The humorous escapades of Narayan Gangopadhyay's immortal character and his ragtag bunch of friends, now in English.

The leader of a gang of four, Tenida is a brash, loud-mouthed fellow with a large heart and a gargantuan appetite. Along with the quick-witted Kyabla, the Bangladeshi-accented Habul and the cowardly Pela, Tenida falls headlong into one misadventure after the other, that is, when he is not telling tall tales of his own heroism. Full of wit and old-world charm, The Best of Tenida is dotted with vignettes of life in yesteryear Calcutta.

Featuring five of Narayan Gangopadhyay's best-known short stories and his timeless novella Charmurti, this English translation introduces one of the most beloved figures in Bengali children's literature to a wider audience.

Narayan Gangopadhyay was born Taraknath Gangopadhyay, in Baliadingi, Dinajpur on the 8th of February, 1918. He studied Bengali literature at Calcutta University and came first in the MA examinations. He later earned a doctorate for his work on the short story. Though Tenida is perhaps his best-loved creation, Narayan Gangopadhyay wrote many other kinds of fiction - short stories, novels and plays - as well as poetry and essays. He won fame with his first published novel, Upanibesh (The Colony). His works include the novels Timir-tirtha (Journey into Darkness), Alo'r Sarani (The Path of Light) and Beetangsha (The Noose).

Aparna Chaudhuri was born in Kolkata. She studied English literature at Jadavpur University and the University of Oxford and is currently a graduate student at Harvard. Her translation of Rabindranath Tagore's Shey was published as a Penguin Modern Classic in 2007. She enjoys reading, travel and music and has been trained in classical dance and martial arts. She hopes to return to Kolkata after her studies are complete and to pursue a career that combines teaching, research and translation.