The Last Poem by Rabindranath Tagore, translated from Bengali (Shesher Kavita) by Dilip Basu and with paintings by Dinkar Kowshik is an excellent English rendition of Tagore’s most beautiful work of prose. This is no mean task, since the master wrote beautifully in Bengali, and also wrote impeccable English. Basu has managed to enhance and do full justice to the magnificent classic.
The story is set in the beautiful locales of Shillong, capital of Meghalaya, and centres around barrister Amit Ray, who has managed not to finish his studies at Calcutta University and also at Oxford, probably because he was too fast and intelligent for a classroom. He has the tendency to mouth off eloquently and write poetry (invoking an imaginary muse Nivaran Chakravarti ), which finds favour among women, who inevitably fall for his smooth style, until a beautiful tutor named Lavanya literally crashes into his life.
Far ahead of its time, the story is also of women who hold their own.
The Last Poem by Rabindranath Tagore
translated by Dilip Basu
HarperCollins Publishers
Rs.250