On The Side Of The Enemy: Short Stories in Translation

This collection of translated short stories from Bengali is a brilliant portrayal of Bangladesh from the time of its bloody war of independence in 1971 to the present. Some of the tales depict a country that was wracked by conflict, both personal and political, during that war. Rashid Haider’s “At the Window”, for instance, portrays a soldier returning from the war only to be faced with the different horrors of peacetime; Dhrubo Esh, on the other hand, writes slyly about the farce that the book fair of Ekhushey February – which first gave birth to the spirit of independence – can descend to. Famed film director Zahir Raihan, too, in his “A Few Conversations” turns a caustic eye on this topic. In contrast, Andaleeb Rushdi’s ferocious satire on the state of politics in Bangladesh in “The Great Leader’s Piles Surgery Day” provides much-needed comic relief as well reflects our people’s staunch anti-authoritarianism. The title story displays the effects of slow corruption of political ideals while Wasi Ahmed gently explores the face of modern Dhaka. These and the other superbly translated stories will leave the reader begging for more.