मछली मरी हुई
Machhali Mari Hui, Rajkamal Choudhary’s seminal masterpiece of Hindi literature, is a fearless anatomy of sexual orientation, identity and emotional tumult set in mid-20th-century Kolkata.
Translated into English for the first time as The Dead Fish, the novel explores the psychological depths of Nirmal Padmavat, a ruthless businessman whose personal life is marked by emotional volatility and contradictory sexuality. His complex relationships—particularly with Shirin, Priya and his beloved Kalyani—reveal a disturbing and fragmented self, crushed between deification and confusion, longing and detachment.
Rajkamal firmly brings homosexuality to the forefront, a bold move for his time. Priya and Shirin, both queer, form part of a muddled psychological and emotional nexus that overwhelms Nirmal’s inner world. He is likened to Goethe’s Mephisto, Shakespeare’s Othello and Brontë’s Heathcliff for his bestiality. Nirmal’s violation of Kalyani’s daughter, Priya, reinforces his own confused identity and his ineptitude of connecting with women in a healthy manner.
The metaphor of the dead fish echoes throughout and evokes themes of barrenness, enmeshment and unfulfilled desires. Through lyrical prose and skilfully embroidered subplots, coupled with an unconventional and experimental writing style, Rajkamal Choudhary critiques hostile societal norms and reveals the intense struggles associated with queer identity.
In an era when homosexuality is striving for rightful recognition within the social fabric, The Dead Fish feels more urgent and relevant now than ever before. (From Publisher's Website)
Authors : Rajkamal ChoudharyOriginal Publisher : Rajkamal PrakashanPublisher: Rupa & Co
Translators:
He was truly the enfant terrible of Hindi literature. When Ramkamal Chaudhary died on June 19, 1967, he was less than 38. Yet, he had acquired the status of an icon, a veritable cult figure, an awe-inspiring presence in the literary world. There were stories galore of his bohemian, no-holds-barred, utterly unconventional lifestyle, his uncontrolled forays into the world of seamless intoxication aì la Allen Ginsberg, his numerous and varied sexual liaisons, and his insatiable lust for writing in almost every literary genre with explosive creativity. Some of these fables were of his own creation to build a mystique around himself, but most others were true. Little wonder that by the time he bade goodbye to the world, he had penned 143 short stories, a dozen novels, 850 poems, five plays and more than six dozen essays. He had also translated two novels from Bangla besides translating dozens of poems from Bangla, Punjabi and English. He wrote in his mother tongue Maithili as well as in Hindi and emerged as a formidable writer in both the languages. His output was dazzling both in terms of its quantity as well as quality......
An interview with translator Mahua Sen on The Dead Fish.
Courtsey- EKL REVIEW