Bengali poetry is a form that originated in P?li and other Prakrit socio-cultural traditions. It is antagonistic towards Vedic rituals and laws as opposed to the Shramanic traditions such as Buddhism and Jainism. However the modern Bengali owes much to Sanskrit. Bengali poetry probably began during the 10th century. It is known for the mystic poems called Charyacharyavinishchaya, and sometimes called Charyapad.
Among the famous Indian poets of modern times, Shakti Chattopadhyay is one. His immense contributions to Bengali poetry have made him unparalleled and unique. Needless to say that Shakti Chattopadhyay was a renowned Bengali poet and writer. He was born in 1933.
Shakti Chattopadhyay was born at Baharu village in Paschim Bangla, India to Bamanath Chattopadhyay and Kamala Devi. He lost his father at the age of four and brought up by his maternal grandfather. He came to Bagbazar, Kolkata in 1948 and got admitted to Maharaja Cossimbazar Polytechnic School in class
VIII. Here he was introduced to Marxism by a teacher. In 1949 he established Pragati Library and started a hand-written magazine, Pragati, which was soon changed into a printed one, changing the name to Bahnishikha. He passed Matriculation Examination in 1951 and got admitted to the City College to study commerce as his maternal uncle, who was a businessman and also his guardian, promised him a job of an accountant. It was the same year when he got membership of the Communist Party of India (CPI). In 1953, he passed Intermediate Commerce Examination, but gave up studying commerce and got admitted to the Presidency College (now Presidency University, Kolkata) with Honours in Bengali literature but he did not appear in the examination.
In 1956, Shakti had to leave his maternal uncle's home and moved to a slum at Ultadanga along with his mother and brother. At this time he was solely dependent on the meagre wages of his brother. In March 1956, his poem "Yama" was published in Kabita, a literary magazine published by Buddhadeb Bose. After that he started writing for Krittibas and other magazines. Buddhadeb Bose also invited him to join the Comparative Literature course in newly opened Jadavpur University. He joined the course, but could not complete it either. In 1958, he terminated his relationship with the CPI. Shakti worked at Saxby Pharma Ltd. as a store assistant and later taught at Bhowanipur Tutorial Home (Harrison Road branch). He also started a business himself and ran it for sometime before he gave up and joined Hind Motors as junior executive. But he could not continue anywhere. He started indulging in a wayward lifestyle and drinking heavily.
Shakti was one of the founder members of the Hungry generation movement which started with the publication of a one-page bulletin in November 1961. However he left the movement in 1963 due to differences of opinion with the other members. The poet died on March 23 in 1995.
The writer is a freelance contributor.
