Satyajit Ray studied art at Visva Bharti, Shantiniketan. He started his professional life as a junior visualizer at the ad agency D.J. Keymer, Kolkata. Ray’s Feluda first appeared in children’s magazine Sandesh in 1965. It was a Bengali story. It made a comic debut in the Telegraph in 2005. Feluda is not a historical figure. He is supersleuth Pardosh C. Mitter a. k. a Feluda. Tapas Guha retold the Feluda’s stories in two comic books Beware in the Graveyard and Bagful of Mystery. Feluda’s original Ray illustrations were westernized, and they were approved by Sandip Ray, Satyajit Ray’s son. Guha was worried about smoking and lack of women in Ray’s stories. Smoking is an integral part of Feluda. A half-smoked cigarette lying on the grass was shown, as smoke fills up the air. Ray had no women in any Feluda comics. The outsiders — salesmen, diners — are now made women.

This post coincides with Satyajit Ray’s birthday today, May 2nd. Auspicious !