The fakir

Eighteenth-century Bengal. In the midst of feudal and oppressive times, a poet-philosopher is born who brings religions together and binds people through his songs. As time passes, his songs become part of folklore but the actual man remains shrouded in mystery, perhaps out of a habitual self-effacement that was part of Lalan Fakir's philosophy of life. Lalan does not subscribe to any conventional religious thoughts and abjures all religious rituals, believing instead in the humanistic doctrine of the centrality and validity of Man. His unconventional attitude earns him the ire of both orthodox Hindus and Muslims but attracts a large following among the poorer sections of society. In a brilliant fictional biography of this mystic poet about whom very little written history exists, novelist Sunil Gangopadhyay recreates the life and times of Lalan Fakir in simple yet touching prose.