New Delhi, April 12 -- Recently, when I needed to read Pather Panchali-one of the great Bengali novels, now approaching its centenary-I discovered that my Gen Z cousin owned a copy. Given the current state of Bengali literacy among younger readers, it was the last place I would have looked. But perhaps what I overlooked was the singular place Pather Panchali holds in the Bengali imagination: it exists not as one but two great works of art. Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay's first novel is also Satyajit Ray's first film; and for many, the film remains a gateway to the book. My cousin had bought it for a school assignment comparing the two. She read only parts of it, but the fact that it continues to circulate in classrooms, booklists and onlin...