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THE CALCUTTA

CHROMOSOMEBy

AMITAV GHOSH

Presented By CHANDAN DUTTA

ROLL NO -190



Identifying The Book

Author:-Amitav Ghosh

Language:-English

Genre(s):-Thriller

Year:- 1995

Publisher:-Picador

Awards:-Arthur C. Clarke Award in1997.



Amitav Ghosh was born in Calcutta andgrew up in India, Bangladesh and Sri

Lanka. He studied in Delhi, Oxford and

Alexandria

The Circle of Reason, The ShadowLines, In An Antique Land, Dancing in

Cambodia, The Glass Palace, The Hungry

Tide, and Sea of Poppies,

Amitav Ghosh’s work has beentranslated into more than twenty languages

and he has served on the Jury of the

Locarno Film Festival and the Venice

Film Festival.



CHARACTERS• Antar - A man in the future who is about to retire. He is tracking Murugan.

• Murugan - He is an authority on Sir Ronald Ross. Much of the novel is about histracking the life of Ronald Ross.

• Ronald Ross - the Nobel prize winning scientist who found out that malaria isspread through mosquitoes. Much of his research is spoken about

• Lutchman - He was picked up by Ross for his experiments and did everythingfor him.

• Mangala - Cleaning woman Laboratory.

• Sonali - A writer, a journalist, and actor.

• Urmila - A journalist for the same publication as Sonali

• Romen Haldar - Lutchman in his most recent reincarnation.



Plot Summary The novel begins with the story of Antar who recounts an encounter

with L. Murugan, an employee of Life Watch who has disappeared inCalcutta.

. Murugan has asked to be transferred to Calcutta because of his

fascination with the life of Sir Ronald Ross.

The New York of Antar and the Calcutta of Murugan seem to overlapin time.

Through his Antar figures out that Murugan had systematicallyunearthed an underground scientific/mystical movement that couldgrant eternal life.



Contd…… The disciples of this movement can transfer their chromosomes

into another, and gradually become that person or take over thatperson.

A group of native Indian guided Ross to the conclusions forwhich he is famous.

These Indians provided Ross with clues in the belief that in themoment Ross made his discovery, the parasite would change its

nature.



Review• Like most South Asian writers, Ghosh has strong and dramatic

storytelling skills.

• And then there is Calcutta, with its decaying present and historic past,brought alive through Ghosh's sparse, evocative prose.

• The concept of time plays a critical part in "The Calcutta Chromosome.“

• Like all good science fiction, "The Calcutta Chromosome" makes youthink. What is the nature of time? Can souls transmigrate throughgenetic tampering? Can the history of mankind be pre-written by a few?



Conclusion

• Amitav Ghosh has written a fascinatingbook with its sly and humorous mingling

of science with myth. Capable of beingread at several levels, it is the sort ofstory that remains with you long after

you've shut the final page.



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