The Biography of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay
His work represented rural Bengali society and he often wrote against social superstitions and oppression. For a short period he was a sannyasi, a Hindu ascetic who abandons the material and social worlds. His first published story was "Mandir".
After the death of his parents, Chattopadhyay left his college education midway and went to Burma in 1903. There he found employment with a Government Office as clerk. He returned to India, but before his departure he submitted a short story for a prize competition under his uncle's name, Surendranath Ganguli. It won first prize in 1904.
Vishnu Prabhakar wrote a biography about Chattopadhyay. Prabhakar traveled for fourteen years to collect material.
He died in Kolkata of liver cancer in 1938.
House of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay
Main article: Sarat Chandra Kuthi
Sarat Chandra's house at Samta.
Room of Sarat Chandra in his house at Samta.
The temple of Sarat Chandra in his house.
Inside Sarat Chandra's house.
The trees planted by Sarat Chandra.
77000. After it was declared as a Heritage or Historical Site by the Clause 2 of the West Bengal Heritage Commission Act 2001 (Act IX of 2001)[3][4]
Act IX of 2001 in 2009 the whole house was renovated and the belongings
of Sarat Chandra like his furniture, walking stick, shoes etc. were
polished and are restored in showcases. The house's boundary has been
extended until the Samadhis, surrounding them which earlier used to lie
on the road.Sarat Mela
The fair is held on the Panitras High School grounds some distance from Sarat Chandra's house but if it could be shifted to the open space where the Rupnarayan River once flowed right in front of the house people could link the two more easily. The Government of West Bengal does not provide funds, only private and public donations allow the villagers to hold the fair. However, sometime the number of people it draws is reduced due to unpleasant weather conditions like rainfall.Works
Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyaya visits Surendranath Roy in 1927.
- Bordidi, (The Elder Sister) 1907
- Bindur Chhele, (Bindu's Son) 1913
- Parineeta, 1914
- Biraj Bou, (Mrs. Biraj) 1914
- Ramer Shumoti, (Ram Returning to Sanity) 1914
- Palli Shomaj, 1916
- Arakhsanya, 1916
- Dehati Samaj, 1920
- Devdas, 1917 (written in 1901)
- Choritrohin, (Shameless) 1917
- Srikanta, (4 parts, 1917, 1918, 1927, 1933)
- Datta, 1917–19
- Grihodaho, 1919
- Dena Paona, (Debts and Demands) 1923
- Pather Dabi or Path Ke Davedar, (Demand for a Pathway) 1926
- Ses Prasna, (The Final Question) 1931
- Bipradas, 1935
- Nishkriti
- Mej Didi
- Chandranath
- Bilashi
- Mandir
- Pandit Mashay
- Naba Bidhan
- Shesher Parichoy
- Boikunter Will
- Shubhoda
- Swami (The Husband)
- Ekadoshi Bairagi
- Mahesh (The Drought)
- Anuradha
- Anupamar Prem
- Andhare Aalo
- Dorpochurno (Broken Pride)
- Harilakshmi
- Kashinath
- Abhagir Swargo
- Aalo O Chhaya
- Sharoda (published posthumously)
Films
Kundal Lal Saigal and Jamuna in Devdas.
There was another movie based on his novel called Nishkriti, Apne Paraye (1980) by Basu Chatterjee, starring Amol Palekar.[6] The Telugu film Thodi Kodallu (1957) is also based on this novel. Gulzar's 1975 film, Khushboo is majorly inspired by his work entitled Pandit Mashay. The 1961 Telugu film Vagdanam by Acharya Atreya is loosely based on his novel Datta. Also the 2011 film Aalo Chhaya is based on his short story, Aalo O Chhaya.
Awards and degrees
Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay is known as Oporajoy Kothashilpi in Bangla literature- Kuntolin puraskar (For Mandir)
- D-Lit (Given by University of Dhaka, now in Bangladesh)
Textbooks
- Golpo Songroho (Collected Stories), the national text book of B.A. (pass and subsidiary) course of Bangladesh, published by University of Dhaka in 1979 (reprint in 1986).
- Bangla Sahitya (Bengali Literature), the national text book of intermediate (college) level of Bangladesh published in 1996 by all educational boards.
The biography Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
Ishwar
Chandra Vidyasagar is considered as one of the pillars of Bengal
renaissance. In other words, he managed to continue the reforms movement
that was started by Raja Rammohan Roy. Vidyasagar was a well-known
writer, intellectual and above all a staunch follower of humanity. He
brought a revolution in the education system of Bengal. In his book, "Barno-Porichoy"
(Introduction to the letter), Vidyasagar refined the Bengali language
and made it accessible to the common strata of the society. The title
'Vidyasagar' (ocean of knowledge) was given to him due to his vast
knowledge in almost all the subjects. Poet Michael Madhusudan Dutta
while writing about Ishwar Chandra said: "The genius and wisdom of
an ancient sage, the energy of an Englishman and the heart of a Bengali
mother".Life & Education
Ishwar Chandra Bandopadhyaya, was born in Birsingha village of Midnapore district, West Bengal. His father Thakurdas Bandyopadhyay and mother Bhagavati Devi were very religious persons. Their economic condition was not that stable and subsequently the childhood days of Vidyasagar were spent in abject poverty. After the completion of elementary education at the village school, his father took him to Calcutta (Kolkata). It is believed that Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar learned English numbers by following the mile-stones labels on his way to Calcutta at the age of eight years.
Ishwar Chandra was a brilliant student. His quest for knowledge was so intense that he used to study on street light as it was not possible for him to afford a gas lamp at home. He cleared all the examinations with excellence and in quick succession. He was rewarded with a number of scholarships for his academic performance. To support himself and the family Ishwar Chandra also took a part-time job of teaching at Jorashanko.
In the year 1839, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar successfully cleared his Law examination. In 1841, at the age of twenty one years, Ishwar Chandra joined the Fort William College as a head of the Sanskrit department.
After five years, in 1946, Vidyasagar left Fort William College and join the Sanskrit College as 'Assistant Secretary'. In the first year of service, Ishwar Chandra recommended a number of changes to the existing education system. This report resulted into a serious altercation between Ishwar Chandra and College Secretary Rasomoy Dutta. Following this, Vidyasagar resigned from Sanskrit College and rejoined Fort William College but as a head clerk.
A kind-hearted Ishwar
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar would start crying in distress whenever he saw poor and weak people lying on the footpath and street. He used to spend a part of his scholarships and salary for the welfare of those poor people. He would also buy medicine for the sick.
Reforms
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar initiated the concept of widow remarriage and raised concern for the abolition of child-marriage and polygamy. He also opened the doors of the colleges and other educational institutions to lower caste students, which was earlier reserved only for the Brahmins. For his immense generosity and kind-heartedness, people started addressing him as "Dayar Sagar" (ocean of kindness).
Nawab's shoe donation
One day, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and his few friends decided to collect donations to form Calcutta University. He traveled across Bengal and neighboring states asking people to donate for the foundation. While doing so, one day he reached outside the palace of an influential King. After hearing his plea the King, pulled one of his shoes and dropped into Vidyasagar's bag as donation. Vidyasagar thanked Nawab and left.
The very next day Vidyasagar organized an auction of the Nawab's shoe and earned Rs. 1000. The Nawab after hearing that his shoe has fetched so much amount of money, he himself gave a similar amount of money as donation.
Death
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, the great scholar, academician and reformer passed away on 29 July, 1891 at the age of 70 years. After his death Rabindranath Tagore said, "One wonders how God, in the process of producing forty million Bengalis, produced a man!"
Biography of Jasimuddin
Early Life and Career
Jasimuddin was born in the village of Tambulkhana in Faridpur District in the house of his maternal uncle. His father, Ansaruddin Mollah, was a school-teacher. Jasimuddin received early education at Faridpur Welfare School. He matriculated from Faridpur Zilla School in 1921. Jasimuddin completed IA from Rajendra College in 1924.
He obtained his BA and MA degree in Bengali from the University of Calcutta in 1929 and 1931 respectively. From 1931 to 1937, Jasimuddin worked with Dinesh Chandra Sen as a collector of folk literature. Jasimuddin is one of the compilers of Purbo-Bongo Gitika (Ballads of East Bengal). He collected more than 10,000 folk songs, some of which has been included in his song compilations Jari Gaan and Murshida Gaan. He also wrote voluminously on the interpretation and philosophy of Bengali folklore.
Jasimuddin joined the University of Dhaka in 1938 as a Lecturer. He left the university in 1944 and joined the Department of Information and Broadcasting. He worked there until his retirement as Deputy Director in 1962.
Jasimuddin died on 13 March 1976 and was buried near his ancestral home at Gobindapur, Faridpur.
Poetry
Jasimuddin started writing poems at an early age. As a college student, he wrote the celebrated poem Kabar (The Grave), a very simple tone to obtain family-religion and tragedy.
The poem was placed in the entrance Bengali textbook while he was still a student of Calcutta University.
Jasimuddin is noted for his depiction of rural life and nature from the viewpoint of rural people. This had earned him fame as Polli Kobi (the rural poet). The structure and content of his poetry bears a strong flavor of Bengal folklore. His Nokshi Kanthar Maath (Field of the Embroidered Quilt) is considered a masterpiece and has been translated into many different languages.
Jasimuddin also composed numerous songs in the tradition of rural Bengal. His collaboration with Abbas Uddin, the most popular folk singer of Bengal, produced some of the gems of Bengali folk music, especially of Bhatiali genre. Jasimuddin also wrote some modern songs for the radio. He was influenced by his neighbor, poet Golam Mostofa, to write Islamic songs too. Later, during the liberation war of Bangladesh, he wrote some patriotic songs. He is one of the best poets in Bangladesh.
Major Honors and Awards
President's Award for Pride of Performance, Pakistan (1958)
DLitt. by Rabindra Bharati University, India (1969)
Ekushey Padak, Bangladesh (1976)
Independence Day Award, Bangladesh -posthumous (1978)
Legacy
A fortnightly festival known as Jasim Mela is observed at Gobindapur each year in January commemorating the birthday of Jasimuddin.
A residential hall of the University of Dhaka bears his name.
Jasimuddin's Works:
Poetry
Rakhali (1927)
Nakshi Kanthar Maath (1928)
Baluchor (1930)
Dhankhet(1933)
Sojan Badiyar Ghat (1934)
Rangila Nayer Majhi (1935)
Hashu (1938)
Rupobati (1946)
Matir Kanna (1951)
Sakina (1959)
Suchayani (1961)
Bhayabaha Sei Dingulite (1972)
Ma je Jononi Kande(1963)
Holud Boroni (1966)
Jole Lekhon (1969)
Padma Nadir Deshe (1969)
Beder Meye (1951)
Kafoner Michil (1978)
Drama
Padmapar (1950)
Beder Meye (1951)
Modhubala (1951)
Pallibodhu (1956)
Gramer Maya (1959)
Ogo Pushpodhonu (1968)
Asman Shingho (1968)
Novel
Boba Kahini (1964)
Memoirs
Jader Dekhachi (1951)
Thakur Barir Anginay (1961)
Jibonkotha (1964)
Smritipot (1964)
Smaraner Sarani Bahi (1978)
Travelogues
Chole Musafir (1952)
Holde Porir Deshe (1967)
Je Deshe Manush Boro (1968)
Germanir Shahare Bandare (1975)
Music books
Rangila Nayer Majhi
Padmapar (1950)
Gangerpar
Jari Gan
Murshida Gan
Rakhali Gan
Baul
Others
Dalim Kumar (1986)
Bangalir Hasir Galpa (Part 1 and 2)
Song Titles
Amar sonar moyna pakhi
Amar golar har khule ne
Amar har kala korlam re
Amay bhashaili re
Amay eto raate
Kemon tomar mata pita
Nishithe jaio fulobone
Nodir kul nai kinar nai
O bondhu rongila
Prano shokhire
Rangila nayer majhi
Biography of Sufia Kamal
Begum Sufia Kamal (Bengali: সুফিয়া কামাল) was a poet, writer, organizer, feminist and activist from Bangladesh.
She was born to a Muslim family in Barisal, Bangladesh. She is one of the most widely recognized cultural personalities in Bangladesh. When she died in 1999, she was buried with full state honors, the first woman in Bangladesh to receive this honor.
Biography
Sufia Kamal was born to Shayestabad's Nawab family in Barisal. Although raised within strict purdah, that denied her of academic education, she was self-educated in Bengali, the ostracised language of the nawabs, with the encouragement of her mother, brother and a maternal uncle. While stealing into the literary works of Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, Begum Sara Taifur and Begum Motahera Banu, at the safe haven under the beds of the nawab palace, the young Sufia aspired to be a writer herself.
Although her first writing “Sainik Badhu” (Soldier's Bride), published in Taroon (Youth) magazine in 1923, was a short story, Sufia became known more as a poet. She received acclamations from both the maestros of Bangla literature Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam. In fact, it was the progressive Nazrul, a strong believer of women's emancipation, who, after coming across Sufia's work assisted and encouraged her to write poems regularly for Saugat, a renowned magazine from Kolkata.
“A wave of joy swept through our house, as she entered. Once she was done asking after everyone, she would always leave her writings on the table and tell my father to do whatever he liked with them. She never gave a heading to her poems,” recalls Nurjahan Begum, the editor of the Begum magazine and daughter of the editor of Saugat, Mohammad Nasiruddin. Sufia Kamal became the first editor of Begum, when this pioneer weekly magazine for Muslim women started its journey in 1947.
Perhaps her seemingly nonchalance towards her own poems emerged out of her indifference to publicity or because words would naturally flow out of her pen regardless of the situation. “Maa wrote spontaneously," relates Sajed Kamal, the poet's youngest son. "One who had found poetry in life, did not need a special time to write it. Even when she used to cook at noon, if anyone from a magazine came and asked for her poems, she would tell them to sit and immediately write a poem.”
Describing Sufia Kamal as a holistic poet, he adds, “She wrote about life and life involves everything – romance and social issues. She never compartmentalised her life. She wrote about political and contemporary issues, at the same time her writings had historical context and concern for the future.” Sufia Kamal in an interview with The Daily Star, called herself a romantic poet. However, she admitted that as time changed her writings became more concerned with socio-economic, cultural and political issues as well as women's issues.
Her apprenticeship at social work began in 1925, when she joined Barisal's Matri Mongol society as the only Muslim member. Later, she became a member of Begum Rokeya's Anjumane Khaowatine Islam, a social organisation and was nominated the first Muslim woman member of Indian Women's Federation in 1931. Surviving through the difficult times of 1930s, after her first husband's death, she again committed herself to social cause. During the riots of Kolkata, she conducted a shelter centre at Lady Brabourne College and afterwards opened a kindergarten school with help from the members of Mukul Fouj.
However, the poet in her interview with The Daily Star mentioned the 1950s and 1960s as the time when she actually started fighting for socio-economic and political causes. From leading the Martyrs Day march in February 1952 to the Sanskritik Swadhikar Andolon (Movement for Cultural Autonomy) in 1961, she continued to challenge state imposed oppression. She was elected as the founding president of the renowned cultural organisation Chhayanaut that emerged out of the movement.
According to Md Sarwar Ali, Vice President of Chhayanaut, Sufia Kamal used the cultural movement as the vehicle to form an equitable, just, secular, social and democratic society. “Her political ideology emphasised on changing the mental setup of the people of the society,” he adds. As a result, Sufia Kamal never became a member of any political party. She, nevertheless, was close to left politics and in Worker Party's president Rashed Khan Menon's opinion, “She had an inclination towards communism because it talked about the empowerment of women which was always her main focus.” He
quotes
Mujahidul Islam Selim, general secretary of Communist Party of Bangladesh mentions in his memoir on Sufia Kamal that in the 1960s she often came as a guest at the different programmes organised by “Sangskriti Sangshad”, an organisation closely related to the leftist student body “Chhatra Union”. He writes, “It was the Pakistani period. The country was under military rule. Political leaders were in jail. The Communist Party was banned. It was considered a sin for a gentleman to even pronounce the word 'communist'. Most of the leaders of the party were either in jail or in hiding. Right at that time she wrote a poem praising the communist.”
“Bipul bisshoy prithibir
Joy joy joygaan kaste-haturir!”
(The world is amazed… victory to the sickle and hammer)
Not surprisingly, she supported Soviet Union during the Cold War and was elected as the chairperson of Pak-Soviet Friendship Society in 1966. Visiting Russia on two occasions before and after liberation, she was captivated by the empowerment, self-awareness and dignity of Russian women. In fact the creation of Mahila Parishad in 1970 was influenced by a combination of all these political ideologies of the time.
“Before the Liberation War, when everyone was coming up with their demands – the 6-points, 11-points – the female student leaders thought that it was the right time to talk about women's rights and equal rights. Before that, they had already started a signature campaign demanding the bail of political leaders who were in jail. That's when they came across Sufia Kamal. Because of her wide acceptance all female leaders from different political groups and professions, formed the Mahila Parishad, with the poet as its nucleus,” relates Maleka Banu, General Secretary of Bangladesh Mahila Parishad.
Despite her demure appearance, she was resolute in her stance even before the mightiest autocrat like Ayub Khan. At a meeting, with artistes and intellectuals of Dhaka, Ayub insulted the Bengalis as “haiwan” (beasts). Sufia lost no time in retorting back, “Tab to aapvi janaab haiwanon ki badshah hotey hain” (Then, sir, you are the leader of the beasts).
During the liberation war, Sufia Kamal stayed in her house at Road-32, Dhanmondi under the watchful eyes of the Pakistani Army. This did not stop her from helping the freedom fighters secretly and sending her two young daughters to the war. Concerns from the international community about her safety, forced the Pakistani administration to air her interview where she appeared only for 90 seconds saying, “I am not dead.” She did not answer any other question neither did she show her face.
Even after liberation she did not bow her head to state elements. Although she had a congenial relationship with her neighbour Bangabandhu, she never hesitated to disagree with the highly esteemed leader. Md Sarwar Ali reminisces, “Sufia Kamal was very close to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. After liberation, Chhayanaut was given a monthly government allotment, but after a year they made it a conditional allotment. Then Sufia Kamal said, 'Chhayanaut will not receive any allotment with any condition.' She always wanted Chhayanaut to be self-reliant and sustainable. Today the Chhayanaut Bhaban has been built without the help of any government or private donations.”
In spite of her multi-faceted activism, she never forgot or neglected her duties to her family. “We hardly used to have ordinary or commonplace food, because mother had a keen interest in cooking. She liked to prepare special dishes. She used to cook different types of food everyday,” says her daughter, human rights activist Sultana Kamal.
In fact Sufia Kamal's cooking is praised even by Nurjahan Begum. “Often on Sundays she came and cooked at our house in Kolkata. She used to tell my mother 'Nuru's mother you do the cutting and preparing of the spices, I will do the cooking'. My mother tried but her dishes were never as delicious as Sufia Khala's,” Nurjahan reminisces.
