Nilmanush (Bengali: নীলমানুষ; ISO 15919: Nīlamānuṣ; lit. "The Blue Man") is a Bengali juvenile science fiction series of stories written by Sunil Gangopadhyay. It follows the story of Ranajoy, an innocent village youth who was transformed into a blue-skinned man with extraordinary physical strength after an encounter with extraterrestrial beings. The stories chronicle his adventures and the challenges that arise from his transformation.
Publication History According to the introduction by Swati Gangopadhyay, Sunil Gangopadhyay wrote a series of stories featuring the character Ranajoy, also known as the Blue Man, which were originally published in various Bengali periodicals and magazines. The character subsequently fell out of publication before Ananda Publishers compiled the stories into a single volume, Nilmanush, in 2014 with the aim of reintroducing them to young readers. As of 2025, the book has gone through four printings.
Plot Summary
Nil Ronger Manush – "The Blue-Colored Man" The opening story introduces Ranajoy Biswas, a village youth who fishes daily in a river near his home. On one such morning, he witnesses an object explode in the sky and sees a blue-skinned humanoid disappear beneath the river while clutching a spherical device. Although he attempts to rescue the figure, he recovers only the sphere, after which he notices several similar beings departing in a large spherical craft.
Soon afterwards, Ranajoy begins to undergo a mysterious transformation. He grows taller, develops blue skin, and acquires extraordinary physical strength, despite showing no signs of illness. The sphere later becomes active, leading him to realise that the being he had tried to rescue was not dark-skinned, as he had first assumed, but blue-skinned. Intending to seek scientific help, he hides the device, but it is recovered by the extraterrestrials before he can do so.
The aliens take Ranajoy to their spacecraft, where their leader communicates with him through telepathy. He explains that the group comes from the "seventh planet" and that Ranajoy has become one of them after coming into contact with their device. They insist that he accompany them to replace a companion who died on Earth, assuring him that a new family can be created for him on their home planet. Ranajoy refuses to leave his parents and escapes after a struggle aboard the spacecraft by leaping into the river. Although the extraterrestrials pursue him until dawn, they are eventually forced to depart. By the following morning, Ranajoy's transformation into a blue-skinned being is complete.
Nil Manusher Kahini – "The Story of the Blue Man" The second story follows Papu, a young boy who enters a field behind his house in search of a lost ball. There, he encounters the blue-skinned Ranajoy, whom he mistakes for a demon. At Ranajoy's request, Papu agrees to call Chitra, whom Ranajoy was expected to marry before his disappearance. Instead, Papu returns home and informs Chitra that a "demon" is asking for her. Although initially skeptical, Chitra ventures into the garden after noticing movement. Ranajoy reveals his identity, causing her to faint. Papu then alerts his family, prompting Chitra's mother, uncle, and several villagers to pursue Ranajoy. Chitra regains consciousness during the commotion, and Ranajoy escapes into the nearby forest. His appearance gives rise to rumors throughout Nishanpur village, where he is variously believed to be a demon, an ape, or another supernatural being. Only Chitra's mother suspects that the mysterious figure may in fact be Ranajoy.
Living in hiding, Ranajoy struggles to survive as he is rejected by his family because of his transformed appearance and continues to be pursued by the extraterrestrials responsible for his condition. Hunger eventually forces him to enter a neighbouring village in search of food. Unable to bring himself to steal despite his desperation, he breaks into an apparently deserted house and cooks a meal. While there, he encounters two burglars attempting to rob the house. Although one of the thieves stabs him in the chest, his altered physiology renders the injury harmless, allowing him to overpower and tie up both men. Before leaving, Ranajoy leaves a note for the homeowners explaining that he had eaten their food but had protected their property in return, signing it simply as the "Blue Man."
Nil Manusher Dukkho – "The Blue Man's Sorrow" The third story depicts Ranajoy's growing isolation following his transformation. Now twice the height of an ordinary human and completely blue in appearance, he hides in the forest while lamenting the loss of his former life. When a police search party discovers him, the officers mistake him for a dangerous creature. Although Ranajoy repeatedly tries to convince them that he is still human and even asks them to kill him rather than capture him, his altered voice renders his speech unintelligible. Before the police can apprehend him, the extraterrestrials reappear in their spherical spacecraft, forcing both Ranajoy and the officers to flee. Ranajoy escapes by diving into a nearby river, while the aliens abandon their pursuit at dawn.
Unable to return home, Ranajoy wanders from place to place in search of food and shelter. His increasing appetite and immense physical strength compel him to steal food, clothing and money for survival, acts that fill him with guilt as he resolves to repay those he has stolen from if he ever regains his human form. Eventually, he reaches a nearby town and secretly checks into a hotel, where he learns from newspaper reports that his existence has become a national sensation. Scientists from India and abroad seek to study him, while the authorities continue their search for the mysterious "Blue Man."
