“Experiencing pure fun that also leaves a trail of questions in the mind is something that young children need.” Nirmal Kanti Bhattacharjee (Translator)
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Team Kitaab is in conversation with Nirmal Kanti Bhattacharjee and Prof. Sekhar Mukherjee, the translator and illustrator for The Invention of Shoe ( Niyogi Books, 2025), translated from Rabindranath Tagore’s short story in Bengali.
The invention of one of the world’s most popular apparel, the shoe, is widely unknown. The polymath Rabindranath Tagore imagines the invention of the shoe by humorously telling the story of a petulant king. King Habu wakes up one day to realise that his royal feet are always too soiled by the dust of the earth. So he beckons his trusted Minister Gabu over and demands him to find a solution to this problem. This initiates a long search for a solution that turns the peace of the kingdom upside and causes an uproar. How will the king’s demand be satisfied?
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