Calling her mother a super-active woman, Sultana Kamal, Executive Director, Ain o Salish Kendra recounts how Sufia Kamal, despite having sufficient house-hold help, would always do chores like cooking, washing clothes, sewing dresses, reading bedtime stories to the children at night, on a regular basis. Growing up at her crowded house, she never felt annoyed by the flow of continuous visitors. Says Sultana Kamal, “One interesting thing was, those who came to her, they always felt that they were the most and best loved person by her. When she spoke to anyone, she would give her full attention to that person, irrespective of whether he was a hawker, or a high official or an ambassador.
“She was always cautious about one thing that she would never encourage any of us to join her organisations. For example, I always had been pressurised by others to become a member of Mahila Parishad. But she said, 'It is better that you don't. There you would be khalamma's (Sufia Kamal) daughter. That would create a couple of disadvantages. Firstly, if you say something and they do not agree with you, they won't say it out loud because you are khalamma's daughter. Second you by, will never be judged by your merit.'”
Sufia Kamal's secular identity never conflicted with her piety. Md Sarwar Ali recounts, “Every December 16 at the Savar National monument, after singing the national anthem with us, she would say a prayer for the martyrs.” Sultana Kamal recalls how her mother never reciprocated any personal attacks made on her by religious extremists. “She told us that a person would behave as per his or her characteristics. When a
dog
And Sufia Kamal did not heed to others – be it Ayub, Mujib, Ershad, Hasina or Khaleda or any other political figure. She kept her dignity high and silently went on doing what her conscience demanded of her, all through her 88 years of life. She once wrote to Nasiruddin and those lines aptly summarise her life and philosophy:
“I'll go on doing my work silently, calmly. I'll remove the thorns along the path – so that, for those who come after, thorns don't prick their feet; so that, for their thorn-pricked feet they don't fall behind. That much I'll do with whatever strength I have.”
Literature
A short story Shainik Bodhu which she wrote was published in a local paper in 1923. Her literary career took off after her first poetry publication. Her first book of poems, Sanjher Maya (Evening Enchantment), came out in 1938, bearing a foreword from Kazi Nazrul Islam and attracting praise from critics like Rabindranath Tagore. Sanjher Maya was translated in Russian as Санжер Майя улу Суфия Камал in 1984.
In 1937 she published her first collection of short stories, Keyar Kanta (Thorns of the Keya Tree).
Though she called herself a romantic poet, her work more and more reflected the struggles to preserve the Bengali language and culture and to fight Pakistani rulers.
Activism
In 1947, when "Shaptahik Begum" was first published, Sufia Kamal became its first editor. In October of that year after the partition of India she came to Dhaka. During a huge clash between Hindu and Muslim of that time Kamal worked for their friendship and joined in Peace Committee. In 1948, when Purbo Pakistan Mohila Committee formed, she became its chairman. Kamal's activism continued in 1952, with the Language Movement. In 1961, when the Pakistani government banned Rabindra Sangeet (Songs of Rabindranath), she became involved in the movement among Bengalis that ensued in 1961. During the mass uprising in 1969, which demanded the resignation of General Ayub Khan, she promoted the cause by forming Mohila Sangram Parishad (Women's Struggle Group). She was involved in the 1971 Liberation War and all later movements against dictatorial regimes. During Bangladesh's struggle for independence from Pakistan in the early 1970s she worked to help women hurt by the war. She also worked with an organization to try to bring to justice those Pakistani officials whom the Bangladeshis considered war criminals.
In later life, she made women's rights her top priority and headed Bangladesh's largest women's organization, Mahila Parishad, for many years. She did not see the oppression of women as mainly a class issue. She was also the first Chairperson of BRAC (1972–1980).
Kamal was also instrumental in getting the first women's dormitory of Dhaka University to be named Rokeya Hall, after Begum Rokeya.
Awards
Sufia Kamal received nearly fifty major awards, including the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz (1961), a major national award conferred by the Pakistani government, but which Sufia Kamal returned in 1969 in protest at the government's oppressive treatment of Bengalis, the Bangla Academy Award for Literature (1962), the Ekushey Padak (1976), the Nasiruddin Gold Medal (1977), the Muktadhara Puraskar (1982), the Jatyo Kabita Parishad Award (National Poetry Council Award, 1995), the Women's Federation for World Peace Crest (1996), the Begum Rokeya Padak (1996), the Deshbandhu CR Das Gold Medal (1996), and the Independence Day Award (1997). She also received a number of international awards, among them the Lenin Centenary Jubilee Medal from the Soviet Union in 1970, and the Czechoslovakia Medal in 1986.
Sufia Kamal's Works:
Mrttikar Ghran (The Fragrance of Earth)
Ekattarer Diary (Diary of '71)
Benibinyas Samay To Ar Nei (No More Time for Braiding Your Hair)
Ekale Amader Kal (In This Time, Our Time)
Biography of Golam Mostafa
Golam Mostofa or Golam Mostafa (Bengali: গোলাম মোস্তফা) was a
Bangladeshi Islamic writer and poet. His role and contribution in modern
Bengali poems is specially memorable; because background of his arrival
period and social condition of Muslim Bengal came to our notice through
his writings. Brilliance of his poems was manifested during the early
period of 20th century. At that time Muslims of Bengal were extremely
unfortunate. They were backward, neglected and deprived of political
social and economic status. They were backward and underdeveloped in
education and culture. Poet Golam Mostafa had written in background of
his life and literary endeavour. "The period when I was born was the
period of exhaustion of the Muslims. At that time our literature had no
freedom or originality. Intellectuality, tradition, meditation,
impression, hope and aspiration of any nation are implemented through
their mother tongue. But no such literature was created by Muslims of
Bengal at that time. So, from my younger life I was desirous to compose
national literature of the Muslims."
Early Life and Education
Poet Golam Mostafa was born in village Monoharpur in Shailkupa Thana in District of Jhenaidah in 1897. As per his Matric certificate his year of birth is seen 1897 ; but, poet Golam Mostafa said that at the time of his admission in Shailkopa High School his father had curtailed his age by two years. So his actual year of birth was 1895.
Family members of poet were highly educated and thoroughly developed in Islamic tradition. There was regular culture of Arabic, Persian and Bengali language in their family. His grand-father Kazi Golam Sarwar had vast erudition in Arabic and Persian language.
Golam Mostafa had started to write poem from his school life. In 'Memory of my life' poet writes. "I clearly remember that my first awakening of poem came into existence in 1909 when I was student of class five in Shailkopa High school.
Poet Golam Mostafa passed Matriculation Examination from Shailkupa High School in 1914 and IA. from Daulatpur College Khulna in 1916. Later on he passed B. A. from Ripon College Calcutta in 1918. He was desirous for higher degree but could not continue his studies due to financial inability. However, he selected his profession as teacher. He joined as a teacher in Barackpur Govt. High School in 1920. After two years, he passed B.T. from David Hare College. As a result his service was confirmed in Govt High School.
He retired as headmaster of Faridpur Zila School in 1949. He was the secretary of the East Bengal Government's Language Reform Committee, formed in 1949. He believed in the ideals of Pakistan and, during the Language Movement in 1952, supported Urdu as the state language of Pakistan.
Literary Life
His poems and features were being published in different newspapers. Though he was poet he had been writing novel and features in addition to poems. His first novel Ruper Nesha' was published while he was student of Ripon College. His firs book of poems 'Rakta Rag' was published in 1924. With deep respect he sent a copy of that' book to poet Rabindranath Tagore. In reply poet Rabindranath wished him blessing through two lines of poem as under 'Your Rakta Rag of new morning Awakes luminous word in noon.'
In 1922 he wrote poems for young. In such a poem he expressed an immortal line of an English poet' Child is the father of man' in Bengali very skillfully. Such example of imitation is rare in our Bengali literature.
His second book of poem 'Hasnahena' and his second Novel 'Bhangabuk' was published 1927 and 1928 respectively. 'Khosrose' a book of poem was published in 1929.
Golam Mostafa had created many basic literatures. He had translated many valuable poems and books of English and Arabic into Bengali. His translated books had attracted the readers. He was very much successful in translation of Sura Fateha, the first Sura of the Qur'an. Moreover he had written so many Islamic features in 'Mohammadi', 'Showgat', 'Islamdarshan', 'Satyabarta', 'Muazzin' etc. Papers from 1917 to 1938.
In 1942 he wrote the renowned book 'Biswanabi' which is the immortal creation of his life. It contained the life of our Prophet (S) and preaching of Islam. The book is treated as the best creation of poet Golam Mostafa in his literary life.
Islamic Thought
Golam Mostafa believed in one nationality of the Muslims of whole world. He sang the song of that nationality in his whole life. He thought that all the Muslims of the world is one nation irrespective to colour, language and country. He felt proud of it that he was included in that nation. He did not distinguish between east and west, rather he thought the whole world as his own country. His arms were ever extended to embrace all Muslims of the world.
Renowned person ality Dr. Muhammad Shahidullah said. "Moulavi Golam Mostafa is well known as a poet. Biswanabi is his new contribution. It is needless to say that the book is a well thought life activities of our Prophet. He has expressed his deep thought and research of his life about Prophet (S). We are amazed and charmed to find Janab Golam Mostafa as a devotee to Prophet, conceptive and philosopher. The book is incomparable in language, information and philosophy." He composed many 'Hamd' and 'Nat' which are regularly recited and sung in Milad Mahfil.
Awards
Sitara-i-Imtiaz
President Medal.
Death
Poet of Muslim Renaissance Golam Mostafa breathed his last on 13th October 1964 in the of Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Golam Mostafa's Works:
Poetry
Roktorag, Hasnahena, Khosroj, Sahara, Gulistan, Bani Adam, Kabbo Kahini, Sahara, Tarana-E-Pakistan, Bulbulistan.
Biography
Bishwanabi (Prophet Mohammad A.S)
Novels
Ruper Nesha, Vangabuk.
Others
Islam O Communism, Maru Dulal, Islam O Zihad, Amar Chintadhara,
Translations
Musaddas-E-Hali, Kalam-E-Iqbal, Shiqwa O Jawab-E-Shiqwa, Al Quran, Joy Porajoy,(Ekhwanus Safa).
Biography of Shamsur Rahman
Early Life and Education
Shamsur Rahman was born in his grandfather's house 46 no. Mahut-Tuli, Dhaka. His paternal home is situated on the bank of the river Meghna, a village named Pahartoli, near the Raipura thana of Narshingdi district. He was the fourth of thirteen children. He studied at Pogos High School from where he passed matriculation in 1945. Later he took his I.A. as a student of the Dhaka College. Shamsur Rahman started writing poetry at the age of eighteen, just after graduating from the Dhaka College. He studied English literature at the Dhaka University for three years but did not take the examination. After a break of three years he got admitted to the B.A. pass course and received his B.A. in 1953. He also received his M.A. in the same subject where he stood second in second division.
In his leisure after the matriculation, he read the Golpo Guccho of Rabindranath Tagore. He told that this book took him into the extra ordinary world and transformed him into an altogether different personality. In 1949, his poem Unissho Unoponchash was published in Sonar Bangla which was then edited by Nalinikishor Guho.
He had a long career as a journalist and served as the editor of a national daily, Dainik Bangla and the weekly Bichitra in the 1980s. A shy person by nature, he became an outspoken liberal intellectual in the 1990s against religious fundamentalism and reactionary nationalism in Bangladesh. As a consequence, he became a frequent target of the politically conservative as well as Islamists of the country. This culminated in the January 1999 attack on his life by the militant Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami. He survived the attempt.
Poetry
Shamsur Rahman's first book of poetry, Prothom Gaan Dwityo Mrittyur Agey (First Song Before the Second Death) was published in 1960. He had to go through the political turbulence of 60's and 70's which also reflected in his poems clearly. He wrote his famous poem Asader Shirt which was written with respect to the mass uprising of 1969 led by Maulana Bhasani. During the Bangladesh Liberation War he wrote a number of extra ordinary poems based on the war. These poems were so
inspiring
Poetic Diction
Shamsur Rahman wrote most of his poems in free verse, often with the rhythm style known as Poyaar or Okhshorbritto. It is popularly known that he followed this pattern from poet Jibanananda Das. He also wrote poems in two other major patterns of Bengali rhythmic style, namely, Matrabritto and Shwarobritto.
Career in Journalism
Shamsur Rahman started his professional career as a co-editor in the English daily Morning News in 1957. Later he left this job and went to the Dhaka center of the then Radio Pakistan. But he returned back to his own rank at Morning News in 1960 and was there till 1964. After the liberation of Bangladesh he wrote columns in the daily Dainik Bangla. In 1977 he became the editor of this daily. He also jointly worked as the editor of Bichitra, a weekly published since 1973. During the period of President Ershad he got involved with internal turbulence in the Dainik Bangla. A rank 'Chief Editor' was created to take away his position as the top executive and rip him off all executive powers. In 1987 he left the daily as a protest against this injustice. He also worked as the editor of monthly literary magazine Adhuna for two years since 1986 and as the main editor of the weekly Muldhara in 1989. He worked as one of the editors of Kobikantha, an irregular poetry magazine, in 1956.
Death
His health broke down towards the end of 1990s and on two occasions he received major cardiac surgery. He died of heart and kidney failure after having been in a coma for 12 days. He was 77.
Critical Acclaim
Zillur Rahman Siddiqui, a friend and critic, describes Shamsur Rahman as one who is "deeply rooted in his own tradition." In his opinion, Shamsur Rahman "still soaks the language of our times, transcending the limits of geography. In his range of sympathy, his catholicity, his urgent and immediate relevance for us, Shamsur Rahman is second to none."
Professor Syed Manzoorul Islam has similar praise for Rahman, "It is true he has built on the ground of the 30's poets, but he has developed the ground, explored into areas they thought too dark for exploration, has added new features to it, landscaped it and in the process left his footprints all over."
In the year 1993 renowned Bangladeshi writer Humayun Azad wrote a book about critical analysis of Shamsur Rahman's poetry titled Shmasur Rahman : Nisshongo Sherpa (A Lonely Climber).
However, it is often alleged that Shamsur Rahman revolved around his own poetic formula created in the 1960s and exhausted himself in the same fashion. He could not transcend himself during the next forty years of his poetic career.
Awards
Adamjee Award (1962)
Bangla Academy Award (1969)
Ekushey Padak (1977)
Swadhinata Dibosh Award (1991)
Mitshubishi Award of Japan (1992)
Ananda Puroshker from India (1994).
TLM South Asian Literature Award for the Masters, 2006.
Shamsur Rahman's Works:
Poetry
Prothom Gan Ditio Mrittur Age (1960)
Roudro Korotite (1963)
Biddhosto Nilima (1967)
Niralokay Dibboroth (1968)
Neej Bashbhumay (1970)
Bondi Shibir Theke (1972)
Dusshomoyer Mukhomukhi (1973)
Firiay Nao Ghatok Kata (1974)
Adigonto Nogno Pododhoni (1974)
Ak Dhoroner Ohongkar (1975)
Ami Onahari (1976)
Bangladesh Shopno Dakhay (1977)
Protidin Ghorhin Ghore (1978)
Ekaruser Akash (1982)
Udbhot Uter Pithe Cholche Shodesh (1983)
Nayoker Chaya (1983)
Amar Kono Tara Nei (1984)
Je Ondho Shundori Kade (1984)
Astray Amar Bishshash Nei (1985)
Homerer Shopnomoy Hat (1985)
Shironam Mone Pore Na (1985)
Icchay Hoy Ektu Darai (1985)
Dhulay Goray Shirostran (1985)
Deshodrohi Hote Icchay Kore (1986)
Tableay Applegulo Heshe Othay (1986)
Obirol Jolahromi (1986)
Amra Kojon Shongi (1986)
Jhorna Amar Angulay (1987)
Shopnera Dukray Othay Barbar (1987)
Khub Beshi Valo Thakte Nei (1987)
Moncher Majhkhanay (1988)
Buk Tar Bangladesher Hridoy (1988)
Matal Hrittik
Hridoy Amar Prithibir Alo (1989)
Shay Ak Porobashay(1990)
Grihojudder Agae(1990)
Khondito Gourob(1992)
Dhongsher Kinare Bashay(1992)
Akash Ashbe Neme(1994)
Uzar Baganay(1995)
Asho Kokil Asho Shornochapa
Manob Hridoy Naibeddo Shajai
Hemonto Shondhay Kichukal(1997)
Chayagoner Shonge Kichukkhon
Meghlokay Monoz(1998)
Shoundorjo Amar Ghore(1998)
Ruper Probale Dogdho Shondha(1998)
Tukro Kichu Shonglaper Shako(1998)
Shopno O Dushshopnay Bachay Achi(1999)
Nokkhotro Bajate Bajate(2000)
Shuni Hridoyer Dhoni(2000)
Hridopodmay Jotsna Dolay(2001)
Bhognostupay Golaper Hashi(2002)
Bhangachora Chand Mukh Kalo Kore Dhukchay(2003)
Ak Phota kemon Onol(1986)
Horiner Har(1993)
Gontobbo Nai Ba Thakuk(2004)
Krishnopokkhay Purnimar Dikay(2004)
Gorostanay Kokiler Korun Aaobhan(2005)
Andhokar Theke Aloy(2006)
Na Bastob Na Dushshopno(2006)
Short Stories/b>
Shamsur Rahmaner Golpo
Novels
Octopas(1983)
Adbhut Adhar Ak(1985)
Niyoto Montaz(1985)
Elo Je Abelzxzxay(1994)
Children's Literature
Alating Belating(1974)
Dhan Bhanle Kuro Debo(1977)
Golap Phote Khukir Hatay(1977)
Rongdhonur Shako(1994)
Lal Fulkir Chora(1995)
Noyonar Jonno(1997)
Amer Kuri Jamer Kuri(2004)
Noyonar Jonno(2005)
Autobiography
Kaaler Dhuloy Lekha
Smritir Shohor
Collected Columns
Akanto Bhabna
Poems in Translation
Robert Froster Kobita(1966)
Robert Froster Nirbachito Kobita(1968)
Khawaja Farider Kobita(1968)
Drama in Translation
William Shakespeare's Hamlet
Uzein O'Neeler Markomilions
Others
Uponnyash Shomogro
Noyonar Uddeshe Golap
Kobitar Shather Gerostali
Gorosthane Kokiler Korun Ahban
Nirbachito[SR] 100 Kobita
Noyonar Jonno Ekti Golap
Shera Shamsur Rahman
Rongdhonur Sako
Shamsur Rahman-er Sreshtha Kobita (1976)
Premer Kobita (1981)
Shamsur Rahmaner Sreshtho Kobita (from Kolkata) (1985)
Shamsur Rahmaner Rajnaitik Kobita (1988)
Shamsur Rahmaner Premer Kobita (1993)
Shonirbachito Premer Kobita (1993)
Nirbachito Chora O Kobita (1996)
Kabbyashombhar (1996)
Chorashomogro (1998)
Prem O Prokitir Kobita (2004)
Shera Shamsur Rahman (2004)
Shamsur Rahman Kobita Shongroho (2005)
Shamsur Rahman Goddo Shongroho (2005)
Kobita Shomogro Ak (2005)
Kobtia Shomogro Dui (2006)
BIOGRAPHY OF RABINDRANATH TAGORE -
Rabindranath Tagore (Bengali: রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর) sobriquet Gurudev, was a
Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author
of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse",
he became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature
in 1913. In translation his poetry was viewed as spiritual and
mercurial; his seemingly mesmeric personality, flowing hair, and
other-worldly dress earned him a prophet-like reputation in the West.
