Bibhas Roy Chowdhury


Bibhas Roy Chowdhury is a Bengali poet, novelist, and essayist. He is the author of more than twenty books including seven novels and numerous essays in various Bengali literary magazines. He received awards including Bangla Academy Award in 2013, Krittibas Award, Binay Mazumdar Puraskar in 2020 by Paschimbanga Kabita Academy, and Nirmal Acharya Gold Medal for poetry. Some of his poems have been translated into English by Dr. Kiriti Sengupta, a well-known poet and translator, and published by Inner Child Press in association with Hawakal Publishers as Poem Continuous: Reincarnated Expression. He is also one of the chief advisers of the Bengali literary magazine, Kabita Ashram, and founder member and director of a theatrical troupe named Banga Natya Charcha Kendra. He now works in a publication house, and earns his daily bread by writing and editing.

Early life

Roy Chowdhury was born to a refugee family on 1 August 1968 at Bihutipalli in frontier town Bangaon in the district of North 24 Pargonas in West Bengal in India. His parents, Shyamdulal Roy Chowdhury and Bithika Roy Chowdhury, originally belonged to Bangladesh, were left destitute during the partition of Bengal, and became full-time laborers when they settled in Bongaon, despite being an affluent family in undivided Bangladesh. Roy Chowdhury went to Bongaon High School, and Gobardanga Hindu College. After completing graduation, he could not continue his higher education because of extreme proverty. Since childhood he was keenly interested in music, drama, and poetry. He learned poetry from Usaprasanna Mukhopadyay, a teacher of Bengali literature in Gobardanga Hindu College and from the poet Subhankar Patra. Later, Binoy Majumdar was his mentor.

Career

During the 1980s Roychowdhury's poems regularly appeared in several Bengali literary magazines such as Dainik ''Basumati, Krittibas, Kabisammelan, and Desh. His first poetry collection, Nasta Prajanmer Vasan, was published in 1996 at the Kolkata book fair. He has published books of verse, including Udbastu Shibirer Paakhi, Shimul Vasha, Palash Vasha, Jibanander Meye, Chandalika Gaachh, Ananta Ashram. His novel Ashrudana'' first appeared in Desh on 4 November 2002. His poems have been anthologized in books such as Hirak Khanda, edited by poet Nirendranath Chakraborty.

Writing style

Roychowdhury writes from life in pithy language, in both metrical and non-metrical verse. In his poems, he often explores the highs and lows of life, the aftermath of partition of Bengal, the struggle of refugee-life, love for native language and the suffering of his fellow people. His recent book of verse, Jashor Roder Gaachh, laments the felling of trees, pollution, and destruction due to selfishness and greed. He uses 'the speech of ordinary men' but his metaphors casts a haunting effect on the readers. He writes in all types of poetic forms, including payar, a metrical form popular in medieval Bengali literature. Earlier in his poetic journey he was influenced by the eminent Bengali poets of 1970s such as Joy Goswami, Shyamal Kanti Das, Mridul Dasgupta, and Nirmal Halder.

