Chirakumar Sabha: The Bachelor’s Club: A Comedy in Five Acts

Set in Calcutta in the early-nineteenth century, the play Chirakumar Sabha (The Bachelors’ Club), originally written by Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), is neatly aimed at matrimony, and against celibacy. Calcutta was the capital of British India then. Members of Chirakumar Sabha have vowed to remain unmarried throughout life. The Club is headed by Chandrababu, a professor, who lives with his niece, Nirmala and at whose house the meetings of Chirakumar Sabha are held. The coup de grace comes when the sole survivor, Purna, falls for Chandrababu’s niece. A hilarious account of a group of bachelors eventually getting married in due course, this translation from the Bengali original by Sukhendu Ray captures the spirit of the original play while retaining its readability.