BANGLA LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE – AND ROLE OF DESH PATRIKA IN ITS NINETY YEARS OF EXISTENCE

By Rahul Ray (Massachusetts)

TheBengali renaissance that started in the late 18th century led to reforms in almost all aspects of the human experience and blossomed at a rapid pace that permanently changed the social, political, and cultural history of the land and its people.

Perhaps the most significant changes took place in the Bengali language (Bangla) and her literature which deeply affected other cultural aspects be it music and art, or stage and cinema. The purpose of this article is to look back at this development, as well as analyze the role of Desh/Desh Patrika, primarily a literary magazine that recently turned ninety on the decades of nurturing and the development of Bangla literature

Haraprasad Shastri (18531931), philologist, researcher, and the Principal of Sanskrit College, Kolkata discovered Brahmilipi, the earliest form of writing akin to modern Bangla script in Nepal. Furthermore, his painstaking research on Charyapad or Charyageeti manuscripts that were written almost a thousand years ago by Buddhist monks indisputably established them as the earliest examples of Bangla literature. Surprisingly, compared to other Indian languages that are thousands of years of age, the evolution of nascent Bangla to the modern variety, in spoken and written forms is less than a thousand years of age. Before the two hundred years of British domination in India, Bangla, in its various forms and dialects was variously called Gourrhiyo bhasha, Magadhi bhasha, Brajabuli, and sundry. Interestingly, although the root of Bangla is not Sanskrit as discussed earlier, the influence of the latter on Bangla literature of 12 through 15 CE is discernible. However, with the rise of the Vaishnava movement led by Sri Chaitanya (1486-1534) Bangla language, both spoken and written, took a decisive turn away from Sanskrit with its unique characteristics as evidenced by the Vaishnava literature of this period. Verses by Bidyapati, Chandidas, Borru Chandidas, Krishnadas Kabiraj Goswamy, and others were a confluence of various regional dialects, styles, and forms, heralding the dawn of the Bangla language of today.

The first serious attempt to create modern Bangla literature, religious or otherwise was by Michael Madhusudan Dutta (1824-1873), a Christian convert. His writings contained a unique mixture of Sanskrit and colloquial Bangla and a style that was uniquely his own. I remember an incident in the mid-1990s when Michael’s Meghnad Bawdh Kabya was staged in Boston. It was a unique solo performance by Goutam Halder. I was in the audience, mesmerized by Mr. Halder’s unmatched recitation and acting skills when a person sitting next to me commented loudly “Is he speaking in Bangla?”. Michael’s literary Bangla is different from today’s version. Yet the short period he reigned can easily be called the dawn of modern literary Bangla. While Madhusudan created his own Bangla vernacular, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay (1838-1894), a contemporary of Michael turned towards a Sanskritic form of Bangla that is called ‘Suddho Bangla’, meaning ‘Pure Bangla’. Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820-1891), a contemporary of Madhusudan and Bankim Chandra put his permanent stamp on everything Bengali by simplifying and codifying the Bangla alphabet and type. He also wrote the very first book encompassing the Bangla alphabet, entitled Borno Parichay. This book is still in use for children trying to learn the Bangla alphabet and its use in simple, short, and rhythmic verses. Then came Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) who took the baton from Vidyasagar and ran with an unmatched and cosmic speed. Call it a revolution or anything else, but Rabindranath created prose and poetry in colloquial Bangla, called ‘Kothyo Bhasha, of unique quality and depth. In essence, Rabindranath gave birth to a language that is suitable for modern times and lifted Bangla literature and culture from the local arena to the world stage. His influence remains paramount today.

In 1933 when Desh Patrika/Desh was published for the first time, the ‘Kallol Jug’ movement (the era of turmoil) spearheaded by Kallol magazine, edited by Dinesh his peers (accompanying picture), accommodated writings from established stalwarts, but most importantly it looked into the future of Bangla literature, be it prose or poetry. Sagrada actively sought after young and talented writers. Almost every writer of poetry and prose of any degree of fame in Bangla today owes his rise and recognition to Sagarda- Ramapada Choudhury, Bimal Kar, Bimal Mitra, Sayed Mujtaba Ali, Sunil Gangopadhay, Sankha Ghosh, Nirendrnath Chakrabarty, Mahasweta Devi, Joy Goswamy, Dibyendu Palit, Satyajit Ray to name a few. In other words, Desh became the surrogate mother of modern and contemporary Bangla literature.

Chandra Das and Gokul Chandra Nag, and patronized by Sudhindranath Dutta, Buddhadev Bosu, Amiya Chakrabarti, Jibanananda Das and Bishnu De, dubbed five Pandavas of the Bangla literature, was in full swing. The Kallol writers, including Premendra Mitra, Achinta Kumar Sengupta, Sanjay Bhattacharya, Kaji Nazrul Islam, and others rebelled against the literary landscape of the time, dominated by Rabindranath that was overtly spiritual, lyrical and romantic. They claimed that this ‘Bangali Bhodrolok’ image was not in touch with the common people. Desh decidedly took a middle ground and patronized more established writers, including Rabindranath Tagore, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, and alike.

In 1939, when ‘Kallol Jug’ movement was nearly moribund, the legendary Sagarmoy Ghosh (1912-1999) took the helm of Desh, then a purely literary weekly magazine, and it never looked back. The magazine, under the able stewardship of Mr. Ghosh, lovingly called Sagarda by

By the early 1960s, the middle-of-the-road policy of Desh was challenged again by the Hungryalist movement spearheaded by brothers Samir and Malay Raichoudhuri, Shakti Chattopadhyay, Sunil Gangopadhay and a few other contemporary poets, including Sandipan Chattopadhyay and drew the attention of the American Beat poet Allen Ginsberg. However, the movement folded soon after an obscenity lawsuit, and Desh marched on.

Desh, published by Anandabazar Group, turned ninety late last year (accompanying picture). This is an enviable feat for any magazine or publication anywhere on the globe. Desh is often viewed as the New Yorker of the Anglo world. Therefore, it is perhaps appropriate to compare its longevity and contents with other long-running magazines of the world.

The Atlantic, first published in 1825 as Atlantic Monthly, a literary and cultural magazine that published leading writers’ commentaries on education, abolition of slavery, and other major political issues of that time, continues to be published today as perhaps the longest-running news and literary magazine in the world (accompanying picture). The New Yorker, a considerably younger magazine, was first published in 1925 as a humor magazine, and later expanded its horizon to cover all literary and contemporary pursuits (accompanying picture).

In the Indian sub-conti- nent, India Today was introduced in 1975 as a pure news magazine, much in the vein of The Times and Newsweek, and remains so today. Therefore, no Indian magazine, literary or news, comes close to Desh in terms of longevity. This is a very important issue because Desh is essentially a regional magazine catering only to people of Bengali origin.

After the death of Sagarmoy Ghosh in 1998 the editorship of Desh was passed on to Amitava Choudhury, a Magsaysay award-winning journalist. He put his stamp by introducing articles related to current events and commentaries on local, national, and global politics, as well as goings on in the Artsfield such as art shows, stage plays, and cinema. The magazine also became a bi-weekly publication. This tradition has continued as the editorship passed from Harsha Dutta to Suman Sengupta. It is also noteworthy that Desh has maintained its journalistic integrity without bowing down to any pressure, political or otherwise. Perhaps maintaining this journalistic integrity and independence accounts for the longevity of this magazine.

The proliferation of the internet and social media and the free availability of jour continue to page