My language

When I try to think about stuff I really love about Bengal, other than the cuisine it's the language. Non-Indians, who have heard me speak in Bengali have commented that it is very sweet sounding (except once, when another Bengali friend and I were excitedly talking about some mean guys and someone said "your language sounds so powerful"!!!) To me, a language is not just a means of communication, it is a way to think. Those people who have made me love my language and realize the richness of it are the writers from the Bengal Renaissance who span over a century. They hail from different backgrounds, their ways of thinking are totally different from one another, but they have all contributed to make me what I am today and influence my thoughts, actions and behaviors every moment.

Vidyasagar

I wouldn't say he is one of my favorite writers, but the fact is Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar laid the foundation of Bengali language.With Barnaparichay(Introduction to the alphabet) he has taught us our mother language. Also, if it was not for him, girls would never have been able to read or write. Instead of writing this blog, I would have been washing utensils by the side of the village pond. My gratitude to this person is endless and that will be there for as long as I live.

Michael

Growing up with the only dream to be an Englishman, Modhu kobi (poet Madhu) or Michael Madhusudan Dutt turned out to be a stalwart of early Bengali literature. A rebel by nature, the bohemian Madhu introduced blank verse in his epics. Meghnad badh kavya (the slaying of Meghnad) being one of his most famous works where, the person who hated mundane, cliched things, he narrated the epic with Meghnad (Ravana's son) as the hero and Ram and his team on negative role. He was a genius who is not very well understood. A reason for this is his profound command over Sanskrit made him use words which are very difficult to understand. He was a brilliant eccentric and one of those characters of Bengal Renaissance whom I dearly love.

Bankim Chandra

The creator of "Vande mataram" (hail the motherland), two words that were the base of inspiration for our freedom struggle, was the foremost of Bengali writers whose works are still vastly read. His novels are famous for lots of intriguing characters, flowery language and elaborate descriptions which are very well known to all Bengali bookworms. I recently read his Krishnakanter will(Krishnakanta's will) and liked the story. Rajani, Devi Chaudhurani, Kopal Kundala are some of his very modern and very famous works with women in super powerful roles.

Rabindranath

Writer and composer of national anthems for two countries (ours and Bangladesh's), Rabindranath Tagore is the philosopher poet. He is the person who has the key to our hearts, who understands our every mood, our every thought and has poetry or songs to soothe our hearts when we feel restless, when we don't know which star to follow or when we need inspiration. He has assimilated the Vedas and Upanishads in his poetry and songs. Also, a fiery patriot and warrior by heart, he has taken brave steps during our freedom struggle, including renouncing his knighthood after the massacre at Jalianwalla Bagh in 1919. He is intertwined in every Bengali household and his songs brighten up every season of Nature and human life.


Sarat Chandra

Belonging to the same time as Rabindranath, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay was never influenced by the former. It is very difficult to maintain one's individuality when every other person was being overshadowed by Rabindranath's grandeur. Sarat Chandra has written about the people belonging to the grassroot. His short stories are famous for bringing into light the abject poverty faced in rural Bengal. Arakshaniya - about a girl who had to be married off but by a certain age but could not because of her poor family and the insults she faced thereafter, Mahesh - a bull, named after Lord Shiva who was domesticated by a poor Muslim family and Abhagir swarga - heaven for the hapless, can bring tears to anyone. On the other hand, characters like Indranath and Sabyasachi can stir up fire in our souls and inspire us to attain impossible things. Sarat Chandra's easy to understand language and simple descriptions have made him a very popular writer.

Nazrul

The firebrand rebel!! The person after my own heart!! Another person, a poet this time who lived during Rabindranath's reign but wrote stuff completely different. Kaji Nazrul Islam deviated from every known custom in the then society. Hailing from a conservative Muslim family, he married a Hindu lady (without converting her to Islam). Their children were named after hindu mythical characters like Sabyasachi (another name of Arjun) which I don't know if even people from the 21st century would do. His most famous poem is Bidrohi - the Rebel, which is amongst my all time bests. Other powerful and very modern, utterly revolutionary writings include -Aamar koiphiyot - my disclaimer, Samyabaadi - equality, Badhu boron - welcoming the bride.

Satyen Dutta

This poet was called Chhander jadukor - wizard of rhythm because his poems have a free flowing rhythm through the verses that is more akin to a lucid melody. With a sharp wit and sense of humor, Satyendra Nath Dutta was very popular among his other literary friends, including Nazrul and Sukumar Ray. A personal favorite of mine, I find his poems not just rhythmic, which makes them very easy to memorize, but also many of the subjects he writes about are my personal favorites too, like Sinhala - Sri Lanka, Raja Karigor - about Lord Vishwakarma, the engineer god, Aamra - Us, the people of Bengal, Daak ticket - postage stamps... he seems to have written those poems just for me!!

