"Oh Yeah, I Read That Book!"

I was talking about flooding with my friend M when he mentioned that the Jamuna had gotten a lot bigger after the big earthquake of 1871(?). "Huh?" I said, puzzled. "Yes, a novel I am reading is partly set around the Jamuna and it mentions this. It's called ChilekoThar Shepai."

"Oh yeah, I read that book!" I recognized it instantly. "But wait a second, isn't it set in old Dhaka during the Shongram?"

"It is set in both old Dhaka and the Chars."

Whoops. I had read it twelve years ago. It was a hard read. I remember that it portrayed the life of the Dhaka subaltern very well. But I had completely forgotten about the char part of the book.

So, while I keep racking up the "Books I Have Read" list, the "Books My Memory Has Undone" also keeps growing, ready to embarrass me at the right moment :-)

BTW, looking through ChilekoThar Shepai, I find it a lot easier to follow the dialog now than I did 12 years ago living in the US.