Ajoy Home (2 May 1913 – 30 October 1992) was a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

aviculturist Aviculture is the practice of keeping and breeding birds, especially of wild birds in captivity. Types There are various reasons that people get involved in aviculture. Some people breed birds to preserve a species. Some people breed parrots a ...

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

and naturalist of India, based in the eastern state of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

. The Archana Award was conferred upon him by the

Bangiya Sahitya Parishad Bangiya Sahitya Parishat is a literary society in Maniktala of Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Established during the time of the British Raj, its goal is to promote Bengali literature, both by translating works in other languages to Bengali and ...

on 24 July 1992. He was also awarded the

Rabindra Puraskar The Rabindra Puraskar (also Rabindra Smriti Puraskar) is the highest honorary literary award given in the Indian state of West Bengal. This award is named after the famous Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore and is administered by the Government of W ...

, the highest honorary literary award from the state of

, posthumously by the

Government of West Bengal The Government of West Bengal also known as the West Bengal Government, is the subnational government of the Indian state of West Bengal , created by the National Constitution as the state's legislative, executive and judicial authority. The ...

on 3 June 1996 for his book ''"Chena Achena Pakhi"'' ().

Early life and family history

The

Brahmo Bengali Brahmos are those who adhere to Brahmoism, the philosophy of Brahmo Samaj which was founded by Raja Rammohan Roy. A recent publication describes the disproportionate influence of Brahmos on India's development post-19th Century as unpar ...

family of Ajoy Home originally hailed from

Mymensingh Mymensingh ( bn, ময়মনসিংহ) is the capital of Mymensingh Division, Bangladesh. Located on the bank of Brahmaputra River, about north of the national capital Dhaka, it is a major financial center and educational hub of north ...

in modern-day

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

, who later settled in Calcutta. Ajoy Home was born in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

(Calcutta) to

reformer and a teacher at City School, Gagan Chandra and his wife Basantabala. Ajoy was the sixth of his seven siblings. His eldest brother was Amal Chandra Home, the well-known founder-editor of the

Calcutta Municipal Gazette Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commerci ...

and a member of

Sukumar Ray Sukumar Ray (; 30 October 1887 – 10 September 1923) was a Bengali writer and poet from the Indian subcontinent. He is remembered mainly for his writings for children. He was the son of children's story writer Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury and ...

's 'Monday club'. Ajoy Home himself studied at the

Brahmo Boys School The Brahmo Boys School is a boys' school of Kolkata, in the state of West Bengal, India. It is guided by the principles of the Brahmo Samaj movement. Gurucharan Mahalanobis, the grandfather of Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, was its founder. Nota ...

and went on to

Vidyasagar College Vidyasagar College (Bengali: বিদ্যাসাগর কলেজ) is a state government-aided public college, affiliated to the University of Calcutta, located in North Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The college offers both post-gradu ...

in Calcutta for his undergraduate education. He was married to Suparna, also of a Brahmo family hailing from

Shillong Shillong () is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a Indian state, state in northeastern India, which means "The Abode of Clouds". It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the list of most populous cities in ...

, in the year 1947, and she predeceased him on 4 February 1987.

Career

Home was the author of several books on

ornithology Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

written in his vernacular Bengali: ''Banglar Pakhi'' (''Birds of Bengal'', with a cover-design by the Indian film-maker

Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian director, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, author, essayist, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and music composer. One of the greatest auteurs of fil ...

, who happened to be a family friend), ''Chena Achena Pakhi'' (''Birds known and unknown'') that won him a posthumous Rabindra Puroshkar, awarded by the Government of West Bengal in 1996. His other works include ''Bichitra Jeeb-jontu'' (''A plethora of animals''), and the

sci-fi Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universe ...

tale ''Moron Ghum'' (''The Deathly Sleep'') etc. Home wrote for several Indian wild life journals, and also contributed regularly to various well-known Bengali-language magazines and periodicals of the time, including

Sandesh Sandesh may refer to: *Sandesh (confectionery), a Bengali sweet prepared in Bangladesh and India *Sandesh (magazine), ''Sandesh'' (magazine), a children's magazine in West Bengal *Sandesh (Indian newspaper), ''Sandesh'' (Indian newspaper), a Gujara ...

