Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s first and only novel in English, ‘Rajmohan’s Wife’, was published in 1864 in a serialized format in an English-language periodical, ‘Indian Field’ that soon shut down. It created history by being widely regarded as the first Indian novel written in English. Some argue there were other contenders but they all agree that Bengal, especially Kolkata, plays an important role in the literary space for its contribution to the genesis of various genres of writing in India.
The mantle of Indians writing in English has sin ce been continued by many. Among the contemporary authors are Amitav Ghosh, Jhumpa Lahiri, Amit Chaudhuri, Kunal Basu and Neil Mukherjee to name a few. Among the younger ones, readers have warmed up to the works of Samit Basu, Indrapramit Roy and Abir Mukherjee.
(Clockwise from top left) Amitav Ghosh, Amit Chaudhuri, Mahasweta Devi, Jhumpa Lahiri
Many believe Indian English poetry, too, began its journey from Kolkata from the days of Henry Louis Vivian Derozio. The assistant headmaster of Hindu College is considered the first Indian Anglican poet. Others like Kashiprasad Ghosh, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Sashi Chander Dutt, Aurob indo Ghosh, Sarojini Naidu, Rabindranath Tagore followed in his footsteps. “Derozio was not a great poet but his poems revolutionized the idea of modern poetry in Bengal and India. Madhusudan, a geni us, ushered in sonnets in Bengali and other Indian languages. Tagore took Bengali poetry to the zenith and almost every great Indian poet after him followed him in one way or the other,” said poet Subodh Sarkar. “Bengali poets participated not only in the Renaissance but also in the transition from post-medieval tradition to modern sensibilities in the 19th and 20th century. ”
Bengal plays a major role in the literary space, contributing to the genesis of various genres in India
Kolkata has hugely contributed to women authors. The works of Toru Dutt stand out internationally. Widely acknowledged as ‘India’s Keats’ who died at 21, Dutt was the first Indian to translate the works of 65 poets from French to English. British scholar Edward J Thompson, an associate of Tagore, had described Dutt as “a woman whose place is with Sappho and E mily Brontë, fiery and unconquerable of soul”. In his review of her ‘Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan’, he wrote, “These poems are sufficient to place Toru Dutt in the small class of women who have written English verse that can stand. ”
Bengal played a pivotal role in moulding modern drama. “The first Bengali play, ‘Kuleenkulasarbasya’, was written by Ramnarayan Tarkaratna in 1854. Madhusudan wrote ‘Sharmistha’ in 1858. The next year, Dinabandhu Mitra began writing ‘Nil Darpan’. It was essential to the indigo revolt of 1859 in Bengal,” said author Prabal Kumar Basu.
Last year, Amar Mitra was a winner of O Henry Award for his ‘Gaonburo’, a Bengali short fiction written back in 1977 . Experts say Mitra carried the legacy of short story writing nourished in Bengal. “Although Tagore is credited with writing the first short stories in Bangla, many others, too, came close to the form. In the Bijit Ghosh-edited 10-volume anthology, ‘Banglar Chhoto Golpo’, there are more than a dozen writers predating Tagore who attempted writing short stories,” said Arunava Sinha , award winning translator of Bengali classics, modern fiction, non-fiction and poetry.