Sukumar Ray

Another writer whom I dearly love - Sukumar Ray. He is totally misunderstood by people who say he only wrote for children. No, he wrote for the child in us. Famous for introducing literary nonsense in Bengali (the only one to do so) in his famous work Abol Tabol - nonsense, Sukumar Ray also wrote a number of articles for children in his family magazine Sandesh. (Sandesh has a double meaning - it means news as well as the famous Bengali sweet.) I don't know how many things I have learned from those articles- scientific stuff like sunspots, X-Ray, translations of stories from all over the world, biographies of people like Nightingale, Socrates, Joan of Arc.... Sukumar Ray was a playwright as well. His Lakshmaner shaktishel - defeat of Lakshman is one of the most hillarious plays I have ever read (and acted in!) Same for the story Ha-Ja-Ba-Ra-La - gibberish and  Heshoram Hushiyar er diary - Journal of Heshoram Hushiyar, dialogues from which, like বড় হলে মানুষ কেমন হত্কা হয়ে যায়ে, ২৬" ছাতি , গেছোদাদা , গোমড়াথেরিয়াম (sorry, cannot translate) and many more have entered our daily conversation. Stories of Pagla Dashu - crazy Dashu remind us of the mischievous classmates we all had in school.

Ali Saheb

My favorite Syed Mujtaba Ali had the capacity of writing funny stuff with the joke on himself. His Chacha kahini - Stories told by "uncle" and Deshe bideshe - home and abroad are masterpieces! The vivid portrayal of characters, heartbreaking incidents narrated in a clear, no-nonsense way has won the hearts on Bengalis.

Ashapurna Devi

Her famous novel Prothom pratishruti - first promise is a must read for everyone! She brought into light the Bengali women's quarters, the stinging pain of widows, the society which was submerged in slimy rituals and kept on clinging to conservative traditions of a decaying Hindu religion. Her protagonist Satyavati came from such a background but was a bright shining light herself. Her story of settling in Calcutta during the onset of Bengal Renaissance, her struggle for schooling girls is an inspiration to Bengali women through the ages. The sequels - Subarnolata and Bakul katha - Bakul's story are also very interesting.



Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay

If there's a person who can tug at your heart strings, then that is him. Bibhutibhushan's characteristic is taking the reader close to nature and in such a way that after a while you'll actually feel what he is trying to portray. His most famous novel is Pather panchali - song of the road and so well written is it's sequel Aparajito - the unvanquished. Together they were made into the famous Apu trilogy movies by Satyajit Ray. Those stories have an uncanny ability to make me introspect and fish out my deepest feelings which are generally covered with more worldly thoughts. His Chander pahar - mountain of the moon, on the other hand is a totally different adventurous story of a young man, Shankar in the jungles and deserts of Africa. It is full of positive vibe and it ends with the my often quoted line - "it's much better to be a crystal and get shattered to a thousand pieces than to sit silently all your life being a piece of tile on a roof top"!!! It's hard to believe that the same person can write Apu's stories, so full of an undercurrent of pathos and Chander pahar, which can be an inspiration to leave the nest and spread your wings in the open sky.

Saradindu Bandopadhyay

Byomkesh and Ajit in the famous tv show

My most favorite story teller of all times. If I have to choose the best among all these favorite writers, I'll choose Saradindu... he's the jewel in the crown! Versatility is something that can define him as a writer - from the extremely intelligent detective stories of Byomkesh Bakshi, the sweet romantic historical fictions like Tungabhadrar teerey - on the bank of river Tungabhadra, thrillers like Jhinder bondi - prisoner of Jhind - transcreated from the Prisoner of Zenda, innumerous social stories, horror stories and stories for kids and teenagers span the spectrum of his writings. I can read his stories again and again without losing the charm ever. I love to dream of the far off places... distant in both space and time... and to dream of Arjun... :-)

Narayan Gangopadhyay

My grandmom was literally ROFL after reading a story written by Narayan Ganguly and my dad once told me, if you actually don't LOL after reading one of these stories then you are not a normal person. Narayan Ganguly's stories of the famous Teni-da and his gang can make any glum person smile. It's impossible for me to translate those stuff but the descriptions of situations the four guys find them in and the special East Bengali dialect one of them, Habul Sen speaks have made many people laugh their hearts out! I can only say that Jerome K. Jerome's "Three Men in a Boat" can be the only close contestant of Narayan Ganguly's stories of Teni-da.

Satyajit Ray

That time, when we were teenagers and spent month long summer vacations, the time after lunch were mainly dedicated to reading story books. Curling with a book under a ceiling fan rotating at high speed, me and people of my generation have perhaps learned the most interesting things gleaned from Satyajit Ray's books - Felu-da, cousin Felu - the detective, Professor Shanku - a scientist who invented strange things and many other short stories. Apart from being a talented  writer, he was a world class movie director as well. His movies having paved the way for modern Indian films.



These books have come a long way... from young wives reading them in the afternoon when everyone else in the household were taking a nap to me downloading pdfs and reading them on my PlayBook. I'm sure they will live through many more changes yet to come...