O the words “Mama-Bhagney” mean anything to you?’ Feluda asked Jatayu. I knew what he meant, hut looked curiously at Lalmohan Babu to hear his reply. ‘Uncle and nephew?’ he asked. ‘No, a mere translation of the words won’t do. We all know “mama” means uncle and “bhagney” is nephew. What do the words remind you of?’ ‘To be honest, Felu Babu I haven’t the slightest idea what you’re talking about. Your questions always startle me. You tell me what you mean.’ ‘Have you seen the film Abhijaan?’ ‘Yes, but that was years ago. Why does that—oh, yes, yes!’ Jatayu’s eyes lit up. ‘Now I do remember. Rocks, aren’t they? There is a small, flat rock balanced on top of a bigger rock. It seems as though one little push would make the smaller one jiggle and dance. It’s Uncle giving his nephew a piggy-back, isn’t it?’ ‘Right. That’s what the locals say. But can you remember which district it’s in?’ ‘No.’ ‘It’s in Birbhum. I have never been there. Have you?’ ‘No, sir.’ ‘Shameful, isn’t it? You are a writer, Lalmohan Babu. Never mind what you write, or who reads your books. You ought to have visited the area in which Tagore spent so many years of his life.’ ‘The thing is, you see, I have often wanted to go there, but somehow couldn’t manage it. Besides, how can Tagore possibly provide any inspiration to someone who writes stuff like The Sahara Shivers?’ ‘Yes, but Birbhum isn’t famous only because of Santiniketan. There are the hot springs of Bakreshwar, there’s Kenduli where the poet Jaydev was born, there’s Tarapeeth where the famous tantrik Bama Khepa used to live, there’s Dubrajpur which has those funny rocks we were just talking about, apart from endless temples made of terracotta.’ ‘Terracotta? What’s that?’ Feluda frowned. Lalmohan Babu’s ignorance often turned Feluda into a schoolteacher. ‘It’s a mixture of Latin and Italian,’ he said. ‘Terra is a word meaning soil, and cotta is burnt. It refers to statues and figures made with clay and sand, and baked in fire, like bricks. There are many temples in Bengal that have work done in terracotta, but the best and the most beautiful are in Birbhum. If you didn’t know about these, Lalmohan Babu, I’m afraid there’s very little that you’ve learnt about your own state.’ ‘Yes, I see that now. Forgive me, Felu Babu. Kindly excuse my ignorance.’

‘And yet, a European professor has done such a lot of research in this subject. It’s really most impressive. I assume you don’t read anything but the headlines in newspapers, so obviously you’ve missed the article published in today’s Statesman. The name of this professor has been mentioned in this article. He was called David McCutcheon.’ ‘Which article do you mean?’ ‘“Robertson’s Ruby”.’ ‘Right, right! I did see it, and the colour photograph of the ruby, too. But just as I had begun to read it, you see, my dhobi turned up, and then I forgot all