Ghosh’s list included William Carey’s ‘Bondhur Bikroy, Namaj Pora Brahman’, Mrityunjay Vidyalan kar’s ‘Tritiya Stabak Tritiya Kusum’, Bhawanicharan Bandyopadhyay’s ‘Phulbabu’, Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar’s ‘Narak Kemon Sukher Sthan’, Bhudeb Mukhopadhyay’s ‘Swafal Swapno’, Purnachandra Chattopadhyay’s ‘Madhumati’, Sanjibchandra Chattopadhyay’s ‘Damini’, Bankimchandra’s ‘Jugolanguriyo’, Trailokyonath Mukhopadhyay’s ‘Gurudev’, Haraprasad Shashtri’s ‘Birohe Pagol’, Amritala l Basu’s ‘Rai-Grihini’, Swarnakumari Devi’s ‘Sanyasini’, Bipinchandra Pal’s ‘Mrinaler Katha’, Jaladhar Sen’s ‘Prayaschitto’, Tagore’s ‘Dena Paona’, Nagendranath Gupta’s ‘Ch irakumari’, Saratkumari Chowdhurani’s ‘Didima’, Kedarnath Bandyopadhyay’s ‘Chattujye-Sangbad’, Upendrakishore Roychowdhuri’s ‘Bhuter Golpo’, Mankumari Basu’s ‘Adrishtyo Chakra’, Shrini Devi’s ‘Bonbhojon’, Promotho Chaudhury’s ‘Nil Lohiter Sourashtra Lila’, Jagadananda Ray’s ‘Gohonar Baksho’ and Dinendra Kumar Ray’s ‘Adrister Porihas’. “Tagore’s first attempt at short story writing was ‘Bhikarini’ (1877). But he felt it did not meet all the criteria of a short story. His next works, ‘Ghater Katha’, ‘Rajpather Katha’ and ‘Mukut’, did not qualify as true short stories. But his fifth try, ‘Dena Paona’, should be recognized as the first try at short story writing in India. His ‘Postmaster’ took the form to a space beyond Be ngal,” Basu said. Sinha said the form of short story “flourished and found its true space in Bengal”. “Short story writers even now place themselves in the long tradition of short story writing of various Indian literatures. Looking back, they find Bangla short stories dominating. Most owe some allegiance to the original appearance of the short story in Bangla,” said Sinha.
Subodh Sar kar remembers in Kerala, he had once met a boy, named Saratchandra. “I was surprised to hear such a name in Kerala. I was told Saratchandra was such a popularly translated author in India that it was common to find many readers naming their sons after him even now,” he said. Sinha pointed out most translated literature in India was in Bengali. “This is a historically proven fact. Not just Saratchandra, but others, like Tagore and Bhibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay, were read by readers in their own languages across India as their own literature . They didn’t think of that as having originated in other languages. The true success of the translation project lies there,” Sinha said.
Much of the richness of children’s literature in India can be attributed to three generations of the Ray family — Upendrakishore, Sukumar and Satyajit. Translations of Feluda stories contributed majorly to the popularit y of the detective genre in India. “Priyanath Mukhopadhyay, who was a detective in Kolkata during the British era, is considered a pioneer in mystery fiction writing in Bengal. He wrote ‘Darogar Daptar’ in 1892. Followed by his success, Sarachchandra Sirkar published a series, ‘Goenda Kahini’. Dinendranath Roy wrote over 100 detective stories. Hemendra Kumar Roy followed with his ‘Jayanta-Manik’ stories. Shara dindu Bandyopadhyay created Byomkesh Baksi. Buddhadeva Bose, too, wrote a few detective stories. Then, there are gems like Samaresh Basu’s Gogol, Sunil Gangopadhyay’s Kakababu, S uchitra Bhattacharya’s Mitin Mashi and Nihar Ranjan Gupta’s Kiriti Roy,” Basu said.
(From top) Rabindranath Tagore, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Shakti Chattopadhyay, Sunil Gangopadhyay
From the golden age of the modern period of writing, other well-known writers who have been tran slated widely include Buddhadeva Bose, Sankar, Mahasweta Devi, Sunil Gangopadhyay, Satyajit Ray, Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, Ashapurna Devi, Samaresh Basu, Bani Basu, Manoranjan Byapari, Sangeeta Bandyopa dhyay and Anita Agnihotri. With the popularity of authors, like Buddhadeb Guha, Samaresh Mazumdar, Premendra Mitra, Shakti Chattopadhyay, Bimal Mitra, Joy Goswami, Mallika Sengupta and Srijato, booklovers believe soon, their translated works will gain readership in other parts, too. “I have been moved by the works of Jagadish Gupta, Bimal Kar. Premendra Mitra’s ‘Telenapota Abishkar’ has not been translated. My Sahitya Akademi awardwinning novel, ‘Dhruboputra’, too, is not translated. Bengali literature needs to be translated and presented well. If done properly, it can bring home another Nobel,” said author Amar Mitra.