Critical acclaim

Roychowdhury's works earned him wide acclaim early on. Bengali poet Joy Goswami lauded him saying "He is a poet of new empowerment", and Sunil Gangopadhyay saying "Bibhas's poems have provided much support to the livelihood and struggle. Bangladesh prosper in his poems".
A Muse India review says, "Roy Chowdhuy's thematic trajectory touches the milestones of death thoughts that loom large, palpable nostalgia and essential poetic sadomasochism, all through ignited by a sense of Bengali-ness with a view to communicating with the readers about their genesis and probable destination. Roy Chowdhury does not emphasize on any monolithic poetic premise: instead his easeful tête-à-tête mood builds up a quick bond with the readers, and why not? He thinks the way the Bengalis think, he lends voice to the habitual Bengali Poetic thoughts. This rare excellence has characterized every piece of his writings that amuses poetry lovers".
The Fox Chase Review says, "Bibhas's voice pulsates with an undercurrent of passion... it is melancholic yet inflected with hope... pithy in words but loaded with sensitivity... it is a reflection of the loneliness of the poet's heart and its aches. To quote Kafka, " pen is the seismograph of heart." I realized that these poems are not for idle reading. I read them once, I read them again and then again each time sinking a little deeper into their profundity, their challenging complexity, and emerged with an 'aha' feeling. That is the beauty of these poems... they plummet you beyond the tips into their inner core and thereby into your own deeper recesses, conversing with your sense of self."
The Red Fez magazine claims, "There is an undercurrent of melancholy in the poems offered in this text. But buoyant optimism of the poet comes to the fore fascinatingly. Source of melancholy need not cloud spirit of hope as is evident here. Perhaps, it explains why this book is so appealing. Nowhere does rendition look jarring or monotonous.
Rumpa Das, Associate Professor and head of the department of English in Maheshtala College in Kolkata writes, "Reading Roy Chowdhury's poems that smell of his thought-ridden soul – his anguished response to the holocaust of the Partition, his painful awareness of a poet's predicament in today's society and refusal to conform to pre-conditioned roles or his interpretation of relationships as an intimate experience such as those of water-droplets caressing the body while bathing – all these arouse us, his readers, as it possibly did Kiriti , to the intense thrill of a life beyond … of a life where every moment encompasses a myriad lives, some colored as dark as pain, and some as mysterious as evening rain."
The Ethos Literary Journal says, "Roy Chowdhury's unique and powerful voice lingers long after it stops. It's soft, warm and soulful. He writes, like he always does, either from epiphany or from peak-experience, so his every poem becomes real and living. Bibhas Roy Chowdhury creates magic reality out of the stark realities. He is the master of the craft."

Other Activities

Roychowdhury has taken part in Save the Green movement around and beyond the frontier city Bongaon.To protest the felling of century-old trees alongside of Jessore Road, he has staged street dramas, and composed the full-length book of verse, Jessore Roder Gaachh. The two children novels, Laag Velki, and Nadir Naam Taapur are part of his environmental awareness campaign.

Notable works

Poetry

  • Nasta Prajanmer Vasan, January 1996, Prativash
  • Udbastu Shibirer Paakhi, January 1998, Prativash
  • Shimul Bhasha Palash Bhasha, January 1999, Ananda Publishers
  • Jibananander Meye, December 2002, Ananda Publishers
  • Chandalikagaachh, January 2006, Ananda Publishers
  • Yakhan Brij Perocchhe Bongaon lokal, January 2008, Ananda Publishers
  • Samasta Dukhike Aaj, December 2012, Signet Press
  • Parajanmer Janye Swikaroktti, January 2011, Ananda Publishers
  • Shrestha Kabita, January 2013, Prativash
  • Poem Continuous:Reincarnated Expression, June 2014, Inner Child Press
  • Ananta Ashram, January 2015, Signet Press
  • Beejdhan Sangraha, February 2015, Sangbed
  • Amar samanya Dau Dau, January 2016, Aihik
  • Jashor Roder Gaachh, January 2018, Chhonya Prakashani
  • Prem, January 2018, Boitarani
  • Ei To Amar Kaaj, February 2019, Kabita Ashram
  • Lajuk Vaater Dana, May 2019, Doyel Prakashani

    Novels

  • kalapatar Banshi, January 2002, Muhurta Publishers
  • Ashrudana, January 2007, Ananda Publishers
  • Baishe Shraban, January 2007, Ananda Publishers
  • Priya Ichhamati, January 2009, Ananda Publishers
  • Valobsar Mati, Ananda Publishers
  • Laag Velki , May 2019,
  • Nadir Naam Tapur , in 2021,

    Awards and honours

  • Bangla Academy Award
  • Krittibas Award by Sunil Gangapadhyay-edited 'Krittibas Patrika'.
  • Nirmal Acharya Gold Medal
  • Boi Tarani Sammanana
  • Achena Yatri Ebong dwaipayan Sahity Sammanana
  • Binay Mazumdar Puraskar, in 2020 by Paschimbanga Kabita Academy