His "elegant prose and magical poetry" remain largely unknown outside
Bengal. Tagore introduced new prose and verse forms and the use of
colloquial language into Bengali literature, thereby freeing it from
traditional models based on classical Sanskrit. He was highly
influential in introducing the best of Indian culture to the West and
vice versa, and he is generally regarded as the outstanding creative
artist of modern India.
A Pirali Brahmin from Calcutta, Tagore wrote poetry as an eight-year-old. At age sixteen, he released his first substantial poems under the pseudonym Bhānusiṃha ("Sun Lion"), which were seized upon by literary authorities as long-lost classics. He graduated to his first short stories and dramas—and the aegis of his birth name—by 1877. As a humanist, universalist internationalist, and strident anti-nationalist he denounced the Raj and advocated independence from Britain. As an exponent of the Bengal Renaissance, he advanced a vast
canon
Tagore modernised Bengali art by spurning rigid classical forms and resisting linguistic strictures. His novels, stories, songs, dance-dramas, and essays spoke to topics political and personal. Gitanjali (Song Offerings), Gora (Fair-Faced), and Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World) are his best-known works, and his verse, short stories, and novels were acclaimed—or panned—for their lyricism, colloquialism, naturalism, and unnatural contemplation. His compositions were chosen by two nations as national anthems: the Republic of India's Jana Gana Mana and Bangladesh's Amar Shonar Bangla. The composer of Sri Lanka's national anthem: Sri Lanka Matha was a student of Tagore, and the song is inspired by Tagore's style.
Early Life: 1861–1878
The youngest of thirteen surviving children, Tagore was born in the Jorasanko mansion in Calcutta, India to parents Debendranath Tagore (1817–1905) and Sarada Devi (1830–1875). Tagore family patriarchs were the Brahmo founders of the Adi Dharm faith. The loyalist "Prince" Dwarkanath Tagore, who employed European estate managers and visited with Victoria and other royalty, was his paternal grandfather. Debendranath had formulated the Brahmoist philosophies espoused by his friend Ram Mohan Roy, and became focal in Brahmo society after Roy's death.
"Rabi" was raised mostly by servants; his mother had died in his early childhood and his father travelled widely. His home hosted the publication of literary magazines; theatre and recitals of both Bengali and Western classical music featured there regularly, as the Jorasanko Tagores were the center of a large and art-loving social group. Tagore's oldest brother Dwijendranath was a respected philosopher and poet. Another brother, Satyendranath, was the first Indian appointed to the elite and formerly all-European Indian Civil Service. Yet another brother, Jyotirindranath, was a musician, composer, and playwright. His sister Swarnakumari became a novelist. Jyotirindranath's wife Kadambari, slightly older than Tagore, was a dear friend and powerful influence. Her abrupt suicide in 1884 left him for years profoundly distraught.
Tagore largely avoided classroom schooling and preferred to roam the manor or nearby Bolpur and Panihati, idylls which the family visited. His brother Hemendranath tutored and physically conditioned him—by having him swim the Ganges or trek through hills, by gymnastics, and by practicing judo and wrestling. He learned drawing, anatomy, geography and history, literature, mathematics, Sanskrit, and English—his least favorite subject. Tagore loathed formal education—his scholarly travails at the local Presidency College spanned a single day. Years later he held that proper teaching does not explain things; proper teaching stokes curiosity:
“[It] knock[s] at the doors of the mind. If any boy is asked to give an account of what is awakened in him by such knocking, he will probably say something silly. For what happens within is much bigger than what comes out in words. Those who pin their faith on university examinations as the test of education take no account of this.”
After he underwent an upanayan initiation at age eleven, he and his father left Calcutta in February 1873 for a months-long tour of the Raj. They visited his father's Santiniketan estate and rested in Amritsar en route to the Himalayan Dhauladhars, their destination being the remote hill station at Dalhousie. Along the way, Tagore read biographies; his father tutored him in history, astronomy, and Sanskrit declensions. He read biographies of Benjamin Franklin among other figures; they discussed Edward Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire; and they examined the poetry of Kālidāsa. In mid-April they reached the station, and at 2,300 metres (7,546 ft) they settled into a house that sat atop Bakrota Hill. Tagore was taken aback by the region's deep green gorges, alpine forests, and mossy streams and waterfalls. They stayed there for several months and adopted a regime of study and privation that included daily twilight baths taken in icy water.
He returned to Jorosanko and completed a set of major works by 1877, one of them a long poem in the Maithili style of Vidyapati; they were published pseudonymously. Regional experts accepted them as the lost works of Bhānusimha, a newly discovered 17th-century Vaishnava poet. He debuted the short-story genre in Bengali with "Bhikharini" ("The Beggar Woman"), and his Sandhya Sangit (1882) includes the famous poem "Nirjharer Swapnabhanga" ("The Rousing of the Waterfall"). Servants subjected him to an almost ludicrous regimentation in a phase he dryly reviled as the "servocracy". His head was water-dunked—to quiet him. He irked his servants by refusing food; he was confined to chalk circles in parody of Sita's forest trial in the Ramayana; and he was regaled with the heroic criminal exploits of Bengal's outlaw-dacoits. Because the Jorasanko manor was in an area of north Calcutta rife with poverty and prostitution,[35] he was forbidden to leave it for any purpose other than traveling to school. He thus became preoccupied with the world outside and with nature. Of his 1873 visit to Santiniketan, he wrote:
“What I could not see did not take me long to get over—what I did see was quite enough. There was no servant rule, and the only ring which encircled me was the blue of the horizon, drawn around these solitudes by their presiding goddess. Within this I was free to move about as I chose.”
Shelaidaha: 1878–1901
Because Debendranath wanted his son to become a barrister, Tagore enrolled at a public school in Brighton, East Sussex, England in 1878. He stayed for several months at a house that the Tagore family owned near Brighton and Hove, in Medina Villas; in 1877 his nephew and niece—Suren and Indira Devi, the children of Tagore's brother Satyendranath—were sent together with their mother, Tagore's sister-in-law, to live with him. He briefly read law at University College London, but again left school. He opted instead for independent study of Shakespeare, Religio Medici, Coriolanus, and Antony and Cleopatra. Lively English, Irish, and Scottish folk tunes impressed Tagore, whose own tradition of Nidhubabu-authored kirtans and tappas and Brahmo hymnody was subdued. In 1880 he returned to Bengal degree-less, resolving to reconcile European novelty with Brahmo traditions, taking the best from each. In 1883 he married Mrinalini Devi, born Bhabatarini, 1873–1902; they had five children, two of whom died in childhood.
In 1890 Tagore began managing his vast ancestral estates in Shelaidaha (today a region of Bangladesh); he was joined by his wife and children in 1898. Tagore released his Manasi poems (1890), among his best-known work. As Zamindar Babu, Tagore criss-crossed the riverine holdings in command of the Padma, the luxurious family barge. He collected mostly token rents and blessed villagers who in turn honoured him with banquets—occasionally of dried rice and sour milk. He met Gagan Harkara, through whom he became familiar with Baul Lalon Shah, whose folk songs greatly influenced Tagore. Tagore worked to popularise Lalon's songs. The period 1891–1895, Tagore's Sadhana period, named after one of Tagore's magazines, was his most productive; in these years he wrote more than half the stories of the three-volume, 84-story Galpaguchchha. Its ironic and grave tales examined the voluptuous poverty of an idealised rural Bengal.
Santiniketan: 1901–1932
In 1901 Tagore moved to Santiniketan to found an ashram with a marble-floored prayer hall—The Mandir—an experimental school, groves of trees, gardens, a library. There his wife and two of his children died. His father died in 1905. He received monthly payments as part of his inheritance and income from the Maharaja of Tripura, sales of his family's jewelry, his seaside bungalow in Puri, and a derisory 2,000 rupees in book royalties. He gained Bengali and foreign readers alike; he published Naivedya (1901) and Kheya (1906) and translated poems into free verse. In November 1913, Tagore learned he had won that year's Nobel Prize in Literature: the Swedish Academy appreciated the idealistic—and for Westerners—accessible nature of a small body of his translated material focussed on the 1912 Gitanjali: Song Offerings. In 1915, the British Crown granted Tagore a knighthood. He renounced it after the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
In 1921, Tagore and agricultural economist Leonard Elmhirst set up the "Institute for Rural Reconstruction", later renamed Shriniketan or "Abode of Welfare", in Surul, a village near the ashram. With it, Tagore sought to moderate Gandhi's Swaraj protests, which he occasionally blamed for British India's perceived mental—and thus ultimately colonial—decline.[48] He sought aid from donors, officials, and scholars worldwide to "free village[s] from the shackles of helplessness and ignorance" by "vitalis[ing] knowledge". In the early 1930s he targeted ambient "abnormal caste consciousness" and untouchability. He lectured against these, he penned Dalit heroes for his poems and his dramas, and he campaigned—successfully—to open Guruvayoor Temple to Dalits.
Twilight years: 1932–1941
Tagore's life as a "peripatetic litterateur" affirmed his opinion that human divisions were shallow. During a May 1932 visit to a Bedouin encampment in the Iraqi desert, the tribal chief told him that "Our prophet has said that a true Muslim is he by whose words and deeds not the least of his brother-men may ever come to any harm ..."
Tagore confided in his diary: "I was startled into recognizing in his words the voice of essential humanity."
To the end Tagore scrutinised orthodoxy—and in 1934, he struck. That year, an earthquake hit Bihar and killed thousands. Gandhi hailed it as seismic karma, as divine retribution avenging the oppression of Dalits. Tagore rebuked him for his seemingly ignominious inferences. He mourned the perennial poverty of Calcutta and the socioeconomic decline of Bengal. He detailed these newly plebeian aesthetics in an unrhymed hundred-line poem whose technique of searing double-vision foreshadowed Satyajit Ray's film Apur Sansar. Fifteen new volumes appeared, among them prose-poem works Punashcha (1932), Shes Saptak (1935), and Patraput (1936). Experimentation continued in his prose-songs and dance-dramas: Chitra (1914), Shyama (1939), and Chandalika (1938); and in his novels: Dui Bon (1933), Malancha (1934), and Char Adhyay (1934).
Tagore's remit expanded to science in his last years, as hinted in Visva-Parichay, 1937 collection of essays. His respect for scientific laws and his exploration of biology, physics, and astronomy informed his poetry, which exhibited extensive naturalism and verisimilitude. He wove the process of science, the narratives of scientists, into stories in Se (1937), Tin Sangi (1940), and Galpasalpa (1941). His last five years were marked by chronic pain and two long periods of illness. These began when Tagore lost consciousness in late 1937; he remained comatose and near death for a time. This was followed in late 1940 by a similar spell. He never recovered. Poetry from these valetudinary years is among his finest. A period of prolonged agony ended with Tagore's death on 7 August 1941, aged eighty; he was in an upstairs room of the Jorasanko mansion he was raised in. The date is still mourned. A. K. Sen, brother of the first chief election commissioner, received dictation from Tagore on 30 July 1941, a day prior to a scheduled operation: his last poem.
“I'm lost in the middle of my birthday. I want my friends, their touch, with the earth's last love. I will take life's final offering, I will take the human's last blessing. Today my sack is empty. I have given completely whatever I had to give. In return if I receive anything—some love, some forgiveness—then I will take it with me when I step on the boat that crosses to the festival of the wordless end.”
Travels
Between 1878 and 1932, Tagore set foot in more than thirty countries on five continents. In 1912, he took a sheaf of his translated works to England, where they gained attention from missionary and Gandhi protégé Charles F. Andrews, Irish poet William Butler Yeats, Ezra Pound, Robert Bridges, Ernest Rhys, Thomas Sturge Moore, and others. Yeats wrote the preface to the English translation of Gitanjali; Andrews joined Tagore at Santiniketan. In November 1912 Tagore began touring the United States and the United Kingdom, staying in Butterton, Staffordshire with Andrews's clergymen friends. From May 1916 until April 1917, he lectured in Japan and the United States. He denounced nationalism. His essay "Nationalism in India" was scorned and praised; it was admired by Romain Rolland and other pacifists.
Shortly after returning home the 63-year-old Tagore accepted an invitation from the Peruvian government. He travelled to Mexico. Each government pledged US$100,000 to his school to commemorate the visits. A week after his 6 November 1924 arrival in Buenos Aires, an ill Tagore shifted to the Villa Miralrío at the behest of Victoria Ocampo. He left for home in January 1925. In May 1926 Tagore reached Naples; the next day he met Mussolini in Rome. Their warm rapport ended when Tagore pronounced upon Il Duce's fascist finesse. He had earlier enthused:
"without any doubt he is a great personality. There is such a massive vigour in that head that it reminds one of Michael Angelo’s chisel." A "fire-bath" of fascism was to have educed "the immortal soul of Italy ... clothed in quenchless light".
On 14 July 1927 Tagore and two companions began a four-month tour of Southeast Asia. They visited Bali, Java, Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, Penang, Siam, and Singapore. The resultant travelogues compose Jatri (1929). In early 1930 he left Bengal for a nearly year-long tour of Europe and the United States. Upon returning to Britain—and as his paintings exhibited in Paris and London—he lodged at a Birmingham Quaker settlement. He wrote his Oxford Hibbert Lecturesι and spoke at the annual London Quaker meet. There, addressing relations between the British and the Indians—a topic he would tackle repeatedly over the next two years—Tagore spoke of a "dark chasm of aloofness". He visited Aga Khan III, stayed at Dartington Hall, toured Denmark, Switzerland, and Germany from June to mid-September 1930, then went on into the Soviet Union. In April 1932 Tagore, intrigued by the Persian mystic Hafez, was hosted by Reza Shah Pahlavi. In his other travels, Tagore interacted with Henri Bergson, Albert Einstein, Robert Frost, Thomas Mann, George Bernard Shaw, H.G. Wells and Romain Rolland. Visits to Persia and Iraq (in 1932) and Sri Lanka (in 1933) composed Tagore's final foreign tour, and his dislike of communalism and nationalism only deepened. Vice President of India M. Hamid Ansari has said that Rabindranath Tagore heralded the cultural rapprochement between communities, societies and nations much before it became the liberal norm of conduct. Tagore was a man ahead of his time. He wrote in 1932, while on a visit to Iran, that "each country of Asia will solve its own historical problems according to its strength, nature and needs, but the lamp they will each carry on their path to progress will converge to illuminate the common ray of knowledge." His ideas on culture, gender, poverty, education, freedom, and a resurgent Asia remain relevant today.
Works
Known mostly for his poetry, Tagore wrote novels, essays, short stories, travelogues, dramas, and thousands of songs. Of Tagore's prose, his short stories are perhaps most highly regarded; he is indeed credited with originating the Bengali-language version of the genre. His works are frequently noted for their rhythmic, optimistic, and lyrical nature. Such stories mostly borrow from deceptively simple subject matter: commoners. Tagore's non-fiction grappled with history, linguistics, and spirituality. He wrote autobiographies. His travelogues, essays, and lectures were compiled into several volumes, including Europe Jatrir Patro (Letters from Europe) and Manusher Dhormo (The Religion of Man). His brief chat with Einstein, "Note on the Nature of Reality", is included as an appendix to the latter. On the occasion of Tagore's 150th birthday an anthology (titled Kalanukromik Rabindra Rachanabali) of the total body of his works is currently being published in Bengali in chronological order. This includes all versions of each work and fills about eighty volumes. In 2011, Harvard University Press collaborated with Visva-Bharati University to publish The Essential Tagore, the largest anthology of Tagore's works available in English; it was edited by Fakrul Alam and Radha Chakravarthy and marks the 150th anniversary of Tagore’s birth.
Music and Art
Tagore composed 2,230 songs and was a prolific painter. His songs compose rabindrasangit ("Tagore Song"), which merges fluidly into his literature, most of which—poems or parts of novels, stories, or plays alike—were lyricised. Influenced by the thumri style of Hindustani music, they ran the entire gamut of human emotion, ranging from his early dirge-like Brahmo devotional hymns to quasi-erotic compositions.[90] They emulated the tonal color of classical ragas to varying extents. Some songs mimicked a given raga's melody and rhythm faithfully; others newly blended elements of different ragas. Yet about nine-tenths of his work was not bhanga gaan, the body of tunes revamped with "fresh value" from select Western, Hindustani, Bengali folk and other regional flavours "external" to Tagore's own ancestral culture. Scholars have attempted to gauge the emotive force and range of Hindustani ragas:
“...the pathos of the purabi raga reminded Tagore of the evening tears of a lonely widow, while kanara was the confused realization of a nocturnal wanderer who had lost his way. In bhupali he seemed to hear a voice in the wind saying 'stop and come hither'.Paraj conveyed to him the deep slumber that overtook one at night’s end.”
—Reba Som, Rabindranath Tagore: The Singer and His Song.
Tagore influenced sitar maestro Vilayat Khan and sarodiyas Buddhadev Dasgupta and Amjad Ali Khan. His songs are widely popular and undergird the Bengali ethos to an extent perhaps rivaling Shakespeare's impact on the English-speaking world. It is said that his songs are the outcome of five centuries of Bengali literary churning and communal yearning. Dhan Gopal Mukerji has said that these songs transcend the mundane to the aesthetic and express all ranges and categories of human emotion. The poet gave voice to all—big or small, rich or poor. The poor Ganges boatman and the rich landlord air their emotions in them. They birthed a distinctive school of music whose practitioners can be fiercely traditional: novel interpretations have drawn severe censure in both West Bengal and Bangladesh.
For Bengalis, the songs' appeal, stemming from the combination of emotive strength and beauty described as surpassing even Tagore's poetry, was such that the Modern Review observed that "there is in Bengal no cultured home where Rabindranath's songs are not sung or at least attempted to be sung ... Even illiterate villagers sing his songs". Arthur Strangways of The Observer introduced non-Bengalis to rabindrasangit in The Music of Hindostan, calling it a "vehicle of a personality ... [that] go behind this or that system of music to that beauty of sound which all systems put out their hands to seize."
