"No more of this poetry.
Bring on the hard, harsh prose instead."
These verses are from the poem 'Hey Mohajeebon' by Sukanta Bhattacharya, portraying a part of Bengal which has been tarnished by famine and hunger.
Sukanta Bhattacharya (1926- 1947) was one of the key figures in Bangla literature. His poems and plays still reverberate everywhere in the postmodern times. He is considered to be in the ranks of Kazi Nazrul Islam and Rabindranath Tagore.
Although greatly admired in recent times, his poetry was not well known during his lifetime. However, after his death they were more widely spread and his name as a poet grew massively.
Sukanta Bhattacharya's poetry often embody rebel socialist thoughts, patriotism, humanism and, according to some critics, romanticism. His poems have had a few musical adaptations. A couple of prominent poets, namely, Shubhash Mukhopadhyay and Salil Chowdhury have set some of his popular poems to music.
Sukanta Bhattacharya's father was the owner of a publishing and selling establishment called Saraswat Library. He was the second of his siblings. Born in Kalighat, Kolkata, he spent his boyhood at his maternal grandfather's home at Nibedita Lane, Bagbazar. His family had originally come from Kotalipara, in Gopalganj, Bangladesh.
He got his primary education from a local school called Kamala Vidyamandir. It was also at a very early age that his literary career had started. His first short story was published in the school magazine called Sanchay. Later on, another of his writings called Vivekanander Jibani, was published in Sikha, edited by Bijon Bhattacharya.
After finishing up his primary education from Kamala Vidyamandir, he was enrolled in to Beleghata Deshbandhu High School. Moving on from there, in his teen years, he joined the Communist Party of India in 1944.
In the same year he edited an anthology titled Akal (Famine), published by Anti-Fascist Writers and Artists' Association. The following year, he took the entrance exam from Beleghata Deshbandhu High School, but failed.
Sukanta Bhattacharya's poetry was published in various magazines during his lifetime. However, besides Chharpatra, all his books were published subsequently. His writings convey a deep sentiment of his experiences as a part of the communist party. Perhaps that is the reason why his poems regarding the famine were so vividly graphic.
This notion can be found in one of his shorter poems named 'Hey Mohajeebon' from the book Chharpatra. In this poem, he compares the moon with a burnt flatbread, a dullness born of hunger. The poem shares the idea in this manner --
"Poetry, we do not need you anymore. A world devastated by hunger is too prosaic, the full moon now reminds us of toasted bread."
These few words are proof of what a great poet he was, and how his choice of diction represented such great issue like famine, where hundreds of people had died from starved to death. Every object reflected the idea of food, evident in such simple yet deep words.
By this time, he had become the editor of the Kishore Sabha (youth section) of the Bangla daily newspaper published by the party, Dainik Swadhinata. He died of tuberculosis at the Jadavpur T B Hospital in Kolkata, at the tender age of 20.
Sukanta Samagra (Complete Works of Sukanta), published by the Saraswat Library, Kolkata was edited by Subhash Mukhopadhyay. This includes all his printed texts, some lesser known writings, plays and stories, including Khudha (Hunger), Durboddho (Incomprehensible), Bhadralok (Gentleman) and Daradi Kishorer Svapna (Dream of a Compassionate Adolescent), an article, Chhanda O Abritti and also a selection of letters.
