Tribute
The world Buddhadev Bose inhabited
This sketchy analysis of Buddhadev Bose's (1908-1974) writings, the major poet and prominent writer of Bangla literature of thirties, is a tribute to his centenary anniversary (which of course was observed last year). I write to focus on especially three autobiographical essays of the poet. I remember I had an opportunity to meet him at his 202 Rash Biharee Avenue residence in Kolkata four decades back on a cruel April morning in 1972 along with my friend Serajuddin Ahmed, a short story writer with whom Buddhadev had intimate regular correspondence. Even during those days of the military regime under the dictatorship of Field Marshal Ayub Khan, President of the then Pakistan (1958-1969), there was no normal movement of printed material between two countries, India and the then Pakistan. But my friend received the latest books as gifts from Buddhadev. Since I was a full time cricketer at the undergraduate level, I had hardly any interest in literature, whether a Buddhadev Bose or Shamsur Rahman. I had not even heard of Buddhadev. Seraj encouraged me to read the short stories of Buddhadev Bose, "Bhasho Amar Bhela" (Float My Boat). I was completely amazed, fully impressed, and totally hypnotized by his lyrical language and unusual style of telling stories based on common day to day middle class struggling life and livelihood in the thirties. And that was the beginning of my encounter with Buddhadev Bose. Jyotirmoy Guha Thakurta, my teacher in the English Department of Dhaka University, lent me the latest book of Buddhadev Bose "Golap Keno Kalo" (Why the Rose is Black), a work of confessional fiction based on his Dhaka University days and the non-cooperation movement of Gandhi. Precisely that was the beginning and groundwork for me to enter the vast world of a versatile writer of Bangla literature. When my friend Seraj came with a proposal to visit Kolkata to meet Buddhadev Bose, I gladly and spontaneously accepted it. We had a detailed discussion about contemporary Bangla literature across the border when we met him in Kolkata. A vast range of topics was covered in our three-hour discussion which can be a separate entity under the headline of an interview. Much has been written and talked about during Buddhadev's lifetime and after his death in Bangla --- his poetry, short story, drama and non-fiction. To English speaking readers as well as expatriate Bangladeshis he is not very known. Both Dhaka and Kolkata have brought out special commemorative publications covering his literary career. Basically a poet of the thirties, Budhadev took keen interest in short story, fiction and drama. His "Tapashwee O Tarangenee" was given the Indian Academy Award, the greatest national award in Indian literature, in 1969. Kabita Bhaban, the residence of the poet, was a gathering centre for literary and cultural activists during the thirties and onward. He brought out a poetry magazine, Kabita, in the shape of a poetry monthly published from London, accommodating not only poems by budding young poets of the time but also analytical essays of poetry from both home and abroad. He undertook the paintstaking job of translating Baudelaire into Bangla, which created a sensation at the time among enthusiastic young writers. The five masters of Bangla poetry, known as Pancha Pandab --- Jibananda Das, Sudhindranath Dutta, Bishnu Dev, Amiya Chakravarty and Buddhadev Bose --- had regular literary sessions or 'Adda' at his residence, Kabita Bhaban, where they exchanged views and discussed the global literary scene. The introvert poet Jibananda, however, was not regular at all in that literary gathering or Adda. Regarding his three autobiographical writings --- Amar Chheleybela (My Childhood), Amar Joubon (My Youth) and Amader Kabita Bhaban (Our Kabita Bhaban), we can safely say that these are not only non-fictions, but are also a documentation of the time. It will be a useful guide for those who wish to conduct research on this great poet of Bangla literature. Having looked at the historical and intellectual context, this trilogy opens up a new world before us. We come to know of the struggle he and his contemporaries went through in digging out a new and different path for Bangla literature when Rabindranath Tagore happened to be the most influential in the literary arena. It was Buddhadev and his few friends who created a 'new wave' in Bangla literature, as distinct from the trend Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam had set in motion. The masterpiece of the poet, Bandeer Bandana (Worship of the Captive), published in 1926, was a totally fresh and vibrant poetical work in the thirties. Buddhadev's first prose work, a work of fiction called Shara (The Response), published in 1926, earned him fame within a short span of time. Literary critics praised it for its lyrical prose and theme. In 1934, a collection of short stories, Avinoy, Avinoy Noy (Acting, Not Acting) was published. It was also a very successful literary work. From that moment on, he did not need to look back any more. The autobiographical trilogy is a retrospective study based on Buddhadev's childhood, youth and adolescence as well as literary and academic career. He recalls numerous details of his lonely childhood in Noakhali and Dhaka and his youth and adolescence partly in Dhaka and partly in Kolkata. A talented student of English literature at Dhaka University, he had all along a brilliant academic career. He left for Kolkata after a few years of teaching at Dhaka University. It was to be a painful experience for him till the end of his life. A sense of rootlessness and alienation always haunted him like other immigrant writers of the world. Indirectly it was a blessing for his literature and it added a new dimension to his writing. Jadavpur University, an academic centre for comparative study, was his creation. He was not only a versatile writer but a dynamic literary organizer as well. Buddhadev Base was born in Comilla, Bangladesh, on 30 November 1908. His father Bhudeb Chandra Base and mother Binoy Kumaree were both born in Malkhanagar, Vikrampur (Munshiganj), Dhaka. Buddhadev's mother died immediately after his birth. He studied English Literature in Dhaka University English Department and in 1930 did his honours in English with distinction. His friend and contemporary writer Achintya Sen has written in his memoirs: "I saw Buddhadev first in Kallol office, a middle-sized young man, smokes continuously and laughs openly." Buddhadev's novels include Rekhachitra (The Sketch) 1928-29, Akarmanna (Worthless) 1929, Era Aar Ora Ebong Aro Onekey (They and Many Others) 1930-31, Mon Deya Neya (Exchange of Hearts) 1932, Jobanika Patan (The Curtain Drops) 1931, Rhododendron Guchcha (A Bunch of Rhododendron) 1932, Ektee Katha (A Word) 1930-31. Edited by Buddhadev Base and Premendra Mitra, the poetry journal Kabita appeared on 1 September 1935. Buddhadev's first visit abroad was to America in 1953. In August 1956 he joined Jadavpur University, in the Department of Comparative Studies, as a founder professor. He resigned from the post in 1963. He died on 18 March 1974 in Kolkata. Buddhadev Bose has a clear, vibrant style; he is detached and distant as well as confessional and introverted, observing with an acute eye the inner conflict and tragedies of human failings. Buddhadev Bose is one of the most interesting novelists writing in Bangla. Never afraid to tackle romantic as well as demanding themes with elegance and as often caustic wit and satire, he deserves a much wider readership thorough translation from Bangla to English both home and abroad.
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