Professor Shonku


Trilokeshwar Shonku (Bengali: প্রফেসর শঙ্কু) is a fictional scientist and inventor created by Satyajit Ray in a series of Bengali science fiction books of the same name published from 1965 on. He is the central protagonist of the series. Professor Shonku resides in Giridih. His house contains a laboratory, and he lives with his pet cat, Newton, named after Sir Isaac Newton and his man-servant, Prahlad. He was born in the year of 1912 but his year of death is unknown.


Professor Shonku o Khoka


Topic: Hidden power/abilities of human brain

Plot: A child who otherwise used to be normal, has "changed" after he fell and hurt his head. Once happy and normal, this child has become melancholic and speaks things which the parents do not follow and term as gibberish. The parents desperately seek help to get their boy back. A doctor finally suggests to see Shonku. Although initially Shonku was reluctant to see this boy as practising medicines is not his profession, after he sees the boy it soon becomes obvious that this is indeed an extraordinary case worthy of his attention. What appeared gibberish to his parents were actually meaningful facts which should normally be well beyond his or many other people's reach, spoken in many different languages which the child had no way to learn. He also demonstrates psychic ability, where the flash of a camera stops working after he declares he doesn't want to be pictured but the reporter insists. Although the child seems to be omniscient, he appears sad and detached from the material world. The story ends when the child concocts a potion by mixing several very dangerous chemicals and acids, some of which were Shonku's own inventions, and gulps it down before Shonku had a chance to stop him. A short period of unconsciousness follows, after which the child wakes up as his normal old self. He then makes friends with Shonku, states he has no memory of things which happened in the last few days, and even asks for chocolates.

Location: Giridih

Source: Wikipedia