In 1971, Amar Shonar Bangla became the national anthem of Bangladesh. It was written—ironically—to protest the 1905 Partition of Bengal along communal lines: lopping Muslim-majority East Bengal from Hindu-dominated West Bengal was to avert a regional bloodbath. Tagore saw the partition as a ploy to upend the independence movement, and he aimed to rekindle Bengali unity and tar communalism. Jana Gana Mana was written in shadhu-bhasha, a Sanskritised register of Bengali, and is the first of five stanzas of a Brahmo hymn that Tagore composed. It was first sung in 1911 at a Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress and was adopted in 1950 by the Constituent Assembly of the Republic of India as its national anthem.
At sixty, Tagore took up drawing and painting; successful exhibitions of his many works—which made a debut appearance in Paris upon encouragement by artists he met in the south of France[95]—were held throughout Europe. He was likely red-green color blind, resulting in works that exhibited strange colour schemes and off-beat aesthetics. Tagore was influenced by scrimshaw from northern New Ireland, Haida carvings from British Columbia, and woodcuts by Max Pechstein. His artist's eye for his handwriting were revealed in the simple artistic and rhythmic leitmotifs embellishing the scribbles, cross-outs, and word layouts of his manuscripts. Some of Tagore's lyrics corresponded in a synesthetic sense with particular paintings.
Theatre
At sixteen, Tagore led his brother Jyotirindranath's adaptation of Molière's Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme. At twenty he wrote his first drama-opera: Valmiki Pratibha (The Genius of Valmiki). In it the pandit Valmiki overcomes his sins, is blessed by Saraswati, and compiles the Rāmāyana. Through it Tagore explores a wide range of dramatic styles and emotions, including usage of revamped kirtans and adaptation of traditional English and Irish folk melodies as drinking songs. Another play, Dak Ghar (The Post Office), describes the child Amal defying his stuffy and puerile confines by ultimately "fall[ing] asleep", hinting his physical death. A story with borderless appeal—gleaning rave reviews in Europe—Dak Ghar dealt with death as, in Tagore's words, "spiritual freedom" from "the world of hoarded wealth and certified creeds". In the Nazi-besieged Warsaw Ghetto, Polish doctor-educator Janusz Korczak had orphans in his care stage The Post Office in July 1942. In The King of Children, biographer Betty Jean Lifton suspected that Korczak, agonising over whether one should determine when and how to die, was easing the children into accepting death. In mid-October, the Nazis sent them to Treblinka.
“[...] but the meaning is less intellectual, more emotional and simple. The deliverance sought and won by the dying child is the same deliverance which rose before his imagination, [...] when once in the early dawn he heard, amid the noise of a crowd returning from some festival, this line out of an old village song, "Ferryman, take me to the other shore of the river." It may come at any moment of life, though the child discovers it in death, for it always comes at the moment when the "I", seeking no longer for gains that cannot be "assimilated with its spirit", is able to say, "All my work is thine" [...].”
—W. B. Yeats, Preface, The Post Office, 1914.
His other works fuse lyrical flow and emotional rhythm into a tight focus on a core idea, a break from prior Bengali drama. Tagore sought "the play of feeling and not of action". In 1890 he released what is regarded as his finest drama: Visarjan (Sacrifice). It is an adaptation of Rajarshi, an earlier novella of his. "A forthright denunciation of a meaningless [and] cruel superstitious rite[s]", the Bengali originals feature intricate subplots and prolonged monologues that give play to historical events in seventeenth-century Udaipur. The devout Maharaja of Tripura is pitted against the wicked head priest Raghupati. His latter dramas were more philosophical and allegorical in nature; these included Dak Ghar. Another is Tagore's Chandalika (Untouchable Girl), which was modeled on an ancient Buddhist legend describing how Ananda, the Gautama Buddha's disciple, asks a tribal girl for water.
In Raktakarabi ("Red" or "Blood Oleanders"), a kleptocrat rules over the residents of Yakshapuri. He and his retainers exploits his subjects—who are benumbed by alcohol and numbered like inventory—by forcing them to mine gold for him. The naive maiden-heroine Nandini rallies her subject-compatriots to defeat the greed of the realm's sardar class—with the morally roused king's belated help. Skirting the "good-vs-evil" trope, the work pits a vital and joyous lèse majesté against the monotonous fealty of the king's varletry, giving rise to an allegorical struggle akin to that found in Animal Farm or Gulliver's Travels. The original, though prized in Bengal, long failed to spawn a "free and comprehensible" translation, and its archaic and sonorous didacticism failed to attract interest from abroad. Chitrangada, Chandalika, and Shyama are other key plays that have dance-drama adaptations, which together are known as Rabindra Nritya Natya.
Novels
Tagore wrote eight novels and four novellas, among them Chaturanga, Shesher Kobita, Char Odhay, and Noukadubi. Ghare Baire (The Home and the World)—through the lens of the idealistic zamindar protagonist Nikhil—repudiates the frog-march of nativism, terrorism, and religious querulousness popular among segments of the Swadeshi movement. A frank expression of Tagore's conflicted sentiments, it was conceived of during a 1914 bout of depression. The novel ends in grody Hindu-Muslim interplay and Nikhil's likely death from a head wound.
Gora, nominated by many Bengali critics as his finest tale, raises controversies regarding connate identity and its ultimate fungibility. As with Ghare Baire matters of self-identity (jāti), personal freedom, and religion are lividly vivisected in a context of family and romance. In it an Irish boy orphaned in the Sepoy Mutiny is raised by Hindus as the titular gora—"whitey". Ignorant of his foreign origins, he chastises Hindu religious backsliders out of love for the indigenous Indians and solidarity with them against his hegemon-compatriots. He falls for a Brahmo girl, compelling his worried foster father to reveal his lost past and cease his nativist zeal. As a "true dialectic" advancing "arguments for and against strict traditionalism", it tackles the colonial conundrum by "portray[ing] the value of all positions within a particular frame [...] not only syncretism, not only liberal orthodoxy, but the extremest reactionary traditionalism he defends by an appeal to what humans share." Among these Tagore highlights "identity [...] conceived of as dharma."
In Jogajog (Relationships), the heroine Kumudini—bound by the ideals of Śiva-Sati, exemplified by Dākshāyani—is torn between her pity for the sinking fortunes of her progressive and compassionate elder brother and his foil: her roue of a husband. Tagore flaunts his feminist leanings; pathos depicts the plight and ultimate demise of women trapped by pregnancy, duty, and family honour; he simultaneously trucks with Bengal's putrescent landed gentry. The story revolves around the underlying rivalry between two families—the Chatterjees, aristocrats now on the decline (Biprodas) and the Ghosals (Madhusudan), representing new money and new arrogance. Kumudini, Biprodas' sister, is caught between the two as she is married off to Madhusudan. She had risen in an observant and sheltered traditional home, as had all her female relations.
Others were uplifting: Shesher Kobita—translated twice as Last Poem and Farewell Song—is his most lyrical novel, with poems and rhythmic passages written by a poet protagonist. It contains elements of satire and postmodernism and has stock characters who gleefully attack the reputation of an old, outmoded, oppressively renowned poet who, incidentally, goes by a familiar name: "Rabindranath Tagore". Though his novels remain among the least-appreciated of his works, they have been given renewed attention via film adaptations by Ray and others: Chokher Bali and Ghare Baire are exemplary. In the first, Tagore inscribes Bengali society via its heroine: a rebellious widow who would live for herself alone. He pillories the custom of perpetual mourning on the part of widows, who were not allowed to remarry, who were consigned to seclusion and loneliness. Tagore wrote of it: "I have always regretted the ending".
Stories
Tagore's three-volume Galpaguchchha comprises eighty-four stories that reflect upon the author's surroundings, on modern and fashionable ideas, and on mind puzzles. Tagore associated his earliest stories, such as those of the "Sadhana" period, with an exuberance of vitality and spontaneity; these traits were cultivated by zamindar Tagore’s life in Patisar, Shajadpur, Shelaidaha, and other villages. Seeing the common and the poor, he examined their lives with a depth and feeling singular in Indian literature up to that point. In "The Fruitseller from Kabul", Tagore speaks in first person as a town dweller and novelist imputing exotic perquisites to an Afghan seller. He channels the lucubrative lust of those mired in the blasé, nidorous, and sudorific morass of subcontinental city life: for distant vistas. "There were autumn mornings, the time of year when kings of old went forth to conquest; and I, never stirring from my little corner in Calcutta, would let my mind wander over the whole world. At the very name of another country, my heart would go out to it [...] I would fall to weaving a network of dreams: the mountains, the glens, the forest [...]."
The Golpoguchchho (Bunch of Stories) was written in Tagore's Sabuj Patra period, which lasted from 1914 to 1917 and was named for another of his magazines. These yarns are celebrated fare in Bengali fiction and are commonly used as plot fodder by Bengali film and theatre. The Ray film Charulata echoed the controversial Tagore novella Nastanirh (The Broken Nest). In Atithi, which was made into another film, the little Brahmin boy Tarapada shares a boat ride with a village zamindar. The boy relates his flight from home and his subsequent wanderings. Taking pity, the elder adopts him; he fixes the boy to marry his own daughter. The night before his wedding, Tarapada runs off—again. Strir Patra (The Wife's Letter) is an early treatise in female emancipation. Mrinal is wife to a Bengali middle class man: prissy, preening, and patriarchal. Travelling alone she writes a letter, which comprehends the story. She details the pettiness of a life spent entreating his viraginous virility; she ultimately gives up married life, proclaiming, Amio bachbo. Ei bachlum: "And I shall live. Here, I live."
Haimanti assails Hindu arranged marriage and spotlights their often dismal domesticity, the hypocrisies plaguing the Indian middle classes, and how Haimanti, a young woman, due to her insufferable sensitivity and free spirit, foredid herself. In the last passage Tagore blasts the reification of Sita's self-immolation attempt; she had meant to appease her consort Rama's doubts of her chastity. Musalmani Didi eyes recrudescent Hindu-Muslim tensions and, in many ways, embodies the essence of Tagore's humanism. The somewhat auto-referential Darpaharan describes a fey young man who harbours literary ambitions. Though he loves his wife, he wishes to stifle her literary career, deeming it unfeminine. In youth Tagore likely agreed with him. Darpaharan depicts the final humbling of the man as he ultimately acknowledges his wife's talents. As do many other Tagore stories, Jibito o Mrito equips Bengalis with a ubiquitous epigram: Kadombini moriya proman korilo she more nai—"Kadombini died, thereby proving that she hadn't."
Poetry
Tagore's poetic style, which proceeds from a lineage established by 15th- and 16th-century Vaishnava poets, ranges from classical formalism to the comic, visionary, and ecstatic. He was influenced by the atavistic mysticism of Vyasa and other rishi-authors of the Upanishads, the Bhakti-Sufi mystic Kabir, and Ramprasad Sen. Tagore's most innovative and mature poetry embodies his exposure to Bengali rural folk music, which included mystic Baul ballads such as those of the bard Lalon. These, rediscovered and repopularised by Tagore, resemble 19th-century Kartābhajā hymns that emphasise inward divinity and rebellion against bourgeois bhadralok religious and social orthodoxy. During his Shelaidaha years, his poems took on a lyrical voice of the moner manush, the Bāuls' "man within the heart" and Tagore's "life force of his deep recesses", or meditating upon the jeevan devata—the demiurge or the "living God within". This figure connected with divinity through appeal to nature and the emotional interplay of human drama. Such tools saw use in his Bhānusiṃha poems chronicling the Radha-Krishna romance, which were repeatedly revised over the course of seventy years.
Tagore reacted to the halfhearted uptake of modernist and realist techniques in Bengali literature by writing matching experimental works in the 1930s. These include Africa and Camalia, among the better known of his latter poems. He occasionally wrote poems using Shadhu Bhasha, a Sanskritised dialect of Bengali; he later adopted a more popular dialect known as Cholti Bhasha. Other works include Manasi, Sonar Tori (Golden Boat), Balaka (Wild Geese, a name redolent of migrating souls), and Purobi. Sonar Tori's most famous poem, dealing with the fleeting endurance of life and achievement, goes by the same name; hauntingly it ends: Shunno nodir tire rohinu poŗi / Jaha chhilo loe gêlo shonar tori—"all I had achieved was carried off on the golden boat—only I was left behind." Gitanjali (গীতাঞ্জলি) is Tagore's best-known collection internationally, earning him his Nobel.
Song VII of Gitanjali:
আমার এ গান ছেড়েছে তার
সকল অলংকার
তোমার কাছে রাখে নি আর
সাজের অহংকার।
অলংকার যে মাঝে প'ড়ে
মিলনেতে আড়াল করে,
তোমার কথা ঢাকে যে তার
মুখর ঝংকার।
তোমার কাছে খাটে না মোর
কবির গরব করা-
মহাকবি, তোমার পায়ে
দিতে চাই যে ধরা।
জীবন লয়ে যতন করি
যদি সরল বাঁশি গড়ি,
আপন সুরে দিবে ভরি
সকল ছিদ্র তার।
"Amar e gan chheŗechhe tar shôkol ôlongkar
Tomar kachhe rakhe ni ar shajer ôhongkar
Ôlongkar je majhe pôŗe milônete aŗal kôre,
Tomar kôtha đhake je tar mukhôro jhôngkar.
Tomar kachhe khaţe na mor kobir gôrbo kôra,
Môhakobi, tomar paee dite chai je dhôra.
Jibon loe jôton kori jodi shôrol bãshi goŗi,
Apon shure dibe bhori sôkol chhidro tar."
Tagore's free-verse translation:
“My song has put off her adornments.
She has no pride of dress and decoration.
Ornaments would mar our union; they would come
between thee and me; their jingling would drown thy whispers.
My poet's vanity dies in shame before thy sight.
O master poet, I have sat down at thy feet.
Only let me make my life simple and straight,
like a flute of reed for thee to fill with music.”
"Klanti" (ক্লান্তি; "Weariness"):
ক্লান্তি আমার ক্ষমা করো প্রভু,
পথে যদি পিছিয়ে পড়ি কভু॥
এই-যে হিয়া থরোথরো কাঁপে আজি এমনতরো
এই বেদনা ক্ষমা করো, ক্ষমা করো, ক্ষমা করো প্রভু॥
এই দীনতা ক্ষমা করো প্রভু,
পিছন-পানে তাকাই যদি কভু।
দিনের তাপে রৌদ্রজ্বালায় শুকায় মালা পূজার থালায়,
সেই ম্লানতা ক্ষমা করো, ক্ষমা করো, ক্ষমা করো প্রভু॥
"Klanti amar khôma kôro probhu,
Pôthe jodi pichhie poŗi kobhu.
Ei je hia thôro thôro kãpe aji êmontôro,
Ei bedona khôma kôro khôma kôro probhu.
Ei dinota khôma kôro probhu,
Pichhon-pane takai jodi kobhu.
Diner tape roudrojalae shukae mala pujar thalae,
Shei mlanota khôma kôro khôma kôro, probhu."
Gloss by Tagore scholar Reba Som:
“Forgive me my weariness O Lord
Should I ever lag behind
For this heart that this day trembles so
And for this pain, forgive me, forgive me, O Lord
For this weakness, forgive me O Lord,
If perchance I cast a look behind
And in the day's heat and under the burning sun
The garland on the platter of offering wilts,
For its dull pallor, forgive me, forgive me O Lord.”
Tagore's poetry has been set to music by composers: Arthur Shepherd's triptych for soprano and string quartet, Alexander Zemlinsky's famous Lyric Symphony, Josef Bohuslav Foerster's cycle of love songs, Leoš Janáček's famous chorus "Potulný šílenec" ("The Wandering Madman") for soprano, tenor, baritone, and male chorus—JW 4/43—inspired by Tagore's 1922 lecture in Czechoslovakia which Janáček attended, and Garry Schyman's "Praan", an adaptation of Tagore's poem "Stream of Life" from Gitanjali. The latter was composed and recorded with vocals by Palbasha Siddique to accompany Internet
celebrity
Politics
Tagore's political thought was tortuous. He opposed imperialism and supported Indian nationalists, and these views were first revealed in Manast, which was mostly composed in his twenties. Evidence produced during the Hindu–German Conspiracy Trial and latter accounts affirm his awareness of the Ghadarites, and stated that he sought the support of Japanese Prime Minister Terauchi Masatake and former Premier Ōkuma Shigenobu. Yet he lampooned the Swadeshi movement; he rebuked it in "The Cult of the Charka", an acrid 1925 essay. He urged the masses to avoid victimology and instead seek self-help and education, and he saw the presence of British administration as a "political symptom of our social disease". He maintained that, even for those at the extremes of poverty, "there can be no question of blind revolution"; preferable to it was a "steady and purposeful education".
Such views enraged many. He escaped assassination—and only narrowly—by Indian expatriates during his stay in a San Francisco hotel in late 1916; the plot failed when his would-be assassins fell into argument. Yet Tagore wrote songs lionising the Indian independence movement Two of Tagore's more politically charged compositions, "Chitto Jetha Bhayshunyo" ("Where the Mind is Without Fear") and "Ekla Chalo Re" ("If They Answer Not to Thy Call, Walk Alone"), gained mass appeal, with the latter favoured by Gandhi. Though somewhat critical of Gandhian activism, Tagore was key in resolving a Gandhi–Ambedkar dispute involving separate electorates for untouchables, thereby mooting at least one of Gandhi's fasts "unto death".
Repudiation of Knighthood
Tagore renounced his knighthood, in response to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919. In the repudiation letter to the Viceroy, Lord Chelmsford, he wrote:
“The time has come when badges of honour make our shame glaring in the incongruous context of humiliation, and I for my part, wish to stand, shorn, of all special distinctions, by the side of those of my countrymen who, for their so called insignificance, are liable to suffer degradation not fit for human beings.”
Santiniketan and Visva-Bharati
Tagore despised rote classroom schooling: in "The Parrot's Training", a bird is caged and force-fed textbook pages—to death. Tagore, visiting Santa Barbara in 1917, conceived a new type of university: he sought to "make Santiniketan the connecting thread between India and the world [and] a world center for the study of humanity somewhere beyond the limits of nation and geography." The school, which he named Visva-Bharati, had its foundation stone laid on 24 December 1918 and was inaugurated precisely three years later. Tagore employed a brahmacharya system: gurus gave pupils personal guidance—emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. Teaching was often done under trees. He staffed the school, he contributed his Nobel Prize monies, and his duties as steward-mentor at Santiniketan kept him busy: mornings he taught classes; afternoons and evenings he wrote the students' textbooks. He fundraised widely for the school in Europe and the United States between 1919 and 1921.
Impact
Every year, many events pay tribute to Tagore: Kabipranam, his birth anniversary, is celebrated by groups scattered across the globe; the annual Tagore Festival held in Urbana, Illinois; Rabindra Path Parikrama walking pilgrimages from Calcutta to Santiniketan; and recitals of his poetry, which are held on important anniversaries. Bengali culture is fraught with this legacy: from language and arts to history and politics. Amartya Sen scantly deemed Tagore a "towering figure", a "deeply relevant and many-sided contemporary thinker". Tagore's Bengali originals—the 1939 Rabīndra Rachanāvalī—is canonised as one of his nation's greatest cultural treasures, and he was roped into a reasonably humble role: "the greatest poet India has produced".
