written by the author and philosopher Mircea Eliade.
It is a fictionalized account of the love story between Eliade, who was visiting India at the time, and the young Maitreyi Devi (protge of the great Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore, who became a famous writer herself). The novel was translated into Italian in 1945, German in 1948, Spanish in 1952, Bengali in 1988, Esperanto in 2007 (as 'Fralino Maitreyi' as part of the Serio Oriento-Okcidento), Catalan in 2011 and Georgian in 2019. Its most famous translation is the one in French, published as 'La Nuit Bengali' in 1950.
For many years, Maitreyi Devi was not aware that the story had been published. After reading it, she wrote her own version of the relationship in 1974. Entitled 'Na Hanyate', it was originally published in Bengali. It was published in English as 'It Does Not Die'.
In fulfillment of a promise Eliade made to Maitreyi that his novel would not be published in English during their lifetimes,Kamani, Ginu (1996). [http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/143651.html A Terrible Hurt: The Untold Story behind the Publishing of Maitreyi Devi]. Toronto Review. an English translation, of 'Mayitreyi', 'Bengal Nights' did not appear until 1993. In 1994, the University of Chicago Press published the two works in English as companion volumes.
Plot
Allan is an employee of the company run by engineer Narendra Sen. When sent to work in a rain-abundant region of India, Allan becomes ill with malaria. He is returned to Calcutta and admitted into a hospital. After treatment, Sen invites Allan into his own house. Shortly after the young guest falls in love with the host's daughter (Maitreyi), their forbidden love gradually grows, resulting in Maitreyi and Allan ending up together.
Chabu, Maitreyi's sister, unwillingly witnesses the lovers hugging thus banishing Allan and isolating Maitreyi. Both suffer immensely. To rid himself of the suffering, Allan retreats into a bungalow in the Himalaya mountains where he meets Jenia Issac.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
'La Nuit Bengali' is a 1988 film based upon the French translation of the same name. It stars Hugh Grant (Allan), Soumitra Chatterjee (Narendra Sen), Shabana Azmi (Indira Sen), Supriya Pathak (Gayatri), Anne Brochet (Guertie).
References
*[http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/143651.html The Untold Story behind the Publishing of Maitreyi Devi]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070211151147/http://www.genders.org/g34/g34_basu.html Passionate Fictions: Horizons of the Exotic and Colonial Self-Fashioning in Mircea Eliade's Bengal Nights and Maitreyi Devi's Na Hanyate]
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