''Those Days'' or ''Sei Somoy'' () is a historical novel by Indian author

Sunil Gangopadhyay Sunil Gangopadhyay or Sunil Ganguly (September 7, 1934 – October 23, 2012) was an Indian poet, novelist, short story writer, and critic. He played a key role in modernizing Bengali poetry and co-founded the 1953 Avant-garde, avant-gra ...

. Originally written in

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

, it was first serialized in the '' Desh'' magazine. The novel depicts 19th-century Bengal through the life of Nabinkumar, based on

Kaliprasanna Singha Kaliprasanna Singha (; 23 February 1840 – 24 July 1870), well known by his pen name Hootum Pyancha, was a Bengali author, playwright, and philanthropist. His most famous work was the translation of the ancient Hindu epic Mahabharata into Beng ...

, and features key historical figures of the era. In 1985, it won the

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

. The story centers around the life of Nabinkumar (based on

), along with other prominent historical figures, including

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Ishwar Chandra Bandyopadhyay (26 September 1820 – 29 July 1891), popularly known as Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (), was an Indian educator and social reformer of the nineteenth century. His efforts to simplify and modernise Bengali language, Ben ...

, the reformer;

Michael Madhusudan Dutt Michael Madhusudan Dutt (born Sri Madhusudan Dutta; ; 25 January 1824 – 29 June 1873) was a Bengali poet and playwright. He is considered one of the pioneers of Bengali literature. Early life Madhusudan was born in Sagardari, a villag ...

, the poet; the father and son duo of

Dwarkanath Tagore Dwarkanath Tagore (also spelled Dwarakanath Thakur; 1794–1846), popularly known as Prince Dwarkanath Tagore, was one of the first Indian industrialists to partner with the British. He was the son of Rammoni Tagore, and was given in adoption to ...

and

Debendranath Tagore Debendranath Tagore (15 May 1817 – 19 January 1905; birth name: Debendronath Thakur) was an Indian philosopher and religious reformer, active in the Brahmo Samaj (earlier called Bhramho Sabha) ("Society of Brahma", also translated as ''Socie ...

; Harish Chandra Mukherjee, the journalist;

Keshab Chandra Sen Keshub Chandra Sen (; also spelled Keshab Chunder Sen; 19 November 1838 – 8 January 1884) was an Indian philosopher and social reformer who attempted to incorporate Christian theology within the framework of Hindu thought. Born a Hindu i ...

, the

Brahmo Samaj Brahmo Samaj ( ) is the societal component of Brahmoism, which began as a monotheistic reformist movement during the Bengal Renaissance. It was one of the most influential religious movements in India and made a significant contribution to ...

radical; David Hare and John Bethune, the English educationists;

Dinabandhu Mitra Dinabandhu Mitra, also known as Denobhandhoo Mithra, (10 April 1829 – 1 November 1873) was a Bengali-language writer and dramatist. He is notable for his play '' Nil Darpan'' (1860). Early life Dinabandhu Mitra was born at Chowberia village ...

, the playwright;

Radhanath Sikdar Radhanath Sikdar (; 5 October 1813 – 17 May 1870), was an Indian mathematician and social reformer. He is best known for being the first person to calculate the height of Mount Everest, in 1852. He was a member of Henry Derozio's Young Benga ...

, the mathematician;

Bhudev Mukhopadhyay Bhudev Mukhopadhyay (1827–1894) was a writer and intellectual in 19th century Bengal. His works were considered ardent displays of nationalism and philosophy in the period of the Bengal renaissance. His novel ''Anguriya Binimoy'' (1857) was t ...

, the novelist; and others. ''Yugantar'', an Indian television series that aired on

DD National DD National (formerly DD1) is an Indian state-owned entertainment television channel, founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It is the flagshi ...

in the 1980s, was based on ''Sei Somoy''. The novel was translated into

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

by Uma Randeria as ''Nava Yugnu Parodh'' (2002).

References

{{reflist Historical novels Novels set in West Bengal Indian historical novels in Bengali Indian Bengali-language novels Sahitya Akademi Award–winning works