''Krittibas'' is 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 ...

poetry magazine that first appeared 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 ...

in 1953. It played a highly influential role in the Kolkata literary scene in the decades after Indian independence and provided a platform for young, experimental poets, many of whom went on to become luminaries of modern Bengali poetry. The editors of the inaugural issue in July 1953 were

Sunil Gangopadhyay Sunil Gangopadhyay or Sunil Ganguly (7 September 1934 – 23 October 2012) was an Indian poet, historian and novelist in the Bengali language based in the city of Kolkata. He is a former Sheriff of Calcutta. Gangopadhyay obtained his ma ...

, Ananda Bagchi and Dipak Mazumdar. Gangopadhyay later became sole editor, and indeed it is his name that is most closely associated with the magazine. Others who also edited the magazine at one point or another included

Shakti Chattopadhyay Shakti Chattopadhyay (25 November 1933 – 23 March 1995) was an Indian poet and writer who wrote in Bengali. He is known for his realistic depictions of rural life. He was a green poet, many of his poems raised the issue of nature in crisis. T ...

, Sarat Kumar Mukhopadhyay and Samarendra Sengupta. The Phanishwarnath Renu issue of the magazine was edited by

Samir Roychoudhury Samir Roychowdhury (Bengali: সমীর রায়চৌধুরী) (1 November 1933 – 22 June 2016), one of the founding fathers of the Hungry Generation (also known as Hungryalism or Hungrealism (1961–1965)), was born at Panihati, ...

. During 1961-65 several poets left the magazine and joined the Hungryalist Movement. Originally published as a

quarterly A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content (media), content. They are generally financed by advertising, newsagent's shop, ...

, ''Krittibas'' became a monthly magazine in 1974. Besides promoting Bengali poetry, always its main focus, it also featured articles on various aspects of contemporary arts and culture. In its early decades, ''Krittibas'' had a strong

anti-establishment An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958, by the British magazine ''New Statesman'' ...

flavour to it. (In 1963, the Hungryalists were hauled into court on charges of

obscenity An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin ''obscēnus'', ''obscaenus'', "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Such loaded language can be use ...

; the Editor of the magazine, as defense witness for

Malay Roy Choudhury Malay Roy Choudhury (born 29 October 1939) is an Indian Bengali poet, playwright, short story writer, essayist and novelist who founded the Hungryalist movement in the 1960s. Early life and education Malay Roy Choudhury was born in Patna, ...

responded by reading out the controversial poem

Stark Electric Jesus ''Stark Electric Jesus'' is a 2014 short film inspired by the poem ''Prochondo Boidyutik Chhutar'' or ''Stark Electric Jesus'' written by Malay Roy Choudhury. The film has won the official selection as the only Indian film at the Trinidad and T ...

in the courtroom!) But with the accretion of time and prestige, this trend waned and ''Krittibas'' itself became part of the cultural establishment. Publication ceased altogether in 1982, and the magazine disappeared from the scene for many years. Then in 1999, ''Krittibas'' was reborn, this time as an annual magazine. Soon it became a bi-annual journal, and then turned into a quarterly again. Those Kolkatans who have been instrumental in the revival of the magazine are Bhaskar Dutta, Pradip Chandra Basu and Ashik Kumar Dasgupta. In 2003, ''Krittibas'' celebrated its 50th anniversary with great fanfare. In 2013, another function was held at the Indian National Museum to celebrate its 60th anniversary.

References

External links

Official website of ''Krittibas'' magazine

The first issue of ''Krittibas'', published in 1953 - .pdf file
{{Italic title Bengali culture Bengali-language little magazines Literary magazines published in India Monthly magazines published in India Magazines established in 1953 Quarterly magazines published in India Poetry literary magazines Annual magazines Biannual magazines published in India

See also

References

External links