Tagore was renowned throughout much of Europe, North America, and East Asia. He co-founded Dartington Hall School, a progressive coeducational institution; in Japan, he influenced such figures as Nobel laureate Yasunari Kawabata. Tagore's works were widely translated into English, Dutch, German, Spanish, and other European languages by Czech indologist Vincenc Lesný, French Nobel laureate André Gide, Russian poet Anna Akhmatova, former Turkish Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit, and others. In the United States, Tagore's lecturing circuits, particularly those of 1916–1917, were widely attended and wildly acclaimed. Some controversies involving Tagore, possibly fictive, trashed his popularity and sales in Japan and North America after the late 1920s, concluding with his "near total eclipse" outside Bengal. Yet a latent reverence of Tagore was discovered by an astonished Salman Rushdie during a trip to Nicaragua.
By way of translations, Tagore influenced Chileans Pablo Neruda and Gabriela Mistral; Mexican writer Octavio Paz; and Spaniards José Ortega y Gasset, Zenobia Camprubí, and Juan Ramón Jiménez. In the period 1914–1922, the Jiménez-Camprubí pair produced twenty-two Spanish translations of Tagore's English corpus; they heavily revised the The Crescent Moon and other key titles. In these years, Jiménez developed "naked poetry". Ortega y Gasset wrote that "Tagore's wide appeal [owes to how] he speaks of longings for perfection that we all have [...] Tagore awakens a dormant sense of childish wonder, and he saturates the air with all kinds of enchanting promises for the reader, who [...] pays little attention to the deeper import of Oriental mysticism". Tagore's works circulated in free editions around 1920—alongside those of Plato, Dante, Cervantes, Goethe, and Tolstoy.
Tagore was deemed overrated by some. Graham Greene doubted that "anyone but Mr. Yeats can still take his poems very seriously." Several prominent Western admirers—including Pound and, to a lesser extent, even Yeats—criticised Tagore's work. Yeats, unimpressed with his English translations, railed against that "Damn Tagore [...] We got out three good books, Sturge Moore and I, and then, because he thought it more important to know English than to be a great poet, he brought out sentimental rubbish and wrecked his reputation. Tagore does not know English, no Indian knows English." William Radice, who "English[ed]" his poems, asked: "What is their place in world literature?" He saw him as "kind of counter-cultural," bearing "a new kind of classicism" that would heal the "collapsed romantic confusion and chaos of the 20th century." The translated Tagore was "almost nonsensical", and subpar English offerings reduced his trans-national appeal:
“[...] anyone who knows Tagore's poems in their original Bengali cannot feel satisfied with any of the translations (made with or without Yeats's help). Even the translations of his prose works suffer, to some extent, from distortion. E.M. Forster noted [of] The Home and the World [that] "the theme is so beautiful," but the charms have "vanished in translation," or perhaps "in an experiment that has not quite come off."
—Amartya Sen, "Tagore and His India".
Rabindranath Tagore's Works:
Original
Bengali
Poetry
* ভানুসিংহ ঠাকুরের পদাবলী Bhānusiṃha Ṭhākurer Paḍāvalī (Songs of Bhānusiṃha Ṭhākur) 1884
* মানসী Manasi (The Ideal One) 1890
* সোনার তরী Sonar Tari (The Golden Boat) 1894
* গীতাঞ্জলি Gitanjali (Song Offerings) 1910
* গীতিমাল্য Gitimalya (Wreath of Songs) 1914
* বলাকা Balaka (The Flight of Cranes) 1916
Dramas
* বাল্মিকী প্রতিভা Valmiki-Pratibha (The Genius of Valmiki) 1881
* বিসর্জন Visarjan (The Sacrifice) 1890
* রাজা Raja (The King of the Dark Chamber) 1910
* ডাকঘর Dak Ghar (The Post Office) 1912
* অচলায়তন Achalayatan (The Immovable) 1912
* মুক্তধারা Muktadhara (The Waterfall) 1922
* রক্তকরবী Raktakaravi (Red Oleanders) 1926
Fiction
* নষ্টনীড় Nastanirh (The Broken Nest) 1901
* গোরা Gora (Fair-Faced) 1910
* ঘরে বাইরে Ghare Baire (The Home and the World) 1916
* যোগাযোগ Yogayog (Crosscurrents) 1929
Memoirs
* জীবনস্মৃতি Jivansmriti (My Reminiscences) 1912
* ছেলেবেলা Chhelebela (My Boyhood Days) 1940
English
* Thought Relics-1921
Translated
English
* Chitra-1914
* Creative Unity-1922
* The Crescent Moon-1913
* The Cycle of Spring-1919
* Fireflies-1928
* Fruit-Gathering-1916
* The Fugitive-1921
* The Gardener-1913
* Gitanjali: Song Offerings-1912
* Glimpses of Bengal-1991
* The Home and the World-1985
* The Hungry Stones-1916
* I Won't Let you Go: Selected Poems-1991
* The King of the Dark Chamber-1914
* The Lover of God-2003
* Mashi-1918
* My Boyhood Days-1943
* My Reminiscences -991
* Nationalism-1991
* The Post Office-1914
* Sadhana: The Realisation of Life-1913
* Selected Letters-1997
* Selected Poems-1994
* Selected Short Stories-1991
* Songs of Kabir-1915
* The Spirit of Japan-1916
* Stories from Tagore-1918
* Stray Birds-1916
* Vocation-1913
Adaptations of Novels and Short Stories in Cinema
Hindi
Sacrifice - 1927 (Balidaan) - Nanand Bhojai and Naval Gandhi
Milan - 1947 (Nauka Dubi) - Nitin Bose
Kabuliwala - 1961 (Kabuliwala) - Bimal Roy
Uphaar - 1971 (Samapti) - Sudhendu Roy
Lekin... - 1991 (Kshudhit Pashaan) - Gulzar
Char Adhyay - 1997 (Char Adhyay) - Kumar Shahani
Kashmakash - 2011 ((Nauka Dubi) - Rituparno Ghosh
Bengali
Natir Puja - 1932 - The only film directed by Rabindranath Tagore
Naukadubi - 1947 (Noukadubi) - Nitin Bose
Kabuliwala - 1957 (Kabuliwala) - Tapan Sinha
Kshudhita Pashaan - 1960 (Kshudhita Pashan) - Tapan Sinha
Teen Kanya - 1961 (Teen Kanya) - Satyajit Ray
Charulata - 1964 (Nastanirh) - Satyajit Ray
Ghare Baire - 1985 (Ghare Baire) - Satyajit Ray
Chokher Bali - 2003 (Chokher Bali) - Rituparno Ghosh
Chaturanga - 2008 (Chaturanga) - Suman Mukhopadhyay
Elar Char Adhyay - 2012 (Char Adhyay) - Bappaditya Bandyopadhyay
Biography of Kazi Nazrul Islam
Born into a Muslim quazi (justice) family in India, Nazrul received religious education and worked as a muezzin at a local mosque. He learned of poetry, drama, and literature while working with theatrical groups. After serving in the British Indian Army, Nazrul established himself as a journalist in Kolkata (then Calcutta). He assailed the British Raj in India and preached revolution through his poetic works, such as 'Bidrohi' ('The Rebel') and 'Bhangar Gaan' ('The Song of Destruction'), as well as his publication 'Dhumketu' ('The Comet'). His impassioned activism in the Indian independence movement often led to his imprisonment by British authorities. While in prison, Nazrul wrote the 'Rajbandir Jabanbandi' ('Deposition of a Political Prisoner'). Exploring the life and conditions of the downtrodden masses of India, Nazrul worked for their emancipation.
Nazrul's writings explore themes such as love, freedom, and revolution; he opposed all bigotry, including religious and gender. Throughout his career, Nazrul wrote short stories, novels, and essays but is best-known for his poems, in which he pioneered new forms such as Bengali ghazals. Nazrul wrote and composed music for his nearly 4,000 songs (including gramophone records), collectively known as Nazrul geeti (Nazrul songs), which are widely popular today. At the age of 43 (in 1942) he began suffering from an unknown disease, losing his voice and memory. It is often said, the reason was slow poisoning by British Government. It caused Nazrul's health to decline steadily and forced him to live in isolation for many years. Invited by the Government of Bangladesh, Nazrul and his family moved to Dhaka in 1972, where he died four years later.
Early Life
Kazi Nazrul Islam was born in the village of Churulia near Asansol in the Burdwan District of Bengal (now located in the Indian state of Paschimbanga).He was born in a powerful Muslim Taluqdar family and was the second of three sons and a daughter, Nazrul's father Kazi Faqeer Ahmed was the imam and caretaker of the local mosque and mausoleum. Nazrul's mother was Zahida Khatun. Nazrul had two brothers, Kazi Saahibjaan and Kazi Ali Hussain, and a sister, Umme Kulsum. Nicknamed Dukhu Mian (Sad Man), Nazrul began attending the maktab & madarsa ; the local religious school run by the mosque & dargah where he studied the Qur'an and other scriptures, Islamic philosophy and theology. His family was devastated with the death of his father in 1908. At the young age of ten, Nazrul began working in his father's place as a caretaker to support his family, as well as assisting teachers in school. He later became the muezzin at the mosque, delivering the Azaan and calling the people for prayer.
Attracted to folk theatre, Nazrul joined a leto (travelling theatrical group) run by his uncle Fazl e Karim. Working and travelling with them, learning acting, as well as writing songs and poems for the plays and musicals. Through his work and experiences, Nazrul began learning Bengali and Sanskrit literature, as well as Hindu scriptures such as the Puranas. The young poet composed a number of folk plays for his group, which included "Chashaar Shong" ("The drama of a peasant"), "Shakunibadh" ("The Killing of Shakuni a character from the epic Mahabharata"), "Raja Yudhisthirer Shong" ("The drama of King Yudhisthira again from the Mahabharata"), "Daata Karna" ("Philanthropic Karna from the Mahabharata"), "Akbar Badshah" ("Emperor Akbar"), "Kavi Kalidas" ("Poet Kalidas"), "Vidyan hutum" ("The Learned Owl"), and "Rajputrer Shong" ("The drama of a Prince").
In 1910, Nazrul left the troupe and enrolled at the Searsole Raj High School in Raniganj (where he came under influence of teacher, revolutionary and Jugantar activist Nibaran Chandra Ghatak, and initiated life-long friendship with fellow author Sailajananda Mukhopadhyay, who was his classmate), and later transferred to the Mathrun High English School, studying under the headmaster and poet Kumudranjan Mallik. Unable to continue paying his school fees, Nazrul left the school and joined a group of kaviyals. Later he took jobs as a cook at the house of a Christian railway guard and at the most famous bakery of the region Wahid's/Abdul Wahid and tea stall in the town of Asansol. In 1914, Nazrul studied in the Darirampur School (now Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University) in Trishal, Mymensingh District. Amongst other subjects, Nazrul studied Bengali, Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian literature and classical music under teachers who were impressed by his dedication and skill.
Studying up to Class X, Nazrul did not appear for the matriculation pre-test examination, enlisting instead in the Indian Army in 1917 at the age of eighteen. He joined the British army mainly for two reasons: first, his youthful romantic inclination to respond to the unknown and, secondly, the call of politics. Attached to the 49th Bengal Regiment, he was posted to the cantonment in Karachi, where he wrote his first prose and poetry. Although he never saw active fighting, he rose in rank from corporal to havildar, and served as quartermaster for his battalion. During this period, Nazrul read extensively, and was deeply influenced by Rabindranath Tagore and Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, as well as the Persian poets Hafez, Rumi and Omar Khayyam. He learnt Persian poetry from the regiment's Punjabi moulvi, practiced music and pursued his literary interests. His first prose work, "Baunduler Atmakahini" ("Life of a Vagabond") was published in May, 1919. His poem "Mukti" ("Freedom") was published by the "Bangla Mussalman Sahitya Patrika" ("Bengali Muslim Literary Journal") in July 1919.
Rebel Poet
Nazrul started a bi-weekly magazine, publishing the first "Dhumketu" (Comet) on August 12, 1922. Earning the moniker of the "rebel poet”, Nazrul also aroused the suspicion of British authorities. A political poem published in "Dhumketu" in September 1922 led to a police raid on the magazine's office. Arrested, Nazrul entered a lengthy plea before the judge in the court.
"I have been accused of sedition. That is why I am now confined in the prison. On the one side is the crown, on the other the flames of the comet. One is the king, sceptre in hand; the other Truth worth the mace of justice. To plead for me, the king of all kings, the judge of all judges, the eternal truth the living God... His laws emerged out of the realization of a universal truth about mankind. They are for and by a sovereign God. The king is supported by an infinitesimal creature; I by its eternal and indivisible Creator. I am a poet; I have been sent by God to express the unexpressed, to portray the unportrayed. It is God who is heard through the voice of the poet... My voice is but a medium for Truth, the message of God... I am the instrument of that eternal self-evident truth, an instrument that voices forth the message of the ever-true. I am an instrument of God. The instrument is not unbreakable, but who is there to break God?"
On April 14, 1923 he was transferred from the jail in Alipore to Hooghly in Kolkata, he began a 40-day fast to protest mistreatment by the British jail superintendent. Nazrul broke his fast more than a month later and was eventually released from prison in December 1923. Nazrul composed a large number of poems and songs during the period of imprisonment and many his works were banned in the 1920s by the British authorities.
Kazi Nazrul Islam became a critic of the Khilafat struggle, condemning it as hollow, religious fundamentalism. Nazrul's rebellious expression extended to rigid orthodoxy in the name of religion and politics. Nazrul also criticised the Indian National Congress for not embracing outright political independence from the British Empire. He became active in encouraging people to agitate against British rule, and joined the Bengal state unit of the Congress party. Nazrul also helped organise the Sramik Praja Swaraj Dal, a political party committed to national independence and the service of the peasant masses. On December 16, 1925 Nazrul started publishing the weekly "Langal”, with himself as chief editor. The "Langal" was the mouthpiece of the Sramik Praja Swaraj Dal.
During his visit to Comilla in 1921, Nazrul met a young Hindu woman, Pramila Devi, with whom he fell in love and they married on April 25, 1924. Pramila belonged to the Brahmo Samaj, which criticised her marriage to a Muslim. Nazrul in turn was condemned by Muslim religious leaders and continued to face criticism for his personal life and professional works, which attacked social and religious dogma and intolerance. Despite controversy, Nazrul's popularity and reputation as the "rebel poet" rose significantly.
"Weary of struggles, I, the great rebel,
Shall rest in quiet only when I find
The sky and the air free of the piteous groans of the oppressed.
Only when the battle fields are cleared of jingling bloody sabres
Shall I, weary of struggles, rest in quiet,
I the great rebel."
Mass Music
With his wife and young son Bulbul, Nazrul settled in Krishnanagar in 1926. His work began to transform as he wrote poetry and songs that articulated the aspirations of the downtrodden classes, a sphere of his work known as "mass music." Nazrul assailed the socio-economic norms and political system that had brought upon misery. From his poem 'Daridro' (poverty or pain):
"O poverty, thou hast made me great.
Thou hast made me honoured like Christ
With his crown of thorns. Thou hast given me
Courage to reveal all. To thee I owe
My insolent, naked eyes and sharp tongue.
Thy curse has turned my violin to a sword
...
O proud saint, thy terrible fire
Has rendered my heaven barren.
O my child, my darling one
I could not give thee even a drop of milk
No right have I to rejoice.
Poverty weeps within my doors forever
As my spouse and my child."
[Who will play the flute?]
In what his contemporaries regarded as one of his greatest flairs of creativity, Nazrul began composing the very first ghazals in Bengali, transforming a form of poetry written mainly in Persian and Urdu. Nazrul became the first person to introduce Islam into the larger mainstream tradition of Bengali music. The first record of Islamic songs by Nazrul Islam was a commercial success and many gramophone companies showed interest in producing these. A significant impact of Nazrul was that it drew made Muslims more comfortable in the Bengali Arts, which used to be dominated by Hindus. Nazrul also composed a number of notable Shamasangeet, Bhajan and Kirtan, combining Hindu devotional music. Arousing controversy and passions in his readers, Nazrul's ideas attained great popularity across India. In 1928, Nazrul began working as a lyricist, composer and music director for His Master's Voice Gramophone Company. The songs written and music composed by him were broadcast on radio stations across the country. He was also enlisted/attached with the Indian Broadcasting Company.
Nazrul professed faith in the belief in the equality of women — a view his contemporaries considered revolutionary. From his poet Nari (Woman):
"I don't see any difference
Between a man and woman
Whatever great or benevolent achievements
That are in this world
Half of that was by woman,
The other half by man." (Translated by Sajed Kamal)
His poetry retains long-standing notions of men and women in binary opposition to one another and does not affirm gender similarities and flexibility in the social structure:
"Man has brought the burning, scorching heat of the sunny day;
Woman has brought peaceful night, soothing breeze and cloud.
Man comes with desert-thirst; woman provides the drink of honey.
Man ploughs the fertile land; woman sows crops in it turning it green.
Man ploughs, woman waters; that earth and water mixed together,
brings about a harvest of golden paddy."
However, Nazrul's poems strongly emphasise the confluence of the roles of both sexes and their equal importance to life. He stunned society with his poem "Barangana" ("Prostitute"), in which he addresses a prostitute as "mother". Nazrul accepts the prostitute as a human being, reasoning that this person was breast-fed by a noble woman and belonging to the race of "mothers and sisters"; he assails society's negative notions of prostitutes.
Who calls you a prostitute, mother?
Who spits at you?
Perhaps you were suckled by someone
as chaste as Seeta.
...
And if the son of an unchaste mother is 'illegitimate',
so is the son of an unchaste father.
-"Barangana" ("Prostitute") Translated by Sajed Kamal)
Nazrul was an advocate of the emancipation of women; both traditional and non-traditional women were portrayed by him with utmost sincerity. Nazrul's songs are collectively called as Nazrul Sangeet Nazrul geeti.
Exploring Religion
Nazrul's mother died in 1928, and his second son Bulbul died of smallpox the following year. His first son, Krishna Mohammad had died prematurely. His wife gave birth to two more sons — Savyasachi in 1928 and Aniruddha in 1931 — but Nazrul remained shaken and aggrieved for a long time.
"Come back my birdie! Come back again to my empty bosom! Shunno e bookey paakhi mor aaye! Phirey aaye phirey aaye!"
His works changed significantly from rebellious expositions of society to deeper examination of religious themes. His works in these years led Islamic devotional songs into the mainstream of Bengali folk music, exploring the Islamic practices of namaz (prayer), roza (fasting), hajj (pilgrimage) and zakat (charity). This was regarded by his contemporaries as a significant achievement as Bengali Muslims had been strongly averse to devotional music.
