''Adarsha Hindu Hotel'' (''Ideal Hindu Hotel'') is a

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 ...

novel written by

Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay () (12 September 1894 – 1 November 1950) was an Indian writer in the Bengali language. His best known works are the autobiographical novel, ''Pather Panchali'' (''Song of the Little Road''), ''Aparajito (Undefeate ...

. The novel was first published in 1940.

Plot

Hajari Thakur, a middle-aged

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (gur ...

is the male protagonist of the novel. He works as a cook in a hotel owned by Bechu Chakraborty near

Ranaghat Ranaghat is a city and a municipality in Nadia district in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Ranaghat subdivision. It is compact but one of the densely populated cities of West Bengal. It is known for its handloom in ...

railway station. Here customers are often cheated and Padma, a maid at the establishment, steals the hotel's food. Hajari is strictly against these, but being just a cook, he does not have right to say anything. Here he is regularly mocked and insulted by Padma, who, though only a maid, is the owner's paramour and has immense influence over him. Hajari dreams to start his own hotel, but for that he needs Rs.200. Kusum is a young widow, whom Hajari considers as his daughter. One day utensils of Hajari's shop are stolen and police arrests Hajari. Following this incident, he loses his job. After getting a loan from Kusum and Atashi, a girl from his village, Hajari starts his own hotel. Here he works hard with dedication and sincerity. In just a year his hotel becomes the most popular hotel of the area. Two other hotels of the area: one of Bechu Chakraborty and another of Jadu Banerjee almost get shut down. Hajari also gets a railway tender to manage a government-run hotel in the railway platform. At the end of the novel, Hazari signs a contract to manage a large hotel and goes to

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

. Before leaving, he appoints Bechu Chakraborty (whose own hotel was sealed recently) as a manager of the market area hotel. He also gives Padma a job, who used to insult him every now and then.

Adaptations

In 1957 a Bengali film '' Adarsha Hindu Hotel'' was made based on this novel. The film was directed by Ardhendu Sen. In 1989, a 13 episodes television serial was also made by director

Raja Sen Raja Sen (born 10 November 1955) is an Indian film and television director and the winner of three National Film Awards from Kolkata, West Bengal, India. He is the father of actress Rimi Sen. Career Raja Sen first received recognition with ''S ...

based on the novel. Actor

Manoj Mitra Manoj Mitra (born 22 December 1938) is an Indian theatre, film and television actor, director and playwright. Early life Mitra was born on 22 December 1938 in Dhulihar village of Satkhira, Khulna, Bangladesh. Initially he used to study at home b ...

played the role of Hajari thakur.

References

{{Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay} 1940 novels Bengali-language novels Novels by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay 20th-century Indian novels