Protidaan

In Bengali, “Protidaan” means reciprocation; a return, a quiet echo of what is given and received.

Set against the shifting tides of rural Bengal between the 1950s and 1970s, this intimate novella unfolds not in the halls of power but in the heart of a common man. As the old Zamindari system fades and the tremors of the Emergency ripple through the land, our narrator’s world is shaped less by history’s headlines and more by the subtle, everyday exchanges that define a life.

Through first-person storytelling, the protagonist reflects on his journey and the village of Birbhum that shaped him. At the centre of his memories is Lata, a girl he first knew as timid and reserved, who grows into a woman of remarkable strength and confidence. Their connection...sometimes tender, sometimes fraught. 

“Protidaan” is not a tale of grand romance, but of love that is raw, real, and rooted in the soil of ordinary days. It explores identity, longing, and the quiet ways in which people shape and are shaped by their times. As political unrest simmers in the background, personal growth and social dynamics take centre stage, offering a grounded, emotionally resonant portrait of a bygone era.

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