Nazrul's creativity diversified as he explored Hindu devotional music by composing Shama Sangeet, bhajans and kirtans, often merging Islamic and Hindu values. Nazrul's poetry and songs explored the philosophy of Islam and Hinduism.
Let people of all countries and all times come together. At one great union of humanity. Let them listen to the flute music of one great unity. Should a single person be hurt, all hearts should feel it equally. If one person is insulted; it is a shame to all mankind, an insult to all! Today is the grand uprising of the agony of universal man.
The badnaa, a water jug typical in usage by Bengali Muslims for ablutions (wazu) and bath (ghusl) and the gaaru a water pot typical in usage by Bengali Hindus, meet and embrace each other under the peace of the new pact (between the rioting Hindus and Muslims in Bengal during the British Raj on certain politico-religious differences and disputes that had preceded the said pact). There is no knife in the hand of the Muslim and also the Hindu does not wield the bamboo any more! Bodna gaaru te kolakuli korey! Nobo pact er aashnaai! Musholmaaner haatey naai chhuri! Hindur haatey baansh naai!
Nazrul's poetry imbibed the passion and creativity of Shakti, which is identified as the Brahman, the personification of primordial energy. He wrote and composed many bhajans, shyamasangeet, agamanis and kirtans. He also composed large number of songs on invocation to Lord Shiva, Goddesses Lakshmi and Saraswati and on the theme of love of Radha and Krishna.
Nazrul assailed fanaticism in religion, denouncing it as evil and inherently irreligious. He devoted many works to expound upon the principle of human equality, exploring the Qur'an and the life of Islam's prophet Muhammad. Nazrul has been compared to William Butler Yeats for being the first Muslim poet to create imagery and symbolism of Muslim historical figures such as Qasim, Ali, Umar, Kamal Pasha, Anwar Pasha and Muhammad. His vigorous assault on extremism and mistreatment of women provoked condemnation from Muslim and Hindu fundamentalists.
In 1920, Nazrul expressed his vision of religious harmony in an editorial in Joog Bani,
“Come brother Hindu! Come Musalman! Come Buddhist! Come Christian! Let us transcend all barriers, let us foresake forever all smallness, all lies, all selfishness and let us call brothers as brothers. We shall quarrel no more”.
In another article entitled Hindu Mussalman published in Ganabani on September 2, 192 he wrote -
‘’I can tolerate Hinduism and Muslims but I cannot tolerate the Tikism (Tiki is a tuft of never cut hair kept on the head by certain Hindus to maintain personal Holiness) and beardism. Tiki is not Hinduism. It may be the sign of the pundit. Similarly beard is not Islam, it may be the sign of the mollah. All the hair-pulling have originated from those two tufts of hair. Todays fighting is also between the Pundit and the Mollah: It is not between the Hindus and the Muslims. No prophet has said, ‘’I have come for Hindus I have come for Muslims I have come for Christians.” They have said, “I have come for the humanity for everyone, like light’’. But the devotees of Krishna says, “Krishna is for Hindus”. The followers of Muhammad (Sm) says, “Muhammad (Sm) is for the Muslims”. The Disciple of Christ is for Christian”. Krishna-Muhammad-Christ have become national property. This property is the root of all trouble. Men do not quarrel for light but they quarrel over cattle.”
Nazrul was an exponent of humanism. Although a Muslim, he named his sons with both Hindu and Muslim names: Krishna Mohammad, Arindam Khaled(bulbul), Kazi Sabyasachi and Kazi Aniruddha.
Later Life and Illness
In 1933, Nazrul published a collection of essays titled "Modern World Literature", in which he analyses different styles and themes of literature. Between 1928 and 1935 he published 10 volumes containing 800 songs of which more than 600 were based on classical ragas. Almost 100 were folk tunes after kirtans and some 30 were patriotic songs. From the time of his return to Kolkata until he fell ill in 1941, Nazrul composed more than 2,600 songs, many of which have been lost. His songs based on baul, jhumur, Santhali folksongs, jhanpan or the folk songs of snake charmers, bhatiali and bhaoaia consist of tunes of folk-songs on the one hand and a refined lyric with poetic beauty on the other. Nazrul also wrote and published poems for children.
Nazrul's success soon brought him into Indian theatre and the then-nascent film industry. The first picture for which he worked was based on Girish Chandra Ghosh's story "Bhakta Dhruva" in 1934. Nazrul acted in the role of Narada and directed the film. He also composed songs for it, directed the music and served as a playback singer.
The film "Vidyapati" ("Master of Knowledge") was produced based on his recorded play in 1936, and Nazrul served as the music director for the film adaptation of Tagore's novel Gora. Nazrul wrote songs and directed music for Sachin Sengupta's bioepic play "Siraj-ud-Daula". In 1939, Nazrul began working for Calcutta Radio, supervising the production and broadcasting of the station's musical programmes. He produced critical and analytic documentaries on music, such as "Haramoni" and "Navaraga-malika". Nazrul also wrote a large variety of songs inspired by the raga Bhairav. Nazrul sought to preserve his artistic integrity by condemning the adaptation of his songs to music composed by others and insisting on the use of tunes he composed himself.
Nazrul's wife Pramila Devi fell seriously ill in 1939 and was paralysed from waist down. To provide for his wife's medical treatment, he resorted to mortgaging the royalties of his gramophone records and literary works for 400 rupees.
He returned to journalism in 1940 by working as chief editor for the daily newspaper "Nabayug" ("New Age"), founded by the eminent Bengali politician A. K. Fazlul Huq.
Nazrul also was shaken by the death of Rabindranath Tagore on August 8, 1941. He spontaneously composed two poems in Tagore's memory, one of which, "Rabihara" (loss of Rabi or without Rabi) was broadcast on the All India Radio. Within months, Nazrul himself fell seriously ill and gradually began losing his power of speech. His behaviour became erratic, and spending recklessly, he fell into financial difficulties. In spite of her own illness, his wife constantly cared for her husband. However, Nazrul's health seriously deteriorated and he grew increasingly depressed. He underwent medical treatment under homeopathy as well as Ayurveda, but little progress was achieved before mental dysfunction intensified and he was admitted to a mental asylum in 1942. Spending four months there without making progress, Nazrul and his family began living a silent life in India. In 1952, he was transferred to a mental hospital in Ranchi. With the efforts of a large group of admirers who called themselves the "Nazrul Treatment Society" as well as prominent supporters such as the Indian politician Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the treatment society sent Nazrul and Promila to London, then to Vienna for treatment.
Examining doctors said he had received poor care, and Dr. Hans Hoff, a leading neurosurgeon in Vienna, diagnosed that Nazrul was suffering from Pick's disease. His condition judged to be incurable, Nazrul returned to Calcutta on 15 December 1953.
On June 30, 1962 his wife Pramila died and Nazrul remained in intensive medical care. In 1972, the newly independent nation of Bangladesh obtained permission from the Government of India to bring Nazrul to live in Dhaka and accorded him honorary citizenship.
Despite receiving treatment and attention, Nazrul's physical and mental health did not improve. In 1974, his youngest son, Kazi Aniruddha, an eminent guitarist died, and Nazrul soon succumbed to his long-standing ailments on August 29, 1976. In accordance with a wish he had expressed in one of his poems, he was buried beside a mosque on the campus of the University of Dhaka. Tens of thousands of people attended his funeral; Bangladesh observed two days of national mourning and the Indian Parliament observed a minute of silence in his honour.
Criticism and Legacy
Nazrul's poetry is characterised by an abundant use of rhetorical devices, which he employed to convey conviction and sensuousness. He often wrote without care for organisation or polish. His works have often been criticized for egotism, but his admirers counter that they carry more a sense of self-confidence than ego. They cite his ability to defy God yet maintain an inner, humble devotion to Him.
Nazrul's poetry is regarded as rugged but unique in comparison to Tagore's sophisticated style. Nazrul's use of Persian vocabulary was controversial but it widened the scope of his work. Nazrul's works for children have won acclaim for his use of rich language, imagination, enthusiasm and an ability to fascinate young readers.
Nazrul is regarded for his secularism. He was the first person to cite of Christians of Bengal in his novel Mrityukhudha. He was also the first user of folk terms in Bengali literature. He first printed the Sickle and Hammer in any Indian magazine.
Nazrul pioneered new styles and expressed radical ideas and emotions in a large body of work. Scholars credit him for spearheading a cultural renaissance in Muslim-majority Bengal, "liberating" poetry and literature in Bengali from its medieval mould. Nazrul was awarded the Jagattarini Gold Medal in 1945 — the highest honour for work in Bengali literature by the University of Calcutta — and awarded the Padma Bhushan, one of India's highest civilian honours in 1960.
The Government of Bangladesh conferred upon him the status of being the "national poet". He was awarded the Ekushey Padak by the Government of Bangladesh. He was awarded Honorary D.Litt. by the University of Dhaka . Many centres of learning and culture in India and Bangladesh have been founded and dedicated to his memory. The Nazrul Endowment is one of several scholarly institutions established to preserve and expound upon his thoughts and philosophy, as well as the preservation and analysis of the large and diverse collection of his works. The Bangladesh Nazrul Sena is a large public organization working for the education of children throughout the country.
Kazi Nazrul Islam's Works:
Sanchita (Collected poems) ,1925
Phanimanasa (The Cactus) , poems,1927
Chakrabak (The Flamingo) , poems,1929
Satbhai Champa (The Seven Brothers of Champa) , juvenile poems,1933
Nirjhar (Fountain) , poems,1939
Natun Chand (The New Moon) , poems,1939
Marubhaskar (The Sun in the Desert) , poems,1951
Sanchayan (Collected Poems) ,1955
Nazrul Islam: Islami Kobita (A Collection of Islamic Poems; Dhaka, Bangladesh: Islamic Foundation,1982)
Agni Bina (The Fiery Flute) , poems,1992
Poems and songs
Dolan Champa (name of a faintly fragrant monsoon flower) , poems and songs,1923
Bisher Banshi (The Poison Flute) , poems and songs,1924
Bhangar Gan (The Song of Destruction) , songs and poems,1924 proscribe in 1924
Chhayanat (The Raga of Chhayanat) , poems and songs,1925
Chittanama (On Chittaranjan) , poems and songs,1925
Samyabadi (The Proclaimer of Equality) , poems and songs,1926
Puber Hawa (The Eastern Wind) , poems and songs,1926
Sarbahara (The Proletariat) , poems and songs,1926
Sindhu Hindol (The Undulation of the Sea) , poems and songs,1927
Jinjir (Chain) , poems and songs,1928
Pralaya Shikha (Doomsday Flame) , poems and songs,1930 proscribed in 1930
Shesh Saogat (The Last Offerings) , poems and songs,1958
Short stories
Rikter Bedan (The Sorrows of Destitute) , short stories,1925
Shiulimala (Garland of Shiuli) , stories,1931
Byathar Dan (Offering of Pain) , short stories,1992
Aladin
Novels
Bandhan Hara (Free from Bonds) , novel,1927
Mrityukshuda (Hunger for Death) , novel,1930
Kuhelika (Mystery) , novel,1931
Plays and drama
Jhilimili (Window Shutters) , plays,1930
Aleya (Mirage) , song drama,1931
Putuler Biye (Doll's Marriage) , children's play,1933
Madhumala (Garland of Honeysuckle) a musical play,1960
Jhar (Storm) , juvenile poems and play,1960
Pile Patka Putuler Biye (Doll's Marriage) , juvenile poems and play,1964
Essays
Joog Bani (The Message of the Age) , essays,1926
Jhinge Phul (The Cucurbitaccus Flower) , essays,1926
Durdiner Jatri (The Traveller through Rough Times) , essays,1926
Rudra Mangal (The Violent Good) , essays,1927
Dhumketu (The Comet) , essays,1961
Biography of Michael Madhusudan Dutta
Michael Madhusudan Dutt or Michael Madhusudan Dutta was a popular
19th century Bengali poet and dramatist. He was born in Sagordari, on
the bank of Kopotaksho River, a village in Keshobpur Upozila, Jessore
District, East Bengal (now in Bangladesh). His father was Rajnarayan
Dutt, an eminent lawyer, and his mother was Jahnabi Devi. He was a
pioneer of Bengali drama. His famous work Meghnad Bodh Kavya, is a
tragic epic. It consists of nine cantos and is quite exceptional in
Bengali literature both in terms of style and content. He also wrote
poems about the sorrows and afflictions of love as spoken by women.
From an early age, Madhusudan desired to be an Englishman in form and manner. Born to a Hindu landed gentry family, he converted to Christianity to the ire of his family and adopted the first name, Michael. However, he was to regret his desire for England and the Occident in later life when he talked ardently of his homeland as is seen in his poems and sonnets from this period.
Madhusudan is widely considered to be one of the greatest poets in Bengali literature and the father of the Bengali sonnet. He pioneered what came to be called amitrakshar chhanda (blank verse).
Early Life and Education
His childhood education started in a village named Shekpura, at an old mosque, where he went to learn Persian. He was an exceptionally talented student. Ever since his childhood, young Madhusudan was recognized by his teachers and professors as being a precocious child with a gift of literary expression. He was very imaginative from his boyhood. Early exposure to English education and European literature at home and in Kolkata made him desire to emulate the proverbially stiff upper-lip Englishman in taste, manners and intellect. One of the early impressions were that of his teacher, Capt. D.L.Richardson at Hindu College. In this respect, he was an early Macaulayite without even knowing it. He dreamt of achieving great fame the moment he landed abroad. His adolescence, coupled with the spirit of intellectual enquiry convinced him that he was born on the wrong side of the planet, and that conservative Hindu society in early nineteenth century Bengal (and by extension Indian society) had not yet developed the spirit of rationalistic enquiry and appreciation of greater intellectual sophistry to appreciate his myriad talents. He espoused the view that free thinking and post Enlightenment West would be more receptive to his intellectual acumen and creative genius. In this, perhaps he forgot the colour of his skin, as he was to realize later on in life, much to his consternation and disgust. He composed his early works—poetry and drama—almost entirely in English. Plays like Sormistha, Ratnavali and translations like Neel Durpan and poems like Captive Ladie which was written on the mother of his close friend Sri Bhudev Mukhopadhyay, indicate a high level of intellectual sophistication.
In His Own Words
“Where man in all his truest glory lives,
And nature's face is exquisitely sweet;
For those fair climes I heave impatient sigh,
There let me live and there let me die.”
Madhusudan embraced Christianity at the church of Fort William in spite of the objections of his parents and relatives on February 9, 1843. Later, he escaped to Madras to escape persecution. He describes the day as:
“Long sunk in superstition's night,
By Sin and Satan driven,
I saw not, cared not for the light
That leads the blind to Heaven.
But now, at length thy grace, O Lord!
Birds all around me shine;
I drink thy sweet, thy precious word,
I kneel before thy shrine!”
On the eve of his departure to England:
“Forget me not, O Mother,
Should I fail to return
To thy hallowed bosom.
Make not the lotus of thy memory
Void of its nectar Madhu.”
(Translated from the original Bengali by the poet.)
Later Life
.
Inspirations and Influences
Dutt was particularly inspired by both the life and work of the English Romantic poet Lord Byron. The life of Dutt closely parallels the life of Lord Byron in many respects. Like Byron, Dutt was a spirited bohemian and like Byron, Dutt was a Romantic, albeit being born on the other side of the world, and as a recipient subject of the British imperialist enterprise. However, the lives of the two can be summed up in one word: audacity. These two mighty poets at once remind us of the saying of Georges Danton, the French revolutionist: "L'audace, encore l'audace, toujours l'audace!"
If Lord Byron won over the British literary establishment with Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, a comparative analogy may be made for Dutt's heroic epic Meghnadh Badh Kabya, although the journey was far from smooth. However, with its publication, the Indian poet distinguished himself as a serious composer of an entirely new genre of heroic poetry, that was Homeric and Dantesque in technique and style, and yet so fundamentally Indian in theme. To cite the poet himself: "I awoke one morning and found myself famous." Nevertheless, it took a few years for this epic to win recognition all over the country.
Linguistic Abilities
Madhusudan was a gifted linguist and polyglot. Besides Indian languages like Bengali, Sanskrit and Tamil, he was well versed in classical languages like Greek and Latin. He also had a fluent understanding of modern European languages like Italian and French and could read and write the last two with perfect grace and ease.
Work with the Sonnet
He dedicated his first sonnet to his friend Rajnarayan Basu, along with a letter which in which he wrote:
"What say you to this, my good friend? In my humble opinion, if cultivated by men of genius, our sonnet in time would rival the Italian."
When Madhusudan later stayed in Versailles, France, the sixth centenary of the Italian poet Dante Alighieri was being celebrated all over Europe. He composed a poem in memory of the immortal poet and translated it into French and Italian and sent it to the court of the king of Italy. Victor Emmanuel II, the then monarch, was enamored of the poem and wrote back to the poet:
"It will be a ring which will connect the Orient with the Occident."
Work in Blank Verse
Sharmistha (spelt as Sermista in English) was Madhusudan's first attempt at blank verse in Bengali literature. It is a type of verse used in poems. In this type of verse every line of the poem should have exactly 14 letters.
Kaliprasanna Singha organised a felicitation ceremony to Madhusudan to mark the introduction of blank verse in Bengali poetry.
Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee, while paying a glowing tribute to Madhusudan's blank verse, observed:
"As long as the Bengali race and Bengali literature would exist, the sweet lyre of Madhusudan would never cease playing."
He further added:
"Ordinarily, reading of poetry causes a soporific effect, but the intoxicating vigour of Madhusudan's poems makes even a sick man sit up on his bed."
In his The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian, Nirad C. Chaudhuri has remarked that during his childhood days in Kishoreganj, a common standard for testing the level of erudition in the Bengali language during family gatherings (like for example, testing the vocabulary stock of a would-be bridegroom as a way of teasing him) was the ability to pronounce and recite the poetry of Dutt, without the trace of an accent.
In France
In his trip to Versailles, France during the 1860s, Madhusudan had to suffer the ignominy of penury and destitution. His friends back home, who had inspired him to cross the ocean in search of recognition, started ignoring him altogether. Perhaps his choice of a lavish lifestyle, coupled with a big ego that was openly hostile to native tradition, was partly to blame for his financial ruin. Except for a very few well-wishers, he had to remain satisfied with many fair-weather friends. It may be argued, not without some obvious irony that during those days, his life oscillated, as it were, between the Scylla of stark poverty and the Charybdis of innumerable loans. He was head over heels in debt. As he was not in a position to clear off his debts, he was very often threatened by imprisonment. Dutt was able to return home only due to the munificent generosity of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. For this, Dutt was to regard Vidyasagar as Dayar Sagar (meaning the ocean of kindness) for as long as he lived. Madhusudan had cut off all connections with his parents, relatives and at times even with his closest friends, who more often than not were wont to regard him as an iconoclast and an outcast. It was during the course of his sojourn in Europe that Madhusudan then realized his true identity. Perhaps for the first time in his life, he became aware of the colour of his skin and his native language. What he wrote to his friend Gour Bysack from France neatly sums up his eternal dilemma:
“If there be any one among us anxious to leave a name behind him, and not pass away into oblivion like a brute, let him devote himself to his mother-tongue. That is his legitimate sphere his proper element.”
