Seemanto-heera
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Sheemanto heera (''The Frontier Diamond'') is a
detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...
novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...
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 ...
by
Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay (30 March 1899 – 22 September 1970) was an Indian Bengali-language writer. He was actively involved with Bengali cinema as well as Bollywood. The creator of the Bengali detective Byomkesh Bakshi, Sharadindu compos ...
featuring the sleuth
Byomkesh Bakshi Byomkesh Bakshi is an Indian-Bengali fictional detective created by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. Referring to himself as a "truth-seeker" or Satyanweshi in the stories, Bakshi is known for his proficiency with observation, logical reasoning, and ...
and Ajit Bandyopadhyay. Written in 1934, it is the third such work of fiction featuring Byomkesh and is written in first-person narrative, as experienced by Byomkesh's friend, associate, and narrator, Ajit Bandyopadhyay.


Characters

*
Byomkesh Bakshi Byomkesh Bakshi is an Indian-Bengali fictional detective created by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. Referring to himself as a "truth-seeker" or Satyanweshi in the stories, Bakshi is known for his proficiency with observation, logical reasoning, and ...
* Ajit Bandyopadhyay * Punti Ram * Sir Digindra Narayan *Kumar Bahadur Tridivendra Narayan Roy * Ujre Singh


Synopsis

Unlike most of the novels featuring Byomkesh, this one does not involve any violent crime or major plot twists. The story revolves around the theft of a priceless heirloom, the ''Seemanto-heera'' or "Frontier Diamond", belonging to the heir of the Roy clan, one of the minor rulers of North Bengal. Byomkesh and Ajit have been invited by the current heir, a young
Rai Bahadur RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (Italy), Ministry of Eco ...
Tridibendra Narayan Roy to recover the diamond. The diamond had been in the possession of the ruler for generations and a legend had been built around it. According to the legend, if the diamond were to ever be lost, then the line of succession would end. Tridibendran was the sole heir of his line according to the rules of succession where only the eldest son became ruler, but he did have an uncle, Sir Digindra Narayan Roy who was the younger brother of his father. Sir Roy was an established painter and sculptor who worked with
mixed media In visual art, mixed media describes artwork in which more than one medium or material has been employed. Assemblages, collages, and sculpture are three common examples of art using different media. Materials used to create mixed media art incl ...
such as
plaster of paris Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "re ...
. Sir Roy received a lavish monthly pension but since he wasn't heir-apparent, he did not get possession of the diamond. Consumed by greed, he did steal it while the diamond was on display in
Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
and he replaced it with a fake that looked exactly the same to the untrained eye. He then notified his nephew that he had taken the diamond. Tridibendra had sought the services of Byomkesh and Ajit to recover the diamond but also requested the utmost secrecy, since he didn't want the press to get wind of this loss. Byomkesh and Ajit returned to Calcutta and checked Sir Roy's house in
Ballygunge Ballygunge is a locality of South Kolkata, in Kolkata district, West Bengal, India. History The East India Company obtained from the Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar, in 1717, the right to rent from 38 villages surrounding their settlement. Of thes ...
. The house was very well protected by high walls and a number of guards. Both Ajit and Byomkesh then applied for the post of a secretary to Sir Roy but were detected by the latter and thoroughly humiliated. Not one to lose heart, Byomkesh still boasted that he would find and recover the diamond by the end of the week to which the arrogant Sir Roy took immediate offence. Sir Roy then offered to let him search the house for seven days because he was so confident it wouldn't be discovered. Byomkesh immediately took up the challenge because he realized that this might be the only chance to examine the house and he had already inferred that Sir Roy had hidden it there. Searching for the diamond turned out to be an arduous task with the work been made even harder by the constant scorn of Sir Roy. Byomkesh could not find anything but he did notice that there were quite a few plaster sculptures including various figurines of
Nataraj Nataraja () also known as Adalvallaan () is a depiction of the Hindu god Shiva as the divine cosmic dancer. His dance is called Tandava.''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (2015) The pose and artwork are described in many Hindu texts such as the ' ...
of different sizes. One was placed on a table in the living room and Byomkesh noticed that Sir Roy stared at the table often though the other items on the table were inconspicuous. Byomkesh asked if he could have the small Nataraj figurine to which Sir Roy said he could, but he also said that this was a priceless work-of-art that had been exhibited at the
Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
and he didn't want Byomkesh to break it because there was nothing hidden inside. Byomkesh took the figurine home but he was disheartened that his major line of enquiry had been busted. Almost casually, he put his initials on the bottom of the figurine. The next day's search seemed to be fruitless as well. When he came home though while staring at the figurine, he noticed that the initials were gone and he immediately came to the conclusion that the figurine had been exchanged while he was away. So he had the diamond in his possession for an entire day without being aware of it! He returned to Sir Roy's house and used a
sleight-of-hand Sleight of hand (also known as prestidigitation or ''legerdemain'' ()) refers to fine motor skills when used by performing artists in different art forms to entertain or manipulate. It is closely associated with close-up magic, card magic, card ...
to replace the figurine with his initials with the one it had been replaced by at his home. He returned the figurine to Tridibendra and when they broke the figurine, they found the diamond inside.


