Barnaribaron: MyStoryGenie Bengali Audiobook Album 72: The Beauty Pageant

The story belongs to the fine art and genre of Bangla 'Ramya-Rachana', which deals with the tricky subject of changing social milieu and taste, which invariably brings to the fore the contentious debate of the generational gap in the garb of a wholesome social comedy.

Often, we comment that social changes get introduced by the social elites, the fashionistas, and the cultural connoisseurs through a constant influx of strife and reconciliation with the young and the bold - who represent the aspiration of the generation following. Colonial Bengal was no exception to that established pattern in the backdrop of gathering social reforms and movements like the Young Bengal, Brahmo Samaj, etc., and its influence on adopting Western thinking and its associated cultural traits. Interestingly, however, the emergent order never did lose its Indian soul or the traditional essence as the fusion walked a tightrope of transcending boundaries without infringing the Indian character deep within.

The progress achieved had awkward moments, with the path witnessing vociferous exchanges between the fractions. However, in the end, the protagonists got their turn to express themselves and reached a much-negotiated consensus on ushering in the new. Legendary humorist Rajshekhar Basu presented this idea as a simile using the metaphor of an exclusive social club and its plan to host an innovative beauty pageant hunt - quite a daring social experiment, given the context of the conservative social norm prevalent at that time. Savor the unraveling of an imported idea, the initial discord, and the cheerful curtains call as all well that ends well.

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