Shakti Chattopadhyay

Bengali poet and writer

Shakti Chattopadhyay
Shakti Chattopadhyay
Born	(1933-11-25)25 November 1933 Jaynagar Majilpur, Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India^[1]
Died	23 March 1995(1995-03-23) (aged 61) Calcutta, West Bengal, India
Pen name	Sphulinga Samaddar^[2]
Occupation	Poet
Language	Bengali
Nationality	Indian
Period	1961–1995
Literary movement	Hungry movement, Krittibas
Notable works	Abani Bari Achho Jete Pari Kintu Keno Jabo
Notable awards	Ananda Puraskar^[3] Sahitya Akademi Award^[4]

Shakti Chattopadhyay (25 November 1933 – 23 March 1995) was an Indian poet and writer who wrote in Bengali. He is known for his realistic depictions of rural life. He was a green poet, many of his poems raised the issue of nature in crisis. Through his poems he urged to protect Mother Nature and plant trees.

The huge surprise and controversy surrounding his poetry have repeatedly moved the readers. The omnipotent humanity of the American Beatniks moved him at one time.

Early life

Shakti Chattopadhyay was born in Jaynagar Majilpur, to Bamanath Chattopadhyay and Kamala Devi. He lost his father at the age of four and was brought up by his maternal grandfather. He passed Matriculation Examination in 1951 and got admitted to the City College to study commerce as his maternal uncle, who was a businessman and also his guardian, promised him a job of an accountant. In 1953, he passed Intermediate Commerce Examination, but gave up studying commerce and got admitted to the Presidency College (now Presidency University, Kolkata) with Honours in Bengali literature but he did not appear in the examination.

Shakti Chattopadhyay worked with Ananda Bazar Patrika from 1970 to 1994, and was a visiting professor at Visva Bharati University after his retirement.^[5]

Literature career

He started writing novels to make a living from literature. Kuyotala was his first novel. His first collection of poems, Hey prem, Hey naishyabda (O love, O silence), published in 1956. Abani Bari Achho is a poem by Shakti Chattopadhyay. It is included in his seminal early collection Dhôrmeo achho jirafeo achho published in 1965.^[6] He also published 10 novels, several collections of travel writing, a collection of essays and Bengali translations.

Notable works

Kuyotala
Hey prem, Hey naishyabda (O love, O silence)
Jwalanta Rumal
Āmāke jāgāo
Dhôrmeo achho jirafeo achho : Abani Bari Achho
Jete Pari Kintu Keno Jabo
Padyasamagra
Sakale pratyeke ekā
Kabira galpa
Agranthita padya
Sandhyāra se-śānta upahāra
Jongole Pahare
Amar Rabindranath

Awards

References

^ Sengupta, Samir (2005). Shakti Chattopadhyay. Makers of Indian Literature (1st ed.). New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi. p. 5. ISBN 978-81-260-2003-4.
^ Akademi Bidyarthi Bangla Abhidhan [Akademi Students' Bengali Dictionary] (in Bengali) (2nd ed.). Kolkata: Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi. 2009 [1999]. p. 875. ISBN 978-81-86908-96-9.
^ Sengupta, Samir (2005). Shakti Chattopadhyay. p. 93
^ Sengupta, Samir (2005). Shakti Chattopadhyay. p. 94
^ Historical Dictionary of the Bengalis. Scarecrow Press, USA. 22 August 2013. ISBN 9780810880245. Retrieved 2 September 2019. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
^ "Poem: Abani, Are You Home by Shakti Chattopadhay".