THE MENDICANT PRINCE

THE MENDICANT PRINCE
ARUNA CHAKRAVARTI
A prince or an imposter? The law itself is baffled. In 1909, Ramendranarayan Roy, the ailing second prince of Bengal’s Bhawal estate, is advised a change of air by his physicians. He proceeds to Darjeeling, accompanied by his wife Bibhavati Debi, her brother Satyendranath and a large retinue of officials and retainers. Three weeks later a telegram, sent by Satyendranath, arrives at the royal palace carrying news that the prince breathed his last the previous night and has been cremated. Soon afterwards, various rumours start circulating through the estate – that the prince was in fact poisoned, or that his body had been taken to the burning ghat but hadn’t actually been cremated. There are also whispers about an incestuous relationship between Bibhavati and her brother. Twelve years after the supposed death, a mendicant comes to Bhawal, claiming to be the heir to the estate. Soon a legal case is initiated wherein the mendicant appearing as the plaintiff will face off against his supposed wife and brother-in-law – the defendants. But the court will learn that there are no easy answers to the chief question: is the sannyasi truly the prince who was presumed dead, or is he an avaricious imposter?
ARUNA CHAKRAVARTI
Aruna Chakravarti has been Principal of a prestigious women’s college of Delhi University for ten years. She is also a well-known academic, creative writer and translator with fourteen published books on record. Her novels, The Inheritors, Jorasanko, Daughters of Jorasanko, have sold widely and received rave reviews. Suralakshmi Villa is her fifteenth book. She has also received awards such as the Vaitalik Award, Sahitya Akademi Award and Sarat Puraskar for her translations.