Analysis

This is a rare detective story featuring Byomkesh that does not have any violent crime being committed or any culprit at large. The sole focus is to discover where an artifact has been hidden. As such it is one of the first of this category in Bengali literature although not without precedent. The story does follow the pattern of one of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories, "
The Purloined Letter "The Purloined Letter" is a short story by American author Edgar Allan Poe. It is the third of his three detective stories featuring the fictional C. Auguste Dupin, the other two being "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and " The Mystery of Marie Rog ...
" - object being frantically sought for is placed in plain view and thus never detected. As a character Sharadindu assumed that the average reader would be like Ajit, but in some ways underestimated the sophistication of the average Bengali reader of the time, something he admitted to in a letter he wrote.


Adaptations


Television

* This was one of the stories of 1993 TV series ''
Byomkesh Bakshi Byomkesh Bakshi is an Indian-Bengali fictional detective created by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. Referring to himself as a "truth-seeker" or Satyanweshi in the stories, Bakshi is known for his proficiency with observation, logical reasoning, and ...
'', that were recreated for broadcasting on
Doordarshan Doordarshan (abbreviated as DD; Hindi: , ) is an Indian public service broadcaster founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and one of Prasar Bharati's two divisions. One of India's largest bro ...
, the Indian National Network, by
Basu Chatterjee Basu Chatterjee ( bn, বাসু চ্যাটার্জ্জী; 10 January 1927 – 4 June 2020) was an Indian film director and screenwriter. Through the 1970s and 1980s, Chatterjee became associated with what came to be known as mi ...
, and immediately went on to become one of the most memorable episodes. * The story adapted into another TV series in 2014 named ''
Byomkesh Byomkesh Bakshi is an Indian-Bengali fictional detective created by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. Referring to himself as a "truth-seeker" or Satyanweshi in the stories, Bakshi is known for his proficiency with observation, logical reasoning, and fo ...
'', which aired on Bengali channel
ETV Bangla Colors Bangla, previously known as ETV Bangla, is an Indian general entertainment pay television channel broadcasting in Bengali language. It was launched in 2000 as ETV Bangla, owned by the Hyderabad-based ETV Network. It was later sold to TV18 ...
.


Trivia

* The
National Library of India The National Library of India is a library located in Belvedere Estate, Alipore, Kolkata, India. It is India's largest library by volume and public record. The National Library is under Ministry of Culture (India), Ministry of Culture, Governm ...
is mentioned as the Imperial Library, the name by which it was known prior to Independence. In 1953, the location was changed from The Esplanade to its current location in Belvedere Estate. * The Calcutta Grand Hotel, which is now the Oberoi Grand Hotel, was even in the 1930s, a hotel for the rich and the elite. {{DEFAULTSORT:Seemanto-Heera 1934 short stories Detective fiction short stories Indian Bengali-language novels Indian mystery novels Culture of Kolkata Byomkesh Bakshi