In Bangla literature, the writer who is mostly loved by the readers after Bankim-Rabindranath-Sarat Chandra, in no doubt, is Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay (September 12, 1894 - November 1, 1950). Bibhutibhushan created his own genre of Bengali fiction by implementing a very poetic and metrical language.
His work represents the rural beauty and inquisitive facts of human life. Not only these, he exhibits the images of the socio-economical life of lower middle class community in his every art pieces like a skilful artist.
Illustrious Sanskrit scholar Mahananda Bandyopadhyay and Mrinalini Devi's son Bibhutibhushan was born at North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.
With a first division placement in the Entrance in 1914 and Intermediate exam in 1916, Bibhutibhushan accomplished his undergraduate degree with Economics, History and Sanskrit from Surendranath College (then Ripon College), Kolkata. In 1919, he took the job of teaching in a minor school in Hooghly but his study was incomplete at that time.
At the beginning of professional life he joined as assistant head master at Jangipara Minor School of Hooghly. Then, he taught at Sonarpur Harinawi School for some time. Bibhutibhushan also served as a travelling publicist for Goraksini Sabha, and later as a secretary for Khelatchandra Ghosh. He then joined the Gopalnagar School where he continued to work until his death.
A great domination of the personal life is witnessed on Bibhutibhushan's writings. His works are profoundly influenced and enriched by the spacious sagacity achieved in his life. In the life of 56 years, Bibhutibhushan continued writing for almost 28 years. . Although he wandered in both novels and short stories, he attained a good position in reader's mind through classic novels.
He led his first step in Bengali literature by the story named 'Upekshita', in 1921, which was published in the paper called Probashi.
Pather Panchali and Aparajito are the classic novels that made Bibhutibhushan immortal. The name of ' Bibhutibhushan' was created in the literary world by the novel Pather Panchali. This novel is a reflection of the ups and downs and social superstitious present of the past and modern societies.
Afterwards, he wrote Aparajito which happen to be the sequel of Pather Panchali. In both novels, a resemblance of his personal life is noticed.
Rabindranath wrote about Pather Panchali, "The book is standing by the power of its own truth." He added, "Bhibhutibhushan wanted to tell the dreadful truth about seeing life through apathy."
Ichhamati is another famous work of Bibhutibhushan. Basically, in this novel, a rustic society, incidental events of British era, and sunset of feudal system were portrayed. In 1951, for the novel Ichhamati, Bibhutibhushan received the highest literary award of West Bengal Rabindra Award (posthumous).
Along with the novels, Bibhutibhushan composed almost 20 storybooks, some adolescent novels and travel stories and diaries. Some of the citable collections of Bibhutibhushan are: Meghamallar (1931), Mauriphool (1932), Jatrabadol (1934), Chander Pahar (1937), Kinnardal (1938), Aranyak (1939), Adarsha Hindu Hotel (1940), Maroner Danka Baje (1940), Smrtir Rekha (1941), Debjan (1944), Hire Manik Jale (1946), He Aranya Kotha Kou (1948), Ashani Sangket (1959).
Famous filmmaker Satyajit Ray made films based on the novels Pather Panchali, Aparajito and Ashani Sangket which got international recognition in the world of cinema.
Furthermore, he also played the role of an editor. He was the editor of Chitralekha (1930), a cinema magazine. Moreover, he jointly edited Dipak (1932) with Humantakumar Gupta.
Bibhutibhushan, the carefree storyteller died on November 1, 1950 in Ghatshila in Jharkhand state.
The writer is studying at Department of Sociology, Shahajalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet
