kalo, kucchit and the relatively newer character of Tuntuni from the
Tuntuni o Chhotachchu series (Parl Publication, 2014-2019) drives the story forward she is the real detective in her uncle s investigation agency but her being a girl adds nothing to the plot.
Iqbal doesn t specifically stereotype girls, nor does he treat his women characters with disrespect. There is surely a place for stories like
Tuntuni, but the problem is that the adventure-fantasy genre is the only kind of popular children s literature we have in Bangla, and these books do not tell stories of womanhood, nor do they explore the trials and tribulations of going through puberty.