Bengali literature lost a writer par excellence as legendary Samaresh Majumdar breathed his last on May 8.
Late Majumdar, who has seen the Naxalites era of 1960s and 1970s closely, gave a few well thought of political novels reflecting the trials and tribulations of the time.
“Kaalbela” was one such book and it had won the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award in year 1984.
His first novel Dour was published in 1976. Being a prolific writer who has excelled in different genres, Samaresh Majumdar has worked upon short stories, novels, travelogues, and children’s fiction.
It is no wonder that he has written more than 60 novels and over 150 short stories.
His popular works also include Kaalpurush, Tero Parbon, Ujan Ganga, Swapner Bazaar and Kolikatay Nobokumar.
The Sahitya Akademi Award-winning Kalbela, Kalpurush and ‘Moushalkal’ are now considered modern classics, and many of his novels have been adapted into major Bengali movies as well.
Kalbela was serialized in the prestigious literary magazine ‘Desh’ in 1981-1982 and adapted into a film by noted director Goutam Ghose in 2009. According to the academic Amaresh Datta, “the strength of the work can be seen in its configuration of relationships on various levels and a search for meaning through them… [It] is a novel of love and realization—love of life and the realization that this life is perennially explorable” — as reported in Wikipedia.
The film revolves around the life of a simpleton boy from North Bengal and how his life and academic career changes once he lands in Kolkata to pursue his studies in the city’s famous Scottish Church College. Influenced by college Union friends Animesh ultimately joins the more radical Naxalites. The conflict of interest by Marxists and Naxalites is also well reflected.
“The luxury of politics is not something for the middle class,” says Animesh’s father reflecting the agony and political sentiment of most Bengali parents.
It goes without stating that Majumdar hailed from the tea gardens of the Dooars in North Bengal to the core of the concrete jungle of the city life, his characters and stories have diverse shades and depth and have won a special place in the hearts of the readers.
In ‘Kalpurush’ published in 1985 the chief protagonist Arko’s efforts to strike a balance between the ‘idealism’ of his parents and the forces of consumerism are narrated too well.
Samaresh Majumdar, who uses the enchanting north Bengal terrain as a backdrop in his novels, bases the young detective Arjun in the same region. It gives his detective fiction a kind of charm that is missing in most city-centric writing.
Samaresh Majumdar was conferred the Anand Award and Bankim Award. In 2018, the West Bengal Government honoured him with the ‘Banga Bibhushan’ award.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee condoled his death, saying it is an irreparable loss to the literary world.
Noted film director Goutam Ghosh said Majumdar was the one who brought forth the turbulent phase of the 1970s in north Bengal.
“The period from 1960s to 1980s in north Bengal, the social and economic situation, the dreams and frustrations of the people in the Dooars area became alive in the works of Samaresh Majumder. I regret not having met him in recent times despite hearing that he was not keeping well,” Ghosh said.
“You cannot take the hills of north Bengal out of me … What I have become is because of North Bengal, what the place has given to me,” Majumdar had once said.
Majumdar was also deeply influenced by his student days at Kolkata’s Scottish Church College and his writing reflect the same in more ways than one.
“Without a first-hand knowledge of the turbulent student politics of the late 1960s and 1970s, I could not have fleshed out the character of Animesh (the protagonist of the trilogy) and his friends,” he had said.
