Queer classic: This Bengali novel from the 1920s is a tender exploration of love between two boys

Those Boyhood Years is presented here as the source of an excerpt about Deben and Ashanto, but the passage gives no author, translator, publisher, or original Bengali title. It begins directly with their chance encounter outside Star Theatre. That means the excerpt alone supports identifying the work by title, not assigning its authorship or translation.

The missing information matters because authorship and translation shape how readers understand a work. An author places characters within a literary and historical tradition. A translator carries Bengali dialogue, social meanings, and emotional shades into English. Names, forms of address, and gestures can gain or lose nuance during that process.

No reliable author or translator credit appears in the supplied source. A complete edition, catalogue record, or accompanying article would be needed to answer those parts accurately. Until then, naming either person would risk adding information not supported here.

Deben is waiting outside Calcutta’s Star Theatre with two tickets, but his expected companion does not arrive. With one minute before the performance, he approaches Ashanto, a boy studying the playbills, and offers him the spare First Class ticket. Ashanto accepts because the ticket would otherwise be wasted.

Inside, they sit in the front row. Ashanto asks about the actors and the production, while Deben asks about his village, family, schooling, and lodging. During the interval, Deben takes him to an adjacent cabin for bread-and-butter, tea, and pudding. Ashanto explains that he is visiting from Malda and staying with his aunt on Balaram Dey Street.

Ashanto originally plans to stay only one or two hours, fearing punishment at home. Instead, he enjoys the performance and remains until it ends past midnight. Deben then reassures him about the timing and walks out holding his hand.

The passage does not give an exact number of hours, but the meeting begins shortly before the show starts and ends after midnight. Ashanto first agrees to stay only one or two hours. He later decides to remain because he is enjoying the performance, despite not yet following its story.

They watch the first act, then leave briefly for food. After returning, they sit through two more acts. The passage next describes the beginning of the fifth act, when the play becomes especially emotional and Ashanto starts crying. The performance finally ends past midnight.

Thus, the boys spend most of an evening and night together, rather than a brief theatre visit. The full show appears to contain five acts, and the text indicates that they watch all of them. Their extended time together allows conversation, shared food, physical closeness, and growing trust.

The excerpt presents affection through repeated, gentle physical contact. Deben runs his hand through Ashanto’s hair, pulls his face close, feeds him more pudding, presses his cheeks, and later wipes his tears. These actions show attention to Ashanto’s hunger, tiredness, embarrassment, and sadness.

The key mechanism is care becoming mutual trust. Deben offers protection and practical help, promising to drop Ashanto home and reassuring him about his brother’s return. Ashanto does not protest when Deben feeds him. He rests his head against Deben, accepts an arm around his neck, and later grasps Deben’s hand while leaving.

The gestures also make the relationship emotionally intimate without the passage naming it. Deben’s memory of his dead younger brother helps explain why he feels drawn to Ashanto. Ashanto’s willingness to stay, lean against Deben, and follow him home shows how quickly comfort develops between two strangers.

The supplied passage gives no explicit date, so it cannot by itself prove a 1920s setting. It does establish a Bengali environment through Calcutta streets, Star Theatre, Minerva Theatre, village schooling, post-office work, and family authority. Those details make the social setting important even without a precise year.

If the wider novel is set in 1920s Bengal, readers encounter the relationship through an earlier historical framework. The boys meet in public but communicate through ordinary hospitality, theatre-going, food, touch, and protection. The passage does not label their bond with a modern identity term. It shows conduct and feeling instead.

That historical distance can affect interpretation. Modern readers may notice intimacy that the characters themselves do not define. At the same time, the text should not be forced into present-day categories without evidence. The setting encourages attention to period language, family structures, schooling, and social expectations while preserving the ambiguity of the excerpt.

Translation changes a work’s reach. An older Bengali text can enter classrooms, libraries, and conversations among readers who cannot access the original language. That wider circulation can preserve a forgotten relationship, introduce a different literary tradition, and prompt new discussion about intimacy and identity.

The excerpt shows why translation requires care. Terms such as “brother,” forms of address such as “Sir,” and gestures like feeding pudding or holding hands carry social meanings. A translator must preserve the scene’s Bengali setting while making its dialogue understandable in English. Small choices can affect whether readers perceive affection, friendship, family feeling, or romantic possibility.

The current result depends on the edition and its notes. Good translation can widen access while explaining cultural context and acknowledging uncertainty. Future readers may compare versions, revisit older assumptions, and discover relationships previously overlooked. Translation therefore creates opportunity, but it should not replace close attention to the original work’s language and historical setting.

In literary and cultural discussions, queer usually refers to identities, desires, relationships, or ways of living that challenge heterosexual and gender norms. It may include same-sex love, but it is broader than a single sexual identity. Scholars often use it to examine how texts represent intimacy, secrecy, belonging, and social expectations.

The excerpt offers affection between two boys without naming either boy’s sexuality. Deben feeds Ashanto, touches his face, wipes his tears, embraces him, and walks hand in hand with him. Those details can invite a queer reading because they present intense same-sex intimacy. Yet the passage does not explicitly define the relationship as romantic or sexual.

That distinction matters. Calling a text queer can open useful questions about what kinds of closeness literature permits or leaves unnamed. It should not turn ambiguity into certainty. Readers can discuss the relationship’s emotional and cultural meanings while acknowledging that the excerpt itself supplies gestures, trust, and affection rather than a fixed identity label.