Convinced that scientific intervention offers his only hope of returning to normal, Ranajoy writes to the police, offering to surrender voluntarily and insisting that he poses no threat to anyone. Before the authorities can reach him, however, the extraterrestrials locate him once again and abduct him aboard their spherical spacecraft. As they leave Earth behind, Ranajoy notices that the extraterrestrial holding him suddenly recoils from his tears. He realizes that the aliens are afraid not only afraid of waterbodies but also tears and concludes that while he may be leaving earth for another planet, he has one last weapon left.
Nil Manusher Deshe – "In the Land of the Blue Man" The fourth story follows Ranajoy after he is abducted by the extraterrestrials and taken to their home planet. During the journey, he learns that the aliens fear water, making his tears physically harmful to them. Upon arriving, he discovers that their civilisation is entirely underground beneath a barren, desert-like surface. The city consists of circular buildings and advanced technology, with humanoid robots performing most domestic and industrial tasks. Although Ranajoy is told that he is free to move about the city, he is repeatedly denied his request to return to Earth. He also discovers that the planet has no water, and that his thirst is instead relieved by a mysterious blue light that periodically illuminates the city.
The extraterrestrial leader eventually escorts Ranajoy to a laboratory, where scientists reveal that they wish to study his tears and hair. They explain that their ancestors once possessed hair and eyebrows, and hope that examining Ranajoy's transformed body will help them recover these lost characteristics. When they refuse to return him to Earth, insisting that he is no longer human, Ranajoy attempts to resist but is overpowered. He soon realises that the planet's lack of water has begun affecting his own body, causing his hair to fall out and leaving him unable to produce saliva. This realisation causes him to faint.
Upon gaining consciousness, Ranajoy flees the laboratory and eventually hides aboard an unmanned spacecraft piloted by a humanoid robot. Unable to control the vessel, he inadvertently alters its course while attempting to operate its controls. The spacecraft eventually reaches a green planet, which Ranajoy initially mistakes for Earth. Believing that the craft is about to crash, he jumps out into the atmosphere and lands safely in a forest. He soon discovers that the planet is unlike Earth: its vegetation regenerates instantly, the ground appears to be alive, and even its butterflies shatter like glass on impact. Overcome with despair, he starts crying and realizes that he can cry again.
Bhooter Deshe Nil Manush – "The Blue Man in the Land of Ghosts" The fifth story follows Ranajoy after his arrival on a mysterious forested planet inhabited by unusual flora and fauna. While searching for food and water, he discovers that the planet's vegetation is sentient and hostile: trees attack living creatures, while even seemingly ordinary insects and plants display unusual characteristics. After narrowly escaping the animated forest, Ranajoy reaches an abandoned-looking settlement where he hears disembodied voices but encounters no visible inhabitants.
He eventually meets a zebra-striped humanoid who, after making physical contact with Ranajoy, acquires the ability to speak Bengali. The inhabitant explains that a meteorite strike caused the planet's trees to become animate and wage war against all forms of animal life. Unable to defeat the regenerating trees, the planet's inhabitants developed a substance that gradually renders their bodies invisible, allowing them to survive without attracting the trees or requiring food. Although the zebra-striped humanoid offers to make Ranajoy invisible as well, he declines. He leaves the house, determined to live the rest of his days on turtle eggs and rainbow-fish.
Later, Ranajoy discovers the abandoned spacecraft that had brought him to the planet and finds its robotic pilot inoperative. As the living trees begin attacking the spacecraft, he frantically operates its controls and succeeds in launching it into space, escaping the planet.
Shei Ekla Nil Manush – "That Lonely Blue Man" The sixth story follows Ranajoy as he drifts alone through space aboard the stolen spacecraft. Unable to operate or navigate the vessel, he worries about its limited fuel and the absence of food. While searching the spacecraft, he discovers a communication device through which he receives incomprehensible transmissions from an unknown source. Shortly afterwards, his spacecraft is intercepted by another vessel carrying a group of diminutive extraterrestrials.
Initially, the aliens attack Ranajoy with energy weapons before their queen intervenes. Using a silver spherical translation device, she communicates with him in Bengali and explains that her people regard him as the fulfilment of an ancient prophecy describing a blue-skinned, giant deity with hair. Believing his arrival to be a sign of good fortune, they welcome him with food and invite him to accompany them to their home planet.
Ranajoy agrees to visit the planet but soon discovers that its atmosphere lacks oxygen because of the absence of vegetation, making it impossible for him to survive without life-support equipment. Conversely, when the extraterrestrials accompany him to Earth, they find its oxygen-rich atmosphere unbreathable. So, he told them to return to their own planet and said that he will go to them when it is time with no intention of leaving earth ever again.
Nil Manush O Chotto Bondhu – "The Blue Man and the Little Friend"