Chirakumar Sabha: The Bachelors’ Club, A Comedy in Five Acts

A cast of intriguing characters come alive in this light-hearted comedy. A devoted brother-in-law is in search of suitable grooms for his unmarried sisters-in-law; a mother is in a rush to find suitable matrimonial alliances for her daughters; a bachelor under the oath of celibacy expresses a desire for domesticity over sanyas; a young widow, donning the garb of a man, breaks social norms and enters the confines of the male world. Set in Calcutta in the late nineteenth century, Chirakumar Sabha ridicules the then prevalent social customs and strictures by pitching celibacy against matrimony. Sukhendu Ray retains the flavour of the original in his skilful translation of Tagores hilarious account of a group of committed bachelors.