(a magazine for younger readers started by

Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury (12 May 1863 – 20 December 1915) was a Bengali writer and painter. One of his written book is ''Chotoder Shera Biggan Rochona Shongkolon''. He was the son-in-law of reformer Dwarkanath Ganguly. He was also an entre ...

in 1913), Desh, ''Kishore Jnan-bijnan'' - a science magazine for the young, ''Mahanagar'',

Aajkaal ''Aajkaal'' (pronounced: ) is a Bengali newspaper which is one of the principal newspapers published in Kolkata, India. It covers myriad subjects (broadly business, entertainment, politics, etc.) from Kolkata and the world, and has developed a ...

(a daily newspaper) and others. Home was appointed librarian of the Indian Statistical Institute by

Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis OBE, FNA, FASc, FRS (29 June 1893– 28 June 1972) was an Indian scientist and statistician. He is best remembered for the Mahalanobis distance, a statistical measure, and for being one of the members of the fi ...

, where he worked until superannuation. Although fluent in several languages, Home wrote mainly in his mother tongue, Bengali, motivated by a desire to write for the Bengali speaking masses in his home state of

, who were so far hamstrung by the scarcity of quality books on ornithology written in Bengali, as mentioned by him in his book ''Banglar Pakhi''. His books were compiled from information collected during four decades of travel and exploration in the wilderness of eastern India, including the hills and forests of undivided

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

and the remote corners of the

Sunderbans Sundarbans (pronounced ) is a mangrove area in Ganges Delta, the delta formed by the confluence of the Padma River, Padma, Brahmaputra River, Brahmaputra and Meghna Rivers in the Bay of Bengal. It spans the area from the Baleswar River in Bang ...

, as well as other parts of India. Home was a founder-member o
Prakriti Samsad
a Nature Study group in West Bengal and was a promoter of environmental awareness, wildlife conservation, and birdwatcher groups. He was the founder and editor of ''Prakriti Gyan'', a Bengali magazine on nature.

Personal

Home participated in several hobbies apart from his study of birds, in particular playing bridge, attending bridge tournaments all over India. He was very fond of

Rabindrasangeet ''Rabindra Sangeet'' ( bn, রবীন্দ্র সঙ্গীত; ), also known as Tagore Songs, are songs from the Indian subcontinent written and composed by the Bengali polymath Rabindranath Tagore, winner of the 1913 Nobel Prize in Li ...

and was close to Pravas Dey (uncle of the Indian singer

Manna Dey Prabodh Chandra Dey (May 1, 1919 − October 24, 2013), known by his stage name Manna Dey, was an internationally acclaimed and celebrated Indian playback singer, music director, and a musician. As a classical vocalist, he belonged to the Bhen ...

). The duo started a music school named ‘Ektara'.

Death and legacy

Home died in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

on 30 October 1992, survived by his only daughter Sutapa. A commemorative event was organized on the centennial of his birth (including the unveiling of his portrait at the

Bangiya Bijnan Parishad Bangiya Bijnan Parishad ( bn, বঙ্গীয় বিজ্ঞান পরিষদ, translit=Bôṅgīyô Bijñan Pôriṣôd, ) is a science organization founded by Satyendra Nath Bose in 1948. As a science organization, the Bangiya ...

hall on 2 May 2013). In popular Bengali culture, a reference to Home's book ''Banglar Pakhi'', is made in

's detective novel

Jahangirer Swarnamudra Jahangirer Swarnamudra (The Gold Coins of Jahangir) is a Bengali detective story written by Satyajit Ray starring his famous character Feluda. First published in 1983 in sandesh. Plot synopsis The trio of Feluda, Jatayu and Tapesh has been invit ...

