Charaibeti Charaibeti by Utpal Bandyopadhyay [Hardcover]

Neither a travelogue nor a biography, this book is a lyrical chronicle of a life lived through contemporary times. Spanning 55 unseen springs of a professional journey, it bridges the worlds of Information Technology & Management and Art & Culture, offering a conversational and reflective narrative. From sharing tea with Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, the Dalai Lama, and President Pranab Mukherjee to a tense step into Pakistan-occupied territory in 1965—each memory unfolds with a quiet grace. The book weaves together encounters with legends like Russi Mody and J.R.D. Tata, as well as a near-mythical transformation into a ‘Gazi’ upon touching the sacred soil of Dhaka, Bikrampur, and Bajrayogini. Figures like Acharya Vinoba Bhave, Arthur C. Clarke, and Sri Ma Anandamayi also find their place in these reminiscences. Alongside teaching postgraduate courses across six top universities in five Chinese cities, the author reflects on Mumbai’s organized begging industry, where the blind, mute, and disabled are systematically created. Yet, the tone remains subdued—away from the whirlpool of politics, economics, and social policy, this memoir unfolds as a soft echo of Charaiveti—a life spent moving forward, step by step, in quiet contemplation.