Devdas is perhaps the most iconic novel written by Bengali novelist Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay (1876-1938). The book is famous for its sensitive portrayal of love and emotional turmoil. Written under the influence of alcohol, it was finished in 1900 but caused the young author a great deal of hesitation. The romantic tragedy contained several autobiographical elements. It was therefore, not published until much later in 1916.

The book has since been made into twenty films, three of which are in Hindi. In the recent 2002 version, Shah Rukh Khan played the lead role, which had also been essayed by Dilip Kumar in the 1955 film and by KL Saigal in 1936. Each of these films has garnered a lot of praise from critics and audience alike. But the superb lead actors of these adaptations have often grown rather distant to their original portrayal.

The novel is a very natural peace of literature. It is set in West Bengal. Devdas is the spoilt younger son of a prosperous Bengali Brahmin family. He enjoys being in the company of Parvati, a neighbourhood girl from a poorer background. Still a child, Dev is sent to present-day Kolkata for education. Many year later, he returns home to find her blossoming into a beautiful woman. Their childhood friendship, instead of fading into past, through the years of separation. She secretly wants to be to be his life partner.

Paro’s mother comes to Dev’s mother with a proposal for her marriage with Dev. But, Dev’s mother, though she loves Paro as her own daughter, politely declines the proposal as she is not keen for her son to get married to the girl next door. In reality, she does not find Paro’s family to be a match for them. Disappointed and feeling insulted by this rejection, Paro’s father rapidly makes another match with a widowed land-lord who is even wealthier than Dev’s family.

As Parvati goes to her new home to be a loving step-mother to children who are almost about her age, Devdas returns to Kolkata but he begins to suffer in mental anguish. He gets some emotional support from another resident of the house where he stays, Chunnilal. He is a frequent visitor to a courtesan. When Devdas In an attempt to ease his own sufferings, Dev insists on accompanying Chunnilal to one brothel.

There, Devdas is introduced to an extremely beautiful, slightly older courtesan named Chandramukhi. He storms out, filled with hatred for her and her trade. However, he is eventually forced to return to her in search for emotional solace. He drinks heavily to set out on a long drawn-out suicidal path. Devdas is not attracted to Chandramukhi but in her company, he drinks and feels more peaceful. His habitual drinking takes a toll on his health as well as state of mind. Devdas never allows the courtesan to touch him even in his intoxicated state. Words dropped from his lips slowly open his heart to Chandramukhi. She sympathises and eventually falls in love with him.

Chandramukhi ditches her profession and moves to the countryside to be a moneylender. Devdas has stopped writing to her. After sometime, Chandramukhi returns to Calcutta to search the entire town for Devdas. She speaks to other courtesans, none of whom have apparently seen him. She is about to give up when lightening strikes. One night, she comes across him lying drunk on the roadside. Owing to alcoholism, he suffers from pain in his liver and is too ill to live much longer.

She takes him to her place. Under Chandramukhi’s care and attention, Devdas recovers and sheds his earlier hatred for her. He stops seeing her as a fallen woman. At this point, he begins to compare the two women of his life. He finds that in spite of their huge differences, they are alike in their selfless love for him which he will never be able to pay back.

After an almost complete recovery, Devdas sets out on a long country-wide journey with a faithful servant. However, as he resumes drinking, his health deteriorates again. Sensing his approaching end, Devdas remembers a promise made years ago by him to Paro to meet her one last time before his death. On his servant’s insistence, Devdas agrees to return to his mother

But one early morning, he slips out of the train at Pandua station and takes a bullock cart to reach Parvati’s village. This last attempt robs Devdas of all his power. His condition ultimately deteriorates to such an extent that he has to be laid down under a tree uncared and abandoned. Unable to speak or move, he dies the next morning, surrounded by curious strangers.

Parvati in her usual absent-minded state does not get to know of his death until later in the evening. As she rushes out toward the gate, the gates are shut fast and Parvati collapses. She is brought in and laid down on her bed. When she gains consciousness, she asks her maid “He came and waited the whole night?” Then she asks nothing else…

An unforgettable book on human relations, Devdas will no doubt always be one of the greatest works of Bengali as well as world literature.