Marriage and Relationships
One of the reasons for his decision to leave the religion of his family was his refusal to enter into an arranged marriage that his father had decided for him. He had no respect for that tradition and wanted to break free from the confines of caste-based endogamous marriage. His knowledge of the European tradition convinced him of the superiority of marriages made by mutual consent (or love marriages).
Madhusudan married twice. When he was in Madras, he married Rebecca Mactavys. Through Rebecca, he had four children. Madhusudan wrote to Gour in December 1855:
“Yes, dearest Gour, I have a fine English Wife and four children.”
Michael returned from Madras to Calcutta in February 1856, after his father's death. Michael married Henrietta Sophia White. His second marriage was to last till the end of his life. From his second marriage, he had one son Napoleon and one daughter Sharmistha.
The tennis player Leander Paes is the son of his great granddaughter.
Death
Madhusudan died in Calcutta General Hospital on 27 June 1873 three days after death of Henrietta. Just three days prior to his death, Madhusudan recited a passage from Shakespeare's Macbeth to his dear friend Gour, to express his deepest conviction of life:
“...out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow; a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more; it is a tale Told by an idiot,
full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.”
(Macbeth)
Gour responded with a passage from Longfellow:
“Tell me not in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal.”
After Dutt's death, he was not paid a proper tribute for fifteen years.The belated tribute took the form of a shabby makeshift tomb. Madhusudan's life was a mixture of joy and sorrow. Although it could be argued that the loss of self-control was largely responsible for his pitiable fate, his over-flowing poetic originality for joy was to become forever immortalized in his oeuvre.
His epitaph, a verse of his own, reads:
“Stop a while, traveller!
Should Mother Bengal claim thee for her son.
As a child takes repose on his mother's elysian lap,
Even so here in the Long Home,
On the bosom of the earth,
Enjoys the sweet eternal sleep
Poet Madhusudan of the Duttas.”
Legacy
In the words of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, the father of modern Bengali prose, the poet of Meghnad Badh Kabya thus:
“...to Homer and Milton, as well as to Valmiki, he is largely indebted, and his poem is on the whole the most valuable work in modern Bengali literature.”
In word of Tagore:
“The Epic Meghnad-Badh is really a rare treasure in Bengali literature. Through his writings, the richness of Bengali literature has been proclaimed to the wide world.”
Vidyasagar's lofty praise runs:
“Meghnad Badh is a supreme poem.”
Rabindranath Tagore would later declare:
“It was a momentous day for Bengali literature to proclaim the message of the universal muse and not exclusively its own parochial note. The genius of Bengal secured a place in the wide world overpassing the length and breadth of Bengal. And Bengali poetry reached the highest status.”
In Byron's dramatic poem Manfred what the Abbot of St. Maurice spoke of Manfred can equally be applied to the life of Madhusudan:
“This should have been a noble creature: he
Hath all the energy which should have made
A goodly frame of glorious elements,
Had they been wisely mingled, as it is,
It is an awful chaos light and darkness
And mind and dust and passion and pure thoughts
Mixed and contending without end or order,
All dormant or destructive.”
In the words of Sri Aurobindo:
“All the stormiest passions of man's soul he [Madhusudan] expressed in gigantic language.”
Michael Madhusudan Dutta's Works:
Tilottama (1860), Meghnad Bodh Kavya (Ballad of Meghnadh's demise) (1861), Ratnavali, Rizia (the sultana of Inde), The Captive Lady, Visions of the Past.
Zahir Raihan : biography
August 19, 1935 - January 30, 1972
Zahir Raihan ( August 19, 1935 – January 30,
1972) was a Bangladeshi novelist, writer and filmmaker. He is perhaps
best known for his documentary Stop Genocide made during the Bangladesh Liberation War. Disappearance
Raihan disappeared on January 30, 1972 trying to locate his brother, the famous writer Shahidullah Kaiser, who was captured and killed by the Pakistan army and/or local collaborators during the final days of the liberation war. Evidences suggest he was killed with many others when armed Bihari collaborators and soldiers of Pakistan Army in hiding fired on them when they went to Mirpur, a suburb of the capital city of Dhaka that was one of few strongholds for Pakistani/Bihari collaborators at that time.Books
- Surya Grahan (The eclipse), 1954
- Shesh Bikeler Meye (The Girl from the Afternoon)
- Hajar Bochhor Dhore (Through Thousand Years)
- Arek Falgun (Another Falgun Day), based on the Language Movement of 1952
- Borof Gola Nodi (The River of Icy Waters)
- Ar Kata Din (For How Long)
- Koyekti Mrittu (A Few Deaths)
- Trishna (Thirst)
Movies and documentaries
- Kokhono Asheni, 1961 (his first film as director)
- Sonar Kajol, 1962 (jointly directed with Kolim Sharafi)
- Kancher Deyal, 1963
- Sangam, 1964 (the first colour film made in Pakistan)
- Bahana, 1965
- Behula, 1966
- Anowara, 1966
- Dui Bhai, 1968
- Jibon Theke Neya, 1969
- Let There Be Light
Documentary films
- "Stop Genocide", Documentary on the genocide by Pakistani Army in the Bangladesh Liberation War, 1971
- "A State is Born"
- "Liberation Fighters"(Production)
- "Innocent Milions"(Production)
Early life and education
Zahir Raihan was born on 19 August 1935, as Mohammad Zahirullah, in the village Majupur, now in Feni District, Bangladesh. After the Partition of Bengal in 1947, he, along with his parents, returned to his village from Calcutta. He obtained Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Bengali from Dhaka University. He had been married twice, to Sumita Devi in 1961 and Shuchonda in 1968, both of whom were film actresses.Professional career
Zahir Raihan received his post graduate degree in Bengali Literature. Along with literature works Raihan started working as a journalist when he joined Juger Alo in 1950..Later he also worked in newspapers, namely Khapchhara, Jantrik, and Cinema. He also worked as the editor of Probaho in 1956. His first collection of short stories, titled Suryagrahan, was published in 1955. He worked as an assistant in the film Jago Huya Sabera in 1957. This was his first foot print in film. He also assisted Salahuddin in the film Je Nodi Morupothay. The filmmaker Ehtesham also took him for his movie A Desh Tomar Amar, for which he wrote the title song. In 1960 he arrived as a director with his film Kokhono Asheni. In 1964, he made Pakistan's first colour movie, Sangam, and completed his first CinemaScope movie, Bahana, the following year.He was an active worker of the Language Movement of 1952 and was present at the historical meeting of Amtala on February 21, 1952. The effect of language movement was so high on him that he made his legendary film "Jibon Theke Neya" based on it. He also took part in the "Gano Obhyuthyan" in 1969. In 1971 he joined in the Liberation War of Bangladesh and created documentary films on this great event.The Daily Prothom Alo,August 17, 2006 During the war of liberation Raihan went to Kolkata where his film "Jibon Theke Neya" were shown. His film was highly acclaimed by Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Tapan Sinha and Ritwik Ghatak. Though he had his financial problem going on that time, he gave all his money to the Freedom Fighters trust that he got from the show."Akhono Obohelito Zahir Raihan" Hossain, Amzad. The Daily Prothom Alo, August 17, 2006
Awards
- Adamjee Literature Award
- Bangla Academy Award (1972)
The Biography of Ahsan Habib
Ahsan Habib was a popular and well-acclaimed Bangladeshi poet and a major literary figure in Bengali culture.
Birth and Education
Ahsan Habib was was born in the village of Shankarpasha in Pirojpur district. His father's name was Hamijuddin and mother's was Jamila Khatun. He was the first one out of ten children of very poor parents. After passing the Entrance examination in 1935 from Pirojpur Government School, he enrolled at the B M College, Barisal, but had to drop out because of financial reasons. Shortly afterwards, he moved to Kolkata, the capital city at that time, to find a job.
Life in Kolkata
Ahsan Habib started to stragle with life from Kolkata. After coming Kolkata in 1937, he joined the Takbir as assistant editor. His salary was only 17 taka. He subsequently worked in the Bulbul (1937-38) and the saogat (1939-43). From 1943 to 1948 he also worked as a staff artiste at the Kolkata centre of All India Radio.
Back to Dhaka
After the partition of India in 1947, he left Kolkata for dhaka. Here he married a Mahsin Ali's daughter Sufiya Khatun from Katnarpara in Bagura on 21 June 1947. He was the father of four children: 2 daughters and 2 sons.
The other publications where he worked include the Daily azad, Monthly mohammadi, Daily Krishak, Daily Ittehad, Weekly Prabaha, etc. He was also the production adviser of Franklin Publications from 1957 to 1964. From 1964 to 1985 he worked at the Dainik Pakistan/ Dainik Bangla.
Literary Works
Ahsan Habib started writing while still a student. His first poem, 'Mayer Kabar Pade Kishor', was published in the school magazine in 1934 when he was student of class X. Subsequently, his poems were published in various journals and magazines such as Desh, Mohammadi, Bichitra, etc. His first book of poems was Ratrishes (1947). He also wrote novels and a number of children's books.
Theme of his Works
Ahsan Habib was a poet of urban society, both in language and sensibility. His poems reflect the social reality of his times and focus on the concerns of the middle class.
Awards
He received several awards for his literary achievements, among them the UNESCO Literary Prize (1960-61), the Bangla Academy Award (1961), Adamjee Literary Prize (1964), Nasiruddin Gold Medal (1977), Ekushey Padak (1978), Abul Mansur Ahmed Memorial Prize (1980) and Abul Kalam Memorial Prize (1984).
Ahsna Habib died in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Ahsan Habib's Works:
Poems
Ratrisheshe (1948)
Chhaya Horin (1962)
Shara Dupur (1964)
Ashay Boshoty (1974)
Megh Bole Choitrey Jabo (1976)
Duhate Dui Adim Pathar (1980)
Premer Kabita (1981)
Bidirno Dorpone Mukh (1985)
For Children
Josna Rater Golpo
Brsti Pare Tapur Tupur (1977)
Chutir Din Dupure (1978)
Relgari Jhomajhome
Ranikhaler Shanko
Jotsona Rater Golpo
Soto Mama The Great
Pakhira Fire Ashe
Rotnodip (a sort translation of Treasure Ilsand)
Hajibaba
Probal Dipe Obhijan ( a sort translation of Coral Island)
Novels
Aronno Neelima (1960)
Ranee Khaler Shanko (a novel for the teenagers)(1965)
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Biography of Abul Hussain
Abul Hussain is a well-acclaimed Bangladeshi poet who is recognized as
the first modern Bengali poet in Bangladesh. Abul Hussain is the leading
exponent of modernism in Bangladeshi poetry. He expresses in his verse a
cynical and anguished mood that reflects his lifelong search for a
philosophical and religious position from which to analyze and
comprehend the individual life in relation to society; the political
instability and economic uncertainties in his country; and his suspicion
of progress without human feeling. He is a writer of 25 books.
Life
Abul Hussain was born in Khulna, a southern district in Bangladesh,
in 1922. He studied Economics at the Calcutta Presidency College and
Calcutta University. For more than three decades thereafter he worked in
national and international organizations, at home and abroad, as a
civil servant. At the same time he has been a major Bengali writer,
excelling both in poetry and prose. He has been awarded state and other
national prizes for his poetical works. He also represented his country
in literary conferences and festivals in Belgium, USSR, Yugoslavia and
India. Abul Hussain has traveled widely in Asia, Europe, USSR and the
USA.
Awards
Abul Hussain received several awards for his literary achievements. Among them, following are notable:
Bangla Academy Award (1963)
Nasiruddin Gold Medal
Ekushey Padak (1980)
Abul Hussain's Works:
His first book of poem was Naba-Basanta. Others:
Birash Sanglap (1969)
Duswapna Theke Duswapne (1985)
Haoa Tomar Kee Dussahos (1982)
Ekhono Somoy Ache (1997)
Aar Kisher Opekkha (2000)
Kaler Khatae (2008)
Selected Poems of Abul Hussain (1986)
The Biography of Abu Zafar Obaidullah
Abu Zafar Obaidullah (Bengali: আবু জাফর ওবায়েদুল্লাহ 1934–2001), a career civil servant by profession, was a first-rank poet of Bangladesh. Two of his long poems, namely, 'Aami-Kingbodontir-Kathaa Bolchi' and 'Bristi O Shahosi Purush-er Jonyo Pranthona' have gained legendary renowence since their first publication in the late 1970s.
Contents
Life and career
On 8 February 1934 poet Abu Zafar Mohammad Obaidullah Khan (A. Z. M. Obaidullah Khan) was born in Baherchar-Kshudrakathi village under Babuganj upazila of Barisal district on 8 February 1934, in undivided India. He was the second son of Justice Abdul Jabbar Khan, a former speaker of the Pakistan national assembly. He received his primary education in Mymensingh town where his father Abdul Jabbar Khan was at that time working as the District Judge. In 1948, he passed Matriculation examination from the Mymensingh Zilla School. He passed the Intermediate of Arts examination as a student of the Dhaka College in 1950. Then he got admitted into the Dhaka University for studying English and after securing B.A. (Honours) and M.A. degrees he joined the same university in 1954 as a lecturer in the Department of English. He appeared in the Pakistan Superior Service Examinations and having stood second in the combined national merit list, he joined the Civil Service of Pakistan in 1957. He was promoted as Secretary to the Government of Bangladesh in 1976 and after retiring in 1982, he accecpted to be a minister for Agriculture and Water Resources in 1982. Later he also served as Bangladesh's Ambassador to the United States of America. In 1992, he joined as Asstt Director General of FAO Regional Office in Bangkok from where he retired four years later.[1] He died on 19 March 2001. He was the second eldest brother of journalist Enayetullah Khan and politician Rashed Khan Menon.Participation in Language Movement
Abu Zafar Obaidullah actively participated in the Language Movement of 1952 . He composed "Kono Ek Ma-key" [Tr. To a Mother] for the first anthology on Ekushey, which is recited at the Central Shaheed Minar on 21 February every year.[2]Poetry
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This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2008) |
Padaboli
He founded "padaboli" which became the leading poetry movement of Bangladesh in the 1980s.Notably Obaidullah Khan was one of the pioneers of Dhaka-centric group theatre movement that commenced in the 1950s. Along with Syed Maksudus Saleheen, Taufiq Aziz Khan and Bazlul Karim he established Drama Circle in 1956.[3]
Recognition and awards
Abu Zafar Obaidullah is acclaimed as a major poet of Bangladesh.[4] Two major awards given to him are :Poet Abu Zafar Obaidullah Foundation
Poetry lovers of Dhaka established Poet Abu Zafar Obaidullah Foundation in 2002. Currently Arif Nazrul is the Foundation president (2008). Among other regular activities this Foundation awards every year persons who are contributing in the national interest. In 2008, sixteen nationally renowned persons have been selected for the award. They are: Prof Muzaffer Ahmed, Chairman of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) in Economics, Md Kamal Uddin Ahmed, Executive Chairman of Board of Investment in Administration, Rahat Khan, Editor of daily Ittefaq in Literature (Prose), Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, Editor of The Bangladesh Observer, in Journalism, Dr Abul Hasan M Sadeque, Vice-Chancellor of Asian University of Bangladesh, in Education, Sayed Abu Naser Bakhtiar Ahmed, managing director of Agrani Bank, in Banking, Nasir Ahmed in Poetry, Rahim Shah in Child Literature, Mainuddin Biswas and Eng Safiqur Rahman in Industry and Commerce, GM Afsar Uddin in Research, Mohammad JAhangir Molla in Lyrics, Rakhi Bhoumik in Music, Lion Sheikh Tofael Hossain in Social Welfare and Md Selim Master.[5]Also, "Poet Abu Zafar Obaidullah Smriti Pathagar" [memorial library] has been established in Babuganj of Barisal in 2003.[6]
Books[7]
Poet Hasan Hafizur Rahman published Obaidullah's first compilation of poetry at Sawghat Press in 1962. In 1999, all poems of Abu Zafar Obaidullah covering all eight of poetry books of the poet were compiled in a volume titled "Abu Zafar Obaidullah-er Kabitasamagra".- Kokhono Rong Kokhono Shoor
- Kamol-er Chokh
- Ami Kingbadontir Katha Bolchhi
- Shohishnu Protikkha
- Brishti Ebong Shahoshi Purush-er Jonyo Prarthona[8]
- Amar Shomoi Amar Shakol Katha
- Khachar Bhitor Ochin Pakhi
- Yellow Sands' Hills: China through Chinese Eyes
- Rural Development – Problems and Prospects
- Creative Development; Food and Faith
- Abu Zafar Obaidullah-er Kabitasamagra
Biography of Al Mahmud
Mir Abdus Shukur Al Mahmud commonly known as Al Mahmud is a Bangladeshi Poet, novelist, short-story writer. He is considered as one of the greatest Bengali poets emerged in 20th century. His work in Bengali poetry is dominated by his copious use of regional dialects. In 1950s he was among those Bengali poets who were outspoken by writing about the events of Bengali Language Movement, nationalism, political and economical repression and struggle against West Pakistan Government.
Early Life and Career
He was born in Morail Village, Brahmanbaria District, Bangladesh. Mahmud started his career as a journalist. He came into recognition after Lok Lokantor was published in 1963. In succession, he wrote Kaler Kalosh (1966), Sonali Kabin (1966) and Mayabi Porda Dule Otho (1976). In addition to writing poetry, he has written short stories, novels and essays such as Pankourir Rakta and Upamohadesh. He took part in the Liberation War of Bangladesh as a freedom fighter in 1971. After the war, he joined The Daily Ganakantha as the assistant editor. He was jailed for a year during the era of Awami League government. Later, Al Mahmud joined Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in 1975 and retired in 1993 as director of the academy.
Literary Works
Al Mahmud is one of the most important poets in Bengali literature. In his early youth he entered Dhaka city having a broken suitcase under his armpit, from which, like a magician, he showed us all the rivers of Bangladesh. The conscious readers of poetry have watched his magic spellbound and become his fan. Al Mahmud is one of those new poets who have contributed a lot to the progress of modern Bengali poetry. He is a very popular poet in Bangladesh. He has innumerable admirers at home and abroad. But it is a matter of sorrow that very few of his poems have been translated into English, for which the non-Bengali readers are yet deprived of having the taste of his poetry.
