Manik Bandopadhyay (real name - Probodh Kumar) was an Indian writer and he is considered one of the best Indian novelist. During his short life (48 years) he wrote 36 novels and 177 short stories. The most famous ones are:
The Boatman on The River Padma, 1936
The Puppet's Tale, 1936
Suburbia, 1941
The Quadrilateral, 1948
Background
Manik Bandopadhyay was born in a small town Dumka on May 19, 1908 in a family of fourteen children. His father Harihar Bandyopadhyay was a government official and who travelled a lot through the Bengal and due to this Manik got an image of living of people in different parts of the country. The author's pseudonym was derived from his pet name Manik.
Politics
Manik was highly influenced by works of Marx and Engels. In 1944 Manik joined the the Communist Party of India. However later on he regretted joining such a tyrannical organisation.