Dinesh Das (16 September 1913 – 13 March 1985) 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 ...
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...
.
He was born in his maternal home at Chetla in
Alipore
Alipore (Pron:ˌɑ:lɪˈpɔ:) is a neighbourhood in south Kolkata, in Kolkata district, in the Indian state of West Bengal.
It is flanked by the Tolly Nullah to the north, Bhowanipore to the east, the Diamond Harbour Road to the west and New ...
, a locality on the bank of Adi Ganga creek. When he was in Class IX, at around 15 years age, he became involved in secret revolutionary
Indian independence movement
The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947.
The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...
. He also became involved in
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, Anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure ...
's Salt
Satyagraha
Satyagraha ( sa, सत्याग्रह; ''satya'': "truth", ''āgraha'': "insistence" or "holding firmly to"), or "holding firmly to truth",' or "truth force", is a particular form of nonviolent resistance or civil resistance. Someone w ...
movement which hampered his formal education. However he passed Matriculation Examination in 1930, and I.A. in 1932 from the South Suburban College (now
Asutosh College
Asutosh College (Bengali: আশুতোষ কলেজ) is a college affiliated to the University of Calcutta, situated in Southern Kolkata, close to the Jatin Das Park Metro Station, gate No. 2. It was established in 1916 as the South Subu ...
). In 1933, he was admitted to B.A. in
Scottish Church College
Scottish Church College is a college affiliated by Calcutta University, India. It offers selective co-educational undergraduate and postgraduate studies and is the oldest continuously running Christian liberal arts and sciences college in A ...
. In 1934, first poem "Sraboney" was published in '' Desh''. However he could not complete his B.A. due to his revolutionary and literary activities. In 1935, he took a job at Khayerbari Tea Estate and moved to Kurseong. There he became disillusioned with Gandhism and on return to
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 ...
next year, he became inspired by
communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
and read writings of
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
,
Friedrich Engels
Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels" '' Ralph Fox.
In 1937, he created a stir with his poem Kaste (Sickle). He immortalized
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 ...
's Clive Street in one of his poems:. He was a nice guy.
Here, in a hundred snake-like veins,
Streams of people come and go.
Through these shrunken veins the blood,
Of the country must flow.
O Mighty City's beating heart,
O Clive Street of Bengal,
A thousand dumb veins freeze to make,
The cornerstone of your high hall.
Works
*''Kabita'' (Poems)
*''Bhukhmichhil'' (Hunger Procession)
*''Kancher Manush'' (Glass Humans)
*''Ram gechhe Banabase'' (Ram is in Forest Exile)
*''Kaste'' (Scythe; also part of the symbol of the Communist Party): an allegory on modern industrial life