(The Gold Coins of Jahangir). The sleuth

Feluda Feluda, or Prodosh Chandra Mitra itter'', is a fictional detective, Private investigator created by famous Indian director and writer Satyajit Ray. Feluda resides at 21 Rajani Sen Road, Ballygunge, Calcutta, West Bengal. Feluda first made his ap ...

in the story refers to Ajoy Home's ''Banglar Pakhi'' as the definitive book on bird-watching in Bengali and mentions

Salim Ali Sálim Moizuddin Abdul Ali (12 November 1896 – 20 June 1987) was an Indian ornithologist and naturalist. Sometimes referred to as the "''Birdman of India''", Salim Ali was the first Indian to conduct systematic bird surveys across Indi ...

's ''Birds of India'' in English, as preparation for the supporting character

Lalmohan Ganguly Lalmohan Ganguly, alias Jatayu () (also spelled Jotayu), is a fictional character in the Feluda stories written by Satyajit Ray. He writes pulp crime thrillers, but is quite weak and nervous in real life. He is fairly wealthy due to the immense ...

to pass himself off as a bird-watcher.

Books

*''Banglar Pakhi'' (Birds of Bengal) By Ajoy Home, Birth Centenary Edition, Jan2015 Publisher-Dey's Publishing,"Bangla Boier Notun Dana" (New wings for Bengali Books). Review of Banglar Pakhi in "GRANTHALOKE (Book World)" feature of literary fortnightly, ''DESH'' by its Editor Harsha Dutta. Volume 82, Issue 111, 2 April 2015. Page-71, Publisher- ABP(P) Ltd. *''Chena Achena Pakhi'' (Birds known and unknown) * ''Bichitra Jeeb-jontu'' (A plethora of animals) *''Moron Ghum'' (The Deathly Sleep)

References

Sources

* "Shotoborshey Pokkhi Premi",(Bird lover in centenary year) by Ashok Sengupta, ''Ananda Bazar Patrika'', 11 August 2012 edition. * "Kamon Chhilen Prokritipremi Ajoy Home" (What Was Naturalist Ajoy Home Like?) By Dipak Kumar Dawn, ''Ekhon Aranyak'', July - August Issue, 2012. * Radio interview of Smt. Sutapa Roychowdhury about Ajoy Home on''Akashbani'', ANWESHA, Kolkata. Host: Manas Pratim Das. Broadcast on 13 September 2012. * "Pakkhibid Ajoy Home: Janmosatobarsha"(Ornithologist Ajoy Home: Birth Centenary Year)- by Goutam Neogy, ''Kalantar Autumn Annual 2012'', October 2012, Pages 126 to 128. * "Shotoborsheyr Aloy Ajoy Home" (Ajoy Home: Focus in centenary year. by Arup Chowdhury, ''Banyapran'' 4th. issue 2013, Pages 45 to 49. * Radio broadcast, "Ajoy Home & Satyacharan Laha", Dipak Kumar Dawn on Akashbani radio, 13 and 14 February 2013. Kolkata. * "Pokkhibisharad Ajoy Home O Kichu Ajana Katha" (Ornithologist Ajoy Home : a few unknown facts)-by Sutapa Roy Chowdhury. Bi- monthly '' Annyadin '', Volume 5 Issue 5. 16–28 February 2013. * onmoshotoborshey Ajoy Home (Ajoy Home in centenary year) - By Sumitra Chowdhury, Gyan O Bigyan, Vol.66, No.5. 10 May 2013. * "Ajoy Home : Ekshatak" (Ajoy Home: Centurion)- "Ayana" feature of ''Ajkal'', 29 April 2013. * Ornithologist Extraordinary : " Note Book " feature of The Statesman, 6 May 2013. * "Pokkhipremik" (The lover of Birds): "Kolkatar Karcha" feature of ''Anandabazar Patrika'', 24 June 2013. * 'Pustak Parichoy' (book review) feature of ''Ananda Bazar Patrika'', Kolkata by Judhajit Dasgupta, Saturday, 21 November 2015, Volume 94 Issue 255, pg. 4.

External links

http://www.indiamart.com/ajoyhome/
Ajoy Home Birth Centenary Committee
{{DEFAULTSORT:Home, Ajoy 1913 births 1992 deaths Writers from West Bengal Aviculturists