A good number of poetry books of Al Mahmud have been published. Lok Lokantor, Kaler Kolos, Sonali Kabin, Mayabi Porda Duley Otho, Adristabadider annabanna, Bokhtiarer Ghora, Arabya Rojonir Rajhas, MithyabadRakhal,Doel o Doyita etc are remarkable ones. But the book which has been accepted by the Bengali poetryreaders as a classic piece is his Sonali Kabin. The Golden Kabin is an English version of this very 8book.`Kabin' means a matrimonial contract in Bengali Muslim society. Al Mahmud has picked up this very word ever-known to all but never allowed in poetry and used so successfully that it has got a symbolic meaning and has drawn the attention of scholars, both in Bangladesh and West Bengal.
Al Mahmud entered into the realm of poetry following the paths of Jasimuddin and Gibananando Das, his two preceding poets. Jasimuddin uniquely depicted the picture of rustic Bengal in his poems. People of the agro-based Bengali Muslim society first got their identity in literature. Their sorrow, sufferings, poverty, hunger and love, depicted vividly in his poems, attracted not only the Bengali educated society but also the whole world. Unlike Jasimuddin, Gibananando Das depicted the scenic and the spiritual beauty of Bangladesh. Another difference between them is that Jasimuddin followed the language of rustic people in poetry, whereas Gibananando Das was very sophosticated in using poetic dictions. Walking the paths of his two great forerunners, Al Mahmud had to struggle a lot to 9find out his own identity. At last he reached his goal; his distinction as a poet became obvious, in his third book the Sonali Kabin.
Philosopher Sibnarayan Ray commented:
“Al Mahmud has an extraordinary gift for telescopic discrete levels of experience; in his poems I find a marvelous fusion and wit which reminds me occasionally of Bishnu Dey. The complete secularism of his approach is also striking…he was born and brought up in a very conservative Muslim religious family; it is not a secularism forced by some ideology, but present naturally and ubiquitously in his metaphors, images and themes. ”
Awards
Ekushey Padak, 1987; The highest literature award of Bangladesh
Bangla Academy Award, 1968
Chattagram Sangskriti Kendro Farrukh Memorial Award,1995
Kabi Jasim Uddin Award
Philips Literary Award
Alakta Literary Award
Sufi Motaher Hossain Literary Gold Meda
Al Mahmud's Works:
Lok Lokantor (1963)
Kaler Kalos (1966)
Shonali Kabin (1966)
Mayabi Porda Dule Otho (1976)
Arobbo Rojonir Rajhash (The Goose of Arabian Nights)
Bokhtiyarer Ghora (The Horse of Bakhtiyar)
Dinjapon (Passing Days)
Ditiyo Bhangon (Second Collapse)
Ekti Pakhi Lej Jhola
Golpshomogro
Jebhabe Gore Uthi
Kishor Shomogro
Kobir Atmobisshash (The Confidence of Poet)
Kobita Somogro- 1, 2
Pankourir Rakta (1975) (Blood of Bird)
Na Kono Shunnota Mani Na
Nodir Bhitorer Nodi (River Inside River)
Pakhir Kache, Phooler Kache (To Birds, To Flowers)
Prem O Bhalobashar Kobita (Poems of Love and Romance)
Prem Prokritir Droho Ar Prarthonar Kobita (Poems of Love and Prayer)
Premer Kobita Somogro
Upomohadesh (The Continent)
Upanyas Somogro- 1, 2, 3
Trishera
This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia Al Mahmud; it is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the CC-BY-SA.
Popular Poems
- In the Valley of Dreams
- Nature
- Fugitive
- Heart-penetrating Sight
- Poetry Such As
- In the New Year
- By Your Hand
- Partition of Heritage
- The Shame of Return
- In this Fascination
- The Sound of Bathing
- Comes More Not
- The Foam of Wind
- Bent on the Ground
Biography of Abu Hena Mostafa Kamal
Life
Abu Hena Mustafa Kamal was born in Gobinda village of ullahpara upazila in the district of pabna on 11 March 1936. After passing MA in Bangla in 1959 from Dhaka University, he taught at different local colleges before joining the Department of Bangla, Dhaka University, as a lecturer in 1963. He joined Rajshahi University as senior lecturer of Bangla in 1965.
In 1966 he went to London University on a Commonwealth Scholarship and earned PhD degree for his dissertation on Bangla writing and the Bangla press. Abu Hena joined Chittagong University in 1973. In 1978 he rejoined the Bangla Department of Dhaka University as professor. He became Director General of the bangladesh shilpakala academy in 1984 and of the bangla academy in 1986.
Death
While serving the Bangla Academy, he died of heart disease on 23 September 1989.
Literary Life
Abu Hena was one of the young writers of the new literature of the fifties. Fond of poetry, he published an anthology, Purba Banlar Kavita (Poems of East Bengal), in collaboration with Mohammad Mahfuzullah in 1954. He also wrote poems and composed songs, many of which were sung by his friends, Abu Bakr Khan, Anwaruddin Khan and Md Asafaddaula, thus helping in the creation of modern songs. Among his popular songs was 'Sei champa nadir tire', sung by Abu Bakr Khan. Abu Hena also had a mellifluous voice and regularly performed on Dhaka Radio. His voice could convey intimate feelings and deep emotions, making his songs memorable.
Abu Hena Mostafa Kamal produced three books of poems: Apan Yauban Bairi (My Wayward Youth, 1974), Yehetu Janmandha (Since Born Blind, 1984) and Akranta Ghazal (Oppressed Ghazal, 1988) and a compilation of songs Ami Sagarer Nil (I Am the Blue of the Sea, 1995). He was also a fine prose writer and wrote several essays on bangla literature, which have been collected in Shilpir Rupantar (Transformation of the Artist) and Katha O Kavita (Discourse and Poetry). These books are a valuable contribution to Bangla literary criticism. He also used to write witty columns, which were greatly acclaimed. Abu Hena's research work written in English, The Bengali Press and Literary Writing, is a discussion of literature published in the Bangla periodicals of 19th century Kolkata.
Personality
An orator, narrator and conversationalist, Abu Hena was an attractive personality. He could captivate audiences with his eloquence and humour. He was also popular as a professor of literature.
Abu Hena Mostafa Kamal's Works:
Books of Poems
Apan Yauban Bairi (My Wayward Youth, 1974),
Yehetu Janmandha (Since Born Blind, 1984), 3. Akranta Ghazal (Oppressed Ghazal, 1988).
Compilation of Songs
Ami Sagarer Nil (I Am the Blue of the Sea, 1995).
Prose Collections
Shilpir Rupantar (Transformation of the Artist), Katha O Kavita (Discourse and Poetry).
Research Work
Abu Hena's research work written in English, The Bengali Press and Literary Writing, is a discussion of literature published in the Bangla periodicals of 19th century Kolkata.
Biography of Al Mahmud
Mir Abdus Shukur Al Mahmud commonly known as Al Mahmud is a Bangladeshi Poet, novelist, short-story writer. He is considered as one of the greatest Bengali poets emerged in 20th century. His work in Bengali poetry is dominated by his copious use of regional dialects. In 1950s he was among those Bengali poets who were outspoken by writing about the events of Bengali Language Movement, nationalism, political and economical repression and struggle against West Pakistan Government.
Early Life and Career
He was born in Morail Village, Brahmanbaria District, Bangladesh. Mahmud started his career as a journalist. He came into recognition after Lok Lokantor was published in 1963. In succession, he wrote Kaler Kalosh (1966), Sonali Kabin (1966) and Mayabi Porda Dule Otho (1976). In addition to writing poetry, he has written short stories, novels and essays such as Pankourir Rakta and Upamohadesh. He took part in the Liberation War of Bangladesh as a freedom fighter in 1971. After the war, he joined The Daily Ganakantha as the assistant editor. He was jailed for a year during the era of Awami League government. Later, Al Mahmud joined Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in 1975 and retired in 1993 as director of the academy.
Literary Works
Al Mahmud is one of the most important poets in Bengali literature. In his early youth he entered Dhaka city having a broken suitcase under his armpit, from which, like a magician, he showed us all the rivers of Bangladesh. The conscious readers of poetry have watched his magic spellbound and become his fan. Al Mahmud is one of those new poets who have contributed a lot to the progress of modern Bengali poetry. He is a very popular poet in Bangladesh. He has innumerable admirers at home and abroad. But it is a matter of sorrow that very few of his poems have been translated into English, for which the non-Bengali readers are yet deprived of having the taste of his poetry.
A good number of poetry books of Al Mahmud have been published. Lok Lokantor, Kaler Kolos, Sonali Kabin, Mayabi Porda Duley Otho, Adristabadider annabanna, Bokhtiarer Ghora, Arabya Rojonir Rajhas, MithyabadRakhal,Doel o Doyita etc are remarkable ones. But the book which has been accepted by the Bengali poetryreaders as a classic piece is his Sonali Kabin. The Golden Kabin is an English version of this very 8book.`Kabin' means a matrimonial contract in Bengali Muslim society. Al Mahmud has picked up this very word ever-known to all but never allowed in poetry and used so successfully that it has got a symbolic meaning and has drawn the attention of scholars, both in Bangladesh and West Bengal.
Al Mahmud entered into the realm of poetry following the paths of Jasimuddin and Gibananando Das, his two preceding poets. Jasimuddin uniquely depicted the picture of rustic Bengal in his poems. People of the agro-based Bengali Muslim society first got their identity in literature. Their sorrow, sufferings, poverty, hunger and love, depicted vividly in his poems, attracted not only the Bengali educated society but also the whole world. Unlike Jasimuddin, Gibananando Das depicted the scenic and the spiritual beauty of Bangladesh. Another difference between them is that Jasimuddin followed the language of rustic people in poetry, whereas Gibananando Das was very sophosticated in using poetic dictions. Walking the paths of his two great forerunners, Al Mahmud had to struggle a lot to 9find out his own identity. At last he reached his goal; his distinction as a poet became obvious, in his third book the Sonali Kabin.
Philosopher Sibnarayan Ray commented:
“Al Mahmud has an extraordinary gift for telescopic discrete levels of experience; in his poems I find a marvelous fusion and wit which reminds me occasionally of Bishnu Dey. The complete secularism of his approach is also striking…he was born and brought up in a very conservative Muslim religious family; it is not a secularism forced by some ideology, but present naturally and ubiquitously in his metaphors, images and themes. ”
Awards
Ekushey Padak, 1987; The highest literature award of Bangladesh
Bangla Academy Award, 1968
Chattagram Sangskriti Kendro Farrukh Memorial Award,1995
Kabi Jasim Uddin Award
Philips Literary Award
Alakta Literary Award
Sufi Motaher Hossain Literary Gold Meda
Al Mahmud's Works:
Lok Lokantor (1963)
Kaler Kalos (1966)
Shonali Kabin (1966)
Mayabi Porda Dule Otho (1976)
Arobbo Rojonir Rajhash (The Goose of Arabian Nights)
Bokhtiyarer Ghora (The Horse of Bakhtiyar)
Dinjapon (Passing Days)
Ditiyo Bhangon (Second Collapse)
Ekti Pakhi Lej Jhola
Golpshomogro
Jebhabe Gore Uthi
Kishor Shomogro
Kobir Atmobisshash (The Confidence of Poet)
Kobita Somogro- 1, 2
Pankourir Rakta (1975) (Blood of Bird)
Na Kono Shunnota Mani Na
Nodir Bhitorer Nodi (River Inside River)
Pakhir Kache, Phooler Kache (To Birds, To Flowers)
Prem O Bhalobashar Kobita (Poems of Love and Romance)
Prem Prokritir Droho Ar Prarthonar Kobita (Poems of Love and Prayer)
Premer Kobita Somogro
Upomohadesh (The Continent)
Upanyas Somogro- 1, 2, 3
Trishera
This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia Al Mahmud; it is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the CC-BY-SA.
Popular Poems
- In the Valley of Dreams
- Nature
- Fugitive
- Heart-penetrating Sight
- Poetry Such As
- In the New Year
- By Your Hand
- Partition of Heritage
- The Shame of Return
- In this Fascination
- The Sound of Bathing
- Comes More Not
- The Foam of Wind
- Bent on the Ground
The Biography Arunabh Sarkar
He was born at Mirjapur, Tangail to his father Kshetranat Sarkar and
mother Shaila Sarkar. He began his schooling in Tangail, after which he
got himself admitted into famous Karatia Saadat College. Later he
studied English language and literature in Calcutta University. He
started his working career since 1967 as a journalist in Dhaka. This is
the period of his creative stimulation as well.
Having his debut in the late 1960s, poet Sarkar has been contributing to contemporary trend of Bengali poetry slowly but steadily in his unique way. His first poetry book ‘Nagare Baul’ (Mystic in the city) came out in the early 1970s that brought him the name and fame of an accomplished poet with superb command on prosody and poetic diction.
Most of his poems are highly lyrical, terse, pointed and gifted with striking idioms, wits and sarcasm. But he is not a prolific writer like many of his contemporaries, rather a selective one drafting and redrafting all his texts over and over again. Urbanity, mysticism and rootless homelessness are intermingled in almost all his poems. Poet Rafik Azad calls him ‘king of lyrics’ whereas late poet Abdul Mannan Syed praised him as a lover and a mystic. These are, indeed, significant comments in assessing his poetry since both of them are good friends as well as close observers of his poetic maturity. Unlike many of his overt contemporaries he does not indulge in wild experimentation, rather he has been all along targeting towards achieving a modest metaphor of his kind. His poetry book ‘Narira Fere Na’ (Women never return) is an example of his distinctive voice and poetic oeuvre. So far he has published ten book-length tiles in prose and poems.
Married to Aziza Sarkar he has two children: Sugata and Mithila.
He has traveled many countries including USA, UK, France and Germany on official invitation from those countries and got the opportunity of exchanging views with the writers and journalists there.
He received the Bangla Academy Award, 2009 for Poetry. Arunabh also received Tangail Sahitya Sangsad Poetry Award for 2007.
He has three collection of Poems : "Nagare Baul" , "Keu Kichhui Jane Na" and "Narira Fere Na".
Sarkar also edited a Poetry Magazine, Eshika from 1969 to 1985.Poet Arunabh Sarkar has been working as a Journalist for some 40 years in Bangladesh.
Arunabh Sarkar's Works:
Nagare Baul , Keu Kichhui Jane Na, Narira Fere Na.
Arunabh Sarkar is a Bangladeshi Poet, Columnist, Literary Editor & a Freedom Fighter.
This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia Arunabh Sarkar; it is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the CC-BY-SA.
Biography of Abul Hasan
Abul Hasan passed the SSC examination in 1963 from Armanitola Government School in Dhaka, and the HSC from BM College, Barisal. He got admission at the University of Dhaka to study English with honours, but could not complete his studies. Instead, he joined the news section of the Ittefaq in 1969. Subsequently, he became assistant editor of the Ganabangla (1972-73) and Dainik Janapad (1973-74).
Literary Life
Abul Hasan, who came first in the Asian Poetry Competition held in 1970, occupies an important place in modern Bangla Poetry though he wrote for only a decade. His poems reflect the feelings of grief, self-abnegation, and loneliness. They are preoccupied with imaginings of death and ideas of separation. Among his volumes of poems are Raja Yay Raja Ase (1972), Ye Tumi Haran Karo (1974) and Prithak Palanka (1975). The poetic play Ora Kayekjan (1988) and Abul Hasaner Galpa Sanggraha (1990) were published after his death.
Award
He received the Bangla Academy Award (1975) for poetry and the Ekushey Padak (1982) posthumously.
Abul Hasan's Works:
Raja Yay Raja Ase (1972), Ye Tumi Haran Karo (1974), Prithak Palanka (1975), Ora Kayekjan (1988), Abul Hasaner Galpa Sanggraha (1990).
Abul Hasan (Bengali: আবুল হাসান ) was a poet and journalist, born at Barnigram in Tungipara, Gopalganj at his maternal uncle's residence on 4 August 1947. His paternal residence was at Jhanjhania Gram in Nazirpur, Pirojpur. His real name was Abul Hossain Miah; Abul Hasan was his pen name.
This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia Abul Hasan; it is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the CC-BY-SA.
Popular Poems
- Jotsnay Tumi Kotha Bolchho na Keno
- Banbhumir Chhaya
- Premiker Protiddondi
- Nishangota
- Brishti Chihnito Bhalobasha
- Pakhi Hoye Jay Pran
- Protirakkhar Shokgatha
- Proshno
- Badle Jao Kisuta Badlao
- Banbhumike Balo
- Kono Kabbyo Roshik Bondhur Proti
- Tomar Chibuk Chhobo, Kalima Chhobo na
- Chameli Hate Nimnomaner Manush
- Amar hobe na, Ami Bujhe Gechhi
Biography of Abul Hasan
Abul Hasan (Bengali: আবুল হাসান ) was a poet and journalist, born at Barnigram in Tungipara, Gopalganj at his maternal uncle's residence on 4 August 1947. His paternal residence was at Jhanjhania Gram in Nazirpur, Pirojpur. His real name was Abul Hossain Miah; Abul Hasan was his pen name.
Education
Abul Hasan passed the SSC examination in 1963 from Armanitola Government School in Dhaka, and the HSC from BM College, Barisal. He got admission at the University of Dhaka to study English with honours, but could not complete his studies. Instead, he joined the news section of the Ittefaq in 1969. Subsequently, he became assistant editor of the Ganabangla (1972-73) and Dainik Janapad (1973-74).
Literary Life
Abul Hasan, who came first in the Asian Poetry Competition held in 1970, occupies an important place in modern Bangla Poetry though he wrote for only a decade. His poems reflect the feelings of grief, self-abnegation, and loneliness. They are preoccupied with imaginings of death and ideas of separation. Among his volumes of poems are Raja Yay Raja Ase (1972), Ye Tumi Haran Karo (1974) and Prithak Palanka (1975). The poetic play Ora Kayekjan (1988) and Abul Hasaner Galpa Sanggraha (1990) were published after his death.
Award
He received the Bangla Academy Award (1975) for poetry and the Ekushey Padak (1982) posthumously.
Abul Hasan's Works:
Raja Yay Raja Ase (1972), Ye Tumi Haran Karo (1974), Prithak Palanka (1975), Ora Kayekjan (1988), Abul Hasaner Galpa Sanggraha (1990).
This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia Abul Hasan; it is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the CC-BY-SA.
Popular Poems
- Jotsnay Tumi Kotha Bolchho na Keno
- Banbhumir Chhaya
- Premiker Protiddondi
- Nishangota
- Brishti Chihnito Bhalobasha
- Pakhi Hoye Jay Pran
- Protirakkhar Shokgatha
- Proshno
- Badle Jao Kisuta Badlao
- Banbhumike Balo
- Kono Kabbyo Roshik Bondhur Proti
- Tomar Chibuk Chhobo, Kalima Chhobo na
- Chameli Hate Nimnomaner Manush
- Amar hobe na, Ami Bujhe Gechhi
fdhb afsdu asdvh aj.
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