Small wonder, 100 monsoons after his passing, his nonsense rhymes in Abol Tabol and Ha Ja Ba Ra Law are far from being dated. Both the children and adult find them irrestible reading material.

Often featuring in the bestsellers list, Roy's not too large literary works continue to appeal to the imagination and intellect of those past the age of franchise and below it. One need not read between the lines of these books to find out their appeal to the 21st century minds.

Amidst chasing the deadlines and sales targets, the almost out of breath adults find that Roy had long penned about the incentives which drag the tired body and mind of an executive to work when he had written a about a "khuror kol" (uncle's contraption) with a sweetmeat dangling from it egging on the human strapped to it to run on. Roy may have lived in a more laid back age but his vision gave him have a close peek of the hectic times to come.

As for a child tired of tension of class tests and ever increasing burden of homework, the figure of a duck getting enmeshed into a spiky porcupine (sajaru) which evolved into a hansjaru is a welcome change from newspaper headlines reporting a riot or house collapse. One wonders who was the model Roy's model in mind when conjured up the image of rotund Kumro Patash (Pumpkin Puff) a creature during whose time span of dancing one and all have to clear out from the vicinity of the stable.

But all said and done, Kumro Patash continues to be a friendly and reassuring figure long after its creator had journeyed to the land of the shadows. A glance at his comical figure and a quick read of his deeds is enough to dispel all apprehension about the inhospitable region of examinations scheduled next week.

As an eight year old, Roy had penned Nadi(River) and a year later translated Hickory, Dickory, Dock as Tick, Tick, Tong. None can accuse him of plagiarism when Chala Chitra Chanchari and Ha Ja Ba Ra Law flowed from his pen in which nonsense and gibberish were in surfeit having drawn inspiration from Lewis Carol's Alice in Wonderland.

Writing simply and subtly, humour underlay his every work. It was enlivened by his illustrations which continue to light up many a dark moment of an adult and a child. An undercurrent of social commentary and satire flowed in Roy's works. The common man was very much together with their follies and foibles was very much present.

But harshness was alien to Roy's nature. He poked gentle humour at these characters portraying them warts and all. A creative man that he was, Roy effortlessly made his works engaging and humorous. Animals and humans appearing in his creations removed fear and ignorance.

Laraibaj Janwar (A belligerent animal) and Adbhut Kankra (A strange Crab) could only be Sukumar Roy's creations. Arguably it was from his genes that the seeds of his son's bestselling science fiction works can be traced.

Apart of Abol Tabol (Nonsensical Mnemonics 1923), Ha Jaw Ba Ra La (Topsy Turvy 1938), the other works of Roy include Pagla Dashu (Crazy Dashu 1940), Khai Khai (I Want More 1950), Jhalapala O Ananya Natak (The Cacophony and other plays), Lakshmaner Shaktishel (Lakshman's Magical Spear), Bohurupee (The Jester 1944), Heshoram Hudhiyarer Diary, Shabdakalpadrum (The Tree of Words) and Chitrachanchari. They do not make up a large body of works but are a pointer what could have been the value and volume of Roy's penmanship had he lived a few more decades.

Roy is the sire of the Oscar winning filmmaker, Satyajit Ray. But he does not need to be introduced by his son's deeds and name, a long and glorious list of works on screen that is not only part and parcel of India's cinematic history but an object lesson in film making all over the world.

Yet the father's deeds do not pale vis-a-vis a famous son's. In fact, notwithstanding the fact that it is showcased before a smaller audience it shines bright with the passage of a century adding to its lustre.

If few drew comparisons between the great filmmaker and author of extremely readable children's stories, Sukumar Roy arguably had a more difficult act before him. Fate had thrown before him the gauntlet of being the son of author, musician and printing pioneer Upendra Kishor Roy Chowdhury.

Roy picked up the gauntlet and rose to the occasion. Armed with dual degrees in physics and chemistry from Presidency College, he studied printing technology at London County Council School of Photoengraving and Lithography. But Roy's education and learning did not sit heavily on him. If he was familiar with the progress of comets, cats winked in his works.

Quintessential Bengali that he was, Roy never lost his love for adda, a gathering of friends and acquaintances where all topics under the sun were discussed threadbare enlivened by wit as sharp as shards of glass. Monday Club set up by him underscores the point.

The rational who are often dull tend to dismiss his works as literary snack lacking the wholesomeness of literary lions. Sorry to say that they have missed the bus. Long after the tomes penned by these ponderous men and women on what they considered would be earthshaking topics are no longer read, Roy's not too large body of works will continue to be lapped up. The joy of his works defy time. (IPA Service)