Saikat magazine completes 50 years with a grand literary celebration in Agartala. Writers, poets, and scholars gather to honour its golden jubilee, lifetime literary contributions, and the enduring legacy of little magazines in Tripura.
Tripura witnessed a rare literary milestone as the little magazine Saikat completed 50 years of its journey. Founded on January 16, 1976, Saikat, an irregular poetry journal born with the works of three young poets, marked its golden jubilee with a day-long celebration at the Sukanta Academy auditorium in Agartala on Sunday.
On the occasion, a special enlarged anniversary issue of the magazine was released. The programme began at 11.30 am and was organised in four sessions. The inaugural session was formally opened by noted writer and former Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court, Justice Subhasis Talapatra. The welcome address was given by poet and also founder of the magazine Manas Paul.
Writer Sadhan Chattopadhyay, member of the editorial board of Parichay magazine, attended as the chief guest. Professor Tapodhir Bhattacharya and reader Panchali Bhattacharya were present as guests of honour, while senior poet Kalyanbrata Chakraborty presided over the session.
As part of the inaugural programme, eight distinguished literary figures from Tripura were conferred the Lifetime Literary Contribution Award. The awardees included poets Kalyanbrata Chakraborty, Piyush Raut, Mihir Deb, Shakti Dutta Ray and Ajita Chowdhury, essayist Biman Dhar, writer Rabindrakishore Debbarma and fiction writer Dulal Ghosh.
The second session featured a panel discussion on “The Character of Little Magazines: The North-East Perspective.” Speakers included Prasun Barman of Cotton University, Guwahati, Kashinath Chakraborty of Sankardev College, Shillong, Professor Tapodhir Bhattacharya, former Vice-Chancellor of Assam University, and poet-writer Pallab Bhattacharya.
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The third session saw poetry recitations by 50 poets from different parts of the North-East in various languages, along with short story readings by four writers. The event concluded with further poetry readings and a formal vote of thanks.
Founded with modest means and strong literary intent, Saikat was remembered as a rare example of a little magazine that survived five decades, emerging as a significant chapter in Tripura’s literary history.
