The World of Apu (1959)

Swapan Mukherjee: Pulu

Photos 

Quotes 

• Pulu : So are you writing anything? What are you writing?

  Apurba Roy : A wonderful novel.

  Pulu : And you've kept it mum all this time?

  Apurba Roy : You know a good publisher?

  Pulu : All in good time.

  Apurba Roy : Listen to this: a young boy. A young boy. A village boy. Poor but sensitive. His father's a priest. The father dies. The boy comes to the city. He doesn't want to be a priest. He'll study. He's ambitious. He studies. Through his education and struggles, we watch as he sheds his old superstitions and fixed views. He questions everything and takes nothing on trust. Yet he has imagination and sensitivity. Little things move him and bring him joy. Perhaps he has greatness in him, the ability to create, but...

  Pulu : He doesn't make it.

  Apurba Roy : That's right. But it doesn't end there. It's not a tragedy. He does nothing great. He remains poor, in want. But he never turns away from life. He doesn't run away. He wants to live. He says living itself brings fulfillment and joy. He wants to live!

• Apurba Roy : Khulna? Are you crazy?

  Pulu : You'll love it there. A rustic village. Boats floating down the river. Endless fields of grass and rice. Paths winding through bamboo groves and mango orchards. What do you say? And trees full of birds: magpies, bulbuls, nightingales. And at nightfall, crickets and fireflies, jackals, and kerosene lamps. No electricity! Tempting? Have I hit a weak spot? So, you'll come, right?

• Pulu : Why have you been hiding out up here? You making counterfeit money?

• Pulu : An oil cooker! Doing your own cooking?

  Apurba Roy : Yeah. I'll cook for you sometime. Rice and boiled potatoes.

• Apurba Roy : I do some tutoring. Turning dullards into prodigies.

  Pulu : What's it pay?

  Apurba Roy : Fifteen rupees a month.

• Pulu : Are you writing anything? Any new poems?

  Apurba Roy : You're such a philistine.

  Pulu : A philistine?

  Apurba Roy : Engineering is all you know. You'll go abroad and get your degree, then settle down here with a nice fat salary. Bah!

  Pulu : So I'm a philistine?

  Apurba Roy : That's right.

• Pulu : What do you know about love? You've never been within ten yards of a girl!

• Apurba Roy : Is imagination worth nothing?

  Pulu : Not with love!

• Pulu : Apu, everything depends on you now.

• Pulu : [Introduces Apu]  Here I had a fine match for your daughter, but you looked elsewhere.

  Pulu's Aunt : [to Apu]  Where have I seen that face before?

  Pulu : Impossible. He's never been here before.

  Pulu's Aunt : No, I know that face very well. Oh, I know! I've seen it many times in a painting of the gods!

  Pulu : Lord Krishna incarnate, complete with flute.

• Apurba Roy : I didn't come here for a job.

  Pulu : Then why?

  Apurba Roy : I just ended up here as I wandered around.