Written by Satyajit Ray
Translated into English by Gopa Majumdar and Indrani Majumdar
Reviewed by Usha Mukunda
A collection of mystery and ghost stories featuring Uncle Tarini, who narrates his personal — and at times unbelievable — exploits to a rapt audience of five boys. Suggested as light reading.
| Publishing Date: 2026
ISBN: 978-0-143-47904-8 Page Count: 173 Publisher: Puffin Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House Review Posted Online: June 2026 QBR Reviews Issue: Q2 2026 Categories: Adventure | Mystery | Ghost Stories |
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“I was the manager of Dumnigarh Native Estate,” began Uncle Tarini.
“Can Dumnigarh be spotted on a map?” interrupted Napla.
“What makes you think that just because it’s not on a map, it doesn’t exist?” quipped Uncle Tarini, narrowing his eyes to display both amazement and annoyance.
This is how Uncle Tarini begins his hair-raising stories. Of the five boys who comprise his audience, Napla is the cheeky one, always looking for opportunities to contradict and correct Uncle who is, however, quite unfazed. Uncle Tarini is not really a relative but an old acquaintance of the narrator Paltu’s family, and has been given the name “Uncle.” Paltu introduces him to readers and then steps back to let him tell his stories.
These absorbing tales of mystery were originally written by Satyajit Ray in the early 1980s for Bengali-language magazines for young readers. Ray was a world-famous film director who adapted stories by Rabindranath Tagore and other Bengali writers into unforgettable films. He also composed the music for his films and created his own illustrations. In later life, he began writing stories for children. Besides this collection, his other works include stories about Felu Da, a detective who models himself on Sherlock Holmes, and Professor Shonku, a scientist with a taste for science-fiction adventure. Both sets of stories have been published by Penguin and have gained wide popularity. It is worth noting—as Wikipedia does—that in all these stories, female characters are largely absent or confined to inconsequential roles. This collection is no exception: there are very few girls and women, and when a woman does appear, as in “A Duel in Lucknow”, she is shown in a negative light. And yet this is the same Satyajit Ray who, in his iconic films, portrayed women of all ages with such care and sensitivity.
In the foreword to this collection, his son Sandip Ray writes: “My father was very satisfied when the character of Uncle Tarini was lapped up by young readers and continued to make a series of adventures with him.” From an article in Mid-Day, we learn that Sandip Ray spoke of Uncle Tarini as having been created from his father’s love for children, and added that the translations allow the stories to resonate with non-Bengali readers as well.
That said, the stories were originally written for Bengali children and in many ways tend to idealise the physical and mental attributes of people from that state. The translations by Gopa Majumdar and Indrani Majumdar seem faithful and well executed, though two young readers—N. and T., whose mother tongues are Bengali and Odia respectively—felt that the English translation loses something of the musical quality of the Bengali original.
The stories are well plotted and keep the reader engaged to the end, where an unexpected twist adds to the surprise. While the intended readership is children aged eleven to fourteen, the characters are almost all adults, except in “Merchant Gangaram’s Treasures,” where the merchant’s mischievous son features. The collection contains fifteen stories set across different parts of India, each populated with characters from those regions. Uncle Tarini, if he is to be believed, has held unusual jobs across Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Kolkata, and as far south as Mysore. However, descriptions of some of the other characters are tinged with disrespect. Many are overweight and prone to heavy drinking, while Uncle Tarini describes himself as physically fit, handsome, and abstemious—his only indulgence a cup of sugarless, milkless tea. When twelve-year-old reader M. came across the line, “Having lived on a diet of butter his whole life, (Seth Gangaram’s) robust figure now required constant help to get up and move around,” she remarked: “I think his description of Seth Gangaram is unkind.” Since this detail plays no part in the story, one wonders why it needed to be said at all.
The stories are arranged in the order in which they were written, and one can see that the author was still finding his footing in the earlier entries, uncertain about what to include and how much to say. The first story, “The Man-eater from Dumnigarh,” is crowded with characters who contribute little to the plot. It also contains graphic details of a body mauled by a wild animal, which may be disturbing for younger readers, and perhaps for older ones too. But in the later stories, Ray appears to have identified what needed pruning and tightened his plots accordingly. The characters are also described with greater generosity. The stories grow shorter, ten or eleven pages, compared to the fifteen-page opening, and more assured. Among the more engaging entries are “Uncle Tarini and the Magician,” “The Two Comedians,” “The Sportsperson Tarini,” and “The Ghost of Conway Castle.” As the titles suggest, the collection covers a wide range of themes. M., who read the stories in a single sitting, found them “entertaining,” though she added, “I feel the author is partial to Bengalis!” When asked whether she had noticed the absence of girls and women, she reflected gently: “I think I was too caught up in the suspense and missed that,” and now that she was aware of it, wondered why girls had been left out.
The cover illustration, like the other pictures in the book, is by Ray himself and depicts scenes from the stories. It is puzzling to note that although the hero is described as wearing thick glasses, the illustrations particularly on the cover, show him without any. For Ray fans, however, these vintage drawings add considerable charm to the book.
As library educators, our suggestion is to keep this book in the library for its entertainment value, while ensuring that young readers are helped to notice the biases and omissions, and are then free to enjoy the stories for their mystery and suspense on their own terms.
Further Recommendations
- The Complete Adventures of Felu Da by Satyajit Ray, Penguin, 1988
- The Exploits of Professor Shonku: The Diary of a Space Traveler by Satyajit Ray, Puffin Books India, 2004
- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, Collins Classics, 2016
- The Adventures of Tintin by Hergé, Little, Brown and Company, 2025
- The Adventures of Kakababu, Vol. 1 by Sunil Gangopadhyay, HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2019