Jarmer Chokh

• Author: তিলোত্তমা মজুমদার
• Genre: উপন্যাস (Novel)
• Format: Hardcover
• ISBN: 9788177565508
• Pages: 208
• Weight: 320 grams

📖 Summary:

"Jarmer Chokh" is a deeply symbolic novel that weaves together Buddhist mythology and the brutal realities of tea-garden labor exploitation.

The novel begins with Prince Jarmer, who dedicates his life to religious teachings and extreme asceticism. Over time, his body gives up, and he falls into a deep slumber. Upon waking, he cuts off his eyelids in repentance, leading to the miraculous growth of a new kind of plant—the tea plant. Guided by Buddha, he drinks its extract and regains his vitality.

This Buddhist legend becomes the central metaphor in the novel, which shifts to modern times, focusing on Biju, a clerk in Matibari Tea Estate, who documents the oppression of tea workers in his diary. His Nepali friend Kamal teaches laborers to read and write, igniting resistance against exploitation. When the workers rise against corrupt managers, middlemen, and union leaders, chaos ensues, leading to Kamal’s mysterious murder and Biju’s descent into madness.

After recovering, Biju rips apart his diary, seeing in its torn pages Kamal’s eyelids, or perhaps Jarmer’s. Does this destruction signify the end of oppression, or the birth of something new?

🔹 A gripping blend of history, myth, and contemporary social issues, Jarmer Chokh is a powerful critique of exploitation in the tea industry and a testament to resilience and rebirth.