I don't want to beat about the bush, so I'll start with this - to call Sukumar Ray an author of children's literature would be a grave injustice. People who think "Aboltabol" is a book for children lack depth on the intellectual side. Tell me, what has it got that is for kids? What makes "Ha-Ja-Ba-Ra-La" a kids' book? Yes, kids sure can read those, but those have profound inner meanings. Have you ever wondered at the meaning of the first poem in "Aboltabol"? Maybe I think too much, but that one always makes me visualize a place where you can be yourself without any inhibition. Where creative people, or rather, borderline crazy people like me, can come together and have a fun time without having to wonder what anyone would think of them. It is like giving you a blank canvas and saying, "don't worry about what you are painting, just paint anything you want to." I do hope there is such a world somewhere as depicted in this poem.
The only thing that strikes me when I try to understand Sukumar Ray is that how did he manage to find and own the fountain of eternal joy? Coming from an extremely intellectual family, which was one of the pathfinders of Bengal, he definitely had creativity in his DNA. But unlike most people who have become writers, Sukumar graduated with a double honors in Physics and Chemistry from the University of Calcutta. With such a strong scientific background coupled interest in literature and art and what is even more difficult to find is an amazing creativity, wit and this eternal joy.
I read the letters he sent to his family while he was in England (London and Manchester) as a student of photo engraving and lithography. Happiness flows like an undercurrent in all those letters. He seems to be glad with everything, he finds something to be happy about in all the letters. He mentions the pranks that his housemates played on him and also what he did in return, he narrates how his land lady had fits of laughter when she heard what the boys did, how a Japanese friend sang something that everyone thought was a war song but it actually was a love song... there was no mention of depressive weather, little about homesickness and nothing about disliking anything out there, other than some food. But even though, it does not sound like that was much of a deal. On the other hand, in the two years he was in England, he visited museums, watched a Ranji cricket match at Oval and in general gathered a lot of experience which later showed up in his writings.
It is difficult to come across one witty person these days in Bengal, so it shocks me on how Sukumar gathered a bunch of witty young men and created a clib called "Monday club". Most of them were extremely famous in their own fields later on, like the statistician P. C. Maholanobis, poet Satyendranath Dutta (my super favorite), educationist Suniti Kumar Chatterji, poet and composer of beautiful patriotic songs Atul Prasad Sen and many more. They seemed to be enjoying every moment of it. The wonderful creative invitations, funny parodies of serious songs, plays that they wrote and staged give me an impression of the general level of Bengalis in those days and makes me happy and sad at the same time. Happy that there is so much to be proud of, so much to learn from and sad because that quality has diminished at an alarming rate and has come to a negative number.
The good news for people who read is that the books will always be there. The books that bring me mentally close to these people, the ones that let me visualize their household of unparalleled creativity and fun. I think I can see Sukumar painting by the open window of his room, Upendrakishore (Sukumar's immensely talented father) walking up the stairs with the first volume of the first children's magazine in Bengali - Sandesh fresh from his press downstairs, the entire family gathered around Upendrakishore sometimes composing funny poems one line at a time, at other times learning about Physics, watching the moon through a telescope...these things help bring up a person in a right manner. And that is not confined to just the family, through the books, the ideas spread to anyone who wants to pick it up. Gladly, I am one of those.
The only thing that strikes me when I try to understand Sukumar Ray is that how did he manage to find and own the fountain of eternal joy? Coming from an extremely intellectual family, which was one of the pathfinders of Bengal, he definitely had creativity in his DNA. But unlike most people who have become writers, Sukumar graduated with a double honors in Physics and Chemistry from the University of Calcutta. With such a strong scientific background coupled interest in literature and art and what is even more difficult to find is an amazing creativity, wit and this eternal joy.
I read the letters he sent to his family while he was in England (London and Manchester) as a student of photo engraving and lithography. Happiness flows like an undercurrent in all those letters. He seems to be glad with everything, he finds something to be happy about in all the letters. He mentions the pranks that his housemates played on him and also what he did in return, he narrates how his land lady had fits of laughter when she heard what the boys did, how a Japanese friend sang something that everyone thought was a war song but it actually was a love song... there was no mention of depressive weather, little about homesickness and nothing about disliking anything out there, other than some food. But even though, it does not sound like that was much of a deal. On the other hand, in the two years he was in England, he visited museums, watched a Ranji cricket match at Oval and in general gathered a lot of experience which later showed up in his writings.
It is difficult to come across one witty person these days in Bengal, so it shocks me on how Sukumar gathered a bunch of witty young men and created a clib called "Monday club". Most of them were extremely famous in their own fields later on, like the statistician P. C. Maholanobis, poet Satyendranath Dutta (my super favorite), educationist Suniti Kumar Chatterji, poet and composer of beautiful patriotic songs Atul Prasad Sen and many more. They seemed to be enjoying every moment of it. The wonderful creative invitations, funny parodies of serious songs, plays that they wrote and staged give me an impression of the general level of Bengalis in those days and makes me happy and sad at the same time. Happy that there is so much to be proud of, so much to learn from and sad because that quality has diminished at an alarming rate and has come to a negative number.
The good news for people who read is that the books will always be there. The books that bring me mentally close to these people, the ones that let me visualize their household of unparalleled creativity and fun. I think I can see Sukumar painting by the open window of his room, Upendrakishore (Sukumar's immensely talented father) walking up the stairs with the first volume of the first children's magazine in Bengali - Sandesh fresh from his press downstairs, the entire family gathered around Upendrakishore sometimes composing funny poems one line at a time, at other times learning about Physics, watching the moon through a telescope...these things help bring up a person in a right manner. And that is not confined to just the family, through the books, the ideas spread to anyone who wants to pick it up. Gladly, I am one of those.
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