Chhelera katha beshi koy. buihleii hluu. <-i toinnyo mathai iinis thakena. aar iiteueder Itoda katha kum kadj beshi. tai porikkhat tarai bhalo kaivrey (Brother. boys talk too much they talk their brains out Girls, on the other hand, talk less, hence, can concentrate better Naturally, they tend to do better in the exams). This is not' a part of any tirade against men nor it is any quote from the text of some psycho-analytic studies or some papers on gender discrimination. Then what? Well, they are some of the interesting pack of phrases begotten by expression upon observation that one gentleman book seller of the town passes on as lagniappe while displaying old and new copies ot notebooks on the classics of English literature by Messrs Ramji Lal. Dr Sen — sometimes the edition de luxe and sometimes photocopies of the original for that matter — 'all for sale, to the more familiar section of book look

Yes. that is Chowdhury. For a readier refer ence Chowdhury bhai with a variety of comparative cognomina! connotation. Some call him a saviour-supplier of students of English literature from Graduate level upwards. Over the years, his Friends Book Corner at Nilkhet. opposite to the New Market has become a pilgrimage of sort for the immense and undeniable utilitarian value, if not for anything else. It boasts the biggest and the most classified collection of books around on English literature and other foreign literature in English. From Yeats' A Vision to Derek Walcott s collected poems, vou will find almost everything there.

However, there are 'buyers' from The past and present who will try to apply education in real life by trying to discover a Shylock in Chowdhury. Vindication bv way of remote resemblance may not be too’much of a claim by these sour triers. For Chowdhury does ensure a hefty margin of profit by virtue’ of his intellectually aggressive entrepreneurial campaign lending — besides selling books for a percent .ige oWthe selling price of the book followed by his peers-in-trade ol the neighbourhood. There are complains galore but he would play .them down with a smile that has a heady mixture of candour, naughtiness and cunning. Perhaps, the reason he does not mind the campaign and criticism of being too pricey is Hie sure knowledge of the superiority of his shop in diversity and number as well as the helplessness oT those for whom books really matter.

He is more like Homais of Gustave Flaubert s Madame Bovary. His world of acquaintance is as vast as his collection. You cannot blame a freshman for literally swallowing his recommendatory lecture on a to-be-sold bbok with gaping mouth and widened eyes. From select group of students to teachers of English literature. he knows an awful lot of people. Esprit fort in his own right. Chowdhury is always on (he ball as regards contemporary issues. He is always game lor an animated talk provided you have the time and mood.

Behind these masks of a Shylock or a Homais. Chowdhury exudes a warmth which makes total oblivion of him from the memory impossible. He has an evocative energy which does not end in nostalgia but stretches out to something more. Quips and queries like the informative "X bhai is in the Civil Service,'1 Y apa has joined the department.' or sympathetic you have not been able to do something' or an inquisitive 'Do you wish to study further v have a resonant and human ring about them.

Apparently. Chowdhurv is changeless in his customary half shirt, lungi and The pair of spectacles. But there have been some changes. His hair and moustache have gone pepper-and-salt and he does not sell books only but helps -local literary efforts to see the light of the day too. albeit in a limited scale