Shakti Chattopadhyay (25 November 1933 – 23 March 1995) was an Indian poet and writer who wrote in

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 ...

. 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. Through his poems he urged to protect Mother Nature, and plant trees. The huge surprise and controversy surrounding his poetry have repeatedly moved the readers. The omnipotent humanity of the American Beatniks moved him at one time.

Early life

Shakti Chattopadhyay was born in

Jaynagar Jaynagar Majilpur () is a town and a municipality of the South 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is situated in the southern suburbs of Kolkata. As an urban setup in the vicinity of Kolkata, the town is within the a ...

, to Bamanath Chattopadhyay and Kamala Devi. He lost his father at the age of four and was brought up by his maternal grandfather. He passed Matriculation Examination in 1951 and got admitted to the City College to study commerce as his maternal uncle, who was a businessman and also his guardian, promised him a job of an accountant. In 1953, he passed Intermediate Commerce Examination, but gave up studying commerce and got admitted to the Presidency College (now

Presidency University, Kolkata Presidency University, Kolkata (formerly known as Presidency College, Kolkata) is a second major public state aided research university located in College Street, Kolkata. Considered as one of best colleges when Presidency College was affili ...

) with Honours in

Bengali literature Bengali literature ( bn, বাংলা সাহিত্য, Bangla Sahityô) denotes the body of writings in the Bengali language and which covers Old Bengali, Middle- Bengali and Modern Bengali with the changes through the passage of time ...

but he did not appear in the examination. Shakti Chattopadhyay worked with

Ananda Bazar Patrika ''Anandabazar Patrika'' (Bengali: আনন্দবাজার পত্রিকা, ) is an Indian Bengali-language daily newspaper owned by the ABP Group. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1 million cop ...

from 1970 to 1994, and was a visiting professor at

Visva Bharati University Visva-Bharati () is a public central university and an Institution of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India. It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it ''Visva-Bharati'', which means the communion of the w ...

after his retirement.

Literature Career

He started writing novels to make a living from literature. Kuyotala wrote the first novel. His first collection of poems, Hey prem, Hey naishyabda (O love, O silence), published in 1956.

Abani Bari Achho Abani Bari Achho () is a poem by 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, ma ...

is a poem by Shakti Chattopadhyay. It is included in his seminal early collection Dhôrmeo achho jirafeo achho published in 1965. He also published 10 novels, several collections of travel writing, a collection of essays and Bengali translations.

Notable works

*''Kuyotala'' *''Hey prem, Hey naishyabda (O love, O silence)'' *''Jwalanta Rumal '' *''Āmāke jāgāo'' *''Dhôrmeo achho jirafeo achho '' : ''

'' *''Jete Pari Kintu Keno Jabo'' *''Padyasamagra'' *''Sakale pratyeke ekā'' *''Kabira galpa'' *''Agranthita padya'' *''Sandhyāra se-śānta upahāra''

Awards

*''

Ananda Puraskar The Ananda Puraskar () is an award for Bengali literature awarded annually by the ABP Group to writers using Bengali, usually from West Bengal, India. History The award can be traced to a comment by Annada Shankar Ray ruing the absence of lit ...

'' *''

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

References

Writers from Kolkata

External links

* *
Shakti Chattopadhyay Section at parabaas.com

Complete, chronological bibliography of Shakti Chattopadhyay (in Bengali)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chattopadhay, Shakti 1934 births 1995 deaths Indian male writers Indian male poets Bengali poets Bengali-language writers Bengali male poets Bengali Hindus Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Bengali Recipients of the Gangadhar National Award Recipients of the Ananda Purashkar City College, Kolkata alumni University of Calcutta alumni Visva-Bharati University faculty Translators of Omar Khayyám Hungry generation 20th-century Indian translators 20th-century Indian poets 20th-century Bengali poets 20th-century translators People from South 24 Parganas district Poets from West Bengal People from Jaynagar Majilpur