Nuri (story)

Nuri (Bengali: নুড়ি) (transl. The Pebble) is a work of science fiction written in Bengali by the Bengali novelist Premendra Mitra. This story was first published by Deb Sahitya Kutir, Kolkata, West Bengal, India, in the Puja Annual titled Rangarakhi (Bengali: রাঙারাখি) in 1947. It was the second story in GhanaDa series, the first one being মশা (the mosquito) published in 1945. Ghanashyam Das, alias Ghanada, the protagonist of the Ghanada series of science-fiction novels written in Bengali is a fictional character created by Premendra Mitra.

Characterization

The character of Ghanashyam Das alias Ghanada was outlined as a bachelor, dark complexioned male with tall, boney and skeletal structure, having age "anywhere between thirty five to fifty five", as described by the author himself in Mosha, the first story of the Ghanada series. He stayed in the third floor attic of a shared apartment (মেস বাড়ি) at no. 72, Banamali Naskar Lane, Calcutta, West Bengal, India, along with other boarders, who called him Ghana-da, while the term "da" is a suffix added to the name of an elder male in Bengal to convey reverence and affection. Though he was rarely found engaged in any activity or work other than telling fantastic tales to the boarders of the apartment, his stories engaged him with most of the major events happened in the world for last two hundred years and there was no place on earth which he didn't visit. গত দুশো বছর ধরে পৃথিবীর হেন জায়গা নেই যেখানে তিনি যাননি, হেন ঘটনা ঘটেনি যার সঙ্গে তাঁর কোনও যোগ নেই

Premendra Mitra, the creator, described Ghana~da in an interview by A K Ganguly published in SPAN in 1974, as under: Ghana~da is a teller of tall tales, but the tales always have a scientific basis. I try to keep them as factually correct and as authentic as possible.