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Sunil Gangopadhyaya, Chairperson of the Sahitya Akademi, is determined to ensure that neglected writers as well as languages get their due. Subhrangshu Gupta talks to Gangopadhyaya on life, literature and his plans for the Akademi
SUNIL Gangopadhyaya, the renowned Bengali novelist and the poet, who says he loves to be known more as a poet than a novelist, has been elected to Sahitya Akademi as it’s Chairperson. Now 74 ( born September 7, 1934), in 1985 he got the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award. His foremost task in the Sahitya Akademi, he says, will be "recognising and honouring several neglected and lesser-known languages and bringing all the unknown talented writers into the limelight". According to him, the Akademi now deals with some 24 recognised languages but there are several other languages that are, unfortunately, not under its purview. He feels there are many talented poets and novelists who write in their mother tongue but do not get recognition. "We will try to bring them into the fold of the Akademi and ensure that neglected writers are recognised and honoured", Sunil discloses his plan. The Sahitya Akademi has a branch in Kolkata and Sunil will be attending the Kolkata office when he is in the city. He says he will visit the headquarters in the capital at least once a month, if not fortnightly. But nowadays he along with his wife, Swati, spends most of his time in Santiniketan. Sunil entered the Bengali literary world in the early 1960s as a poet. Writing poetry was a source of earning those days. Otherwise, he said, he had to ask for money to meet his personal expenses from his parents, which he did not. Says Sunil, "I saw my father who was a teacher, fighting hard for our bread and butter. All the time I could feel the pain that I had been of no help to him. Hence, I started writing to earn and also started teaching one or two school students from the junior classes. The earnings from those private tuitions were too little". Sunil feels there is nothing like being "a born writer or born poet". "Of course, there are some inherent traits that help some people to write but they need to be developed and nurtured for becoming a successful poet or novelist. However, that nurturing also depends on circumstances, which many people do not get. I had the opportunity of enjoying those privileges as I had seen poverty and hardship". I practised my writing and would often send my contributions to publications. One day, I was surprised to find that one of my poems had got published in Desh, the famous Bengali weekly literary magazine. In the following days, several of my poems and other writings were also getting published at regular intervals. "I used to be paid for those writings, though the amount was not too much for meeting my needs," said Sunil while narrating the early days of his life as a poet. "No, no, I’m not a born poet or a born writer as such, might be I’m a writer by accident", Sunil remarks, adding "Who knows what would have happened if at that time, like some of my friends, I too had the opportunity of undertaking an English education in an English-medium school and then joined a mercantile firm with a fat salary and led a luxurious life? He wonders. Together with some of his close like-minded friends, he soon started a literary magazine, Kritthibus, of which he was the founder-editor. At that time Sunil was working in the Drug Controllers’ Office in the Sealdah’s Moulali area, from where he used to walk quite a distance to a Bengali newspaper, Janasevak, on S.N.Banerjee Road near Wellington Square every evening. He was editing the Sunday magazine for which he was paid a very small amount of money. However, his association with the newspaper facilitated Sunil to be in touch with several well-known writers, novelists poets and journalists of those days. "I knew Sagarda ( the then editor of the famous Bengali weekly journal Desh ) since by that time I was a frequent visitor to the Desh office at Sooterkin Street near the Esplanade, carrying with me the copies of my poetry for publication in Desh and Ananda Bazar Patrika’s children’s page. Early poetry which I sent to Desh by post was published much earlier and it was appreciated a lot by Sagarda and others when I had not yet come into contact with them," remembers Sunil. "Afterwards, I got a part-time job and was at the mercy of Santosh Kumar Ghosh, the renowned journalist and novelist, who should be credited for taking the Ananda Bazar Patrika to such heights. My job was to translate and edit the writings of the British journalists covering the Bangladesh war and the reporters copies, coming from the across the border , beside doing the normal duties of a Sub-Editor. But later I got a permanent job in Desh, where I had worked till the other day as a Senior Editor", Sunil narrated his life as a journalist. At the ABP house he got acquainted with several prominent poets, novelists and journalists like Subodh Ghose, Santosh Kumar Ghosh, Sagarmoy Ghosh, Narendra Nath Mitra, Bimal Kar, Nirendra Nath Chakraborty, Shakti Chattopadhyya—all of whom were working in the Anandra Bazar Patrika. At the ABP house he also came in touch with Tarasankar Bandopadhyya, Bimal Mitra, Samaresh Bose, Pramatha Nath Bishi, Premdra Nath Mitra, Achinta Sengupta, Buddhadeb Bose, Syed Muztabha Ali and several other writers who often visited the Desh those days. One day, l remember, Sagarda invited me at his chamber on the second floor and asked me to write a novel in the Desh’s Puja number. I was surprised but equally thrilled. I wanted to know from Sagarda if I could write a novel and that too in the Desh Puja number. But Sagarda promptly answered, "Why not?" He encouraged me and asked to start writing immediately. But still I hesitated. Sagarda said he was confident I could write an excellent novel But I didn’t know how Sagarda had earned so much of faith and confidence in me. Might be Sagarda had been God-gifted to me. I wrote my first Bengali novel, entitled Attaprakash ( first appearance) which was published in that year’s Desh Puja number and it was highly acclaimed." The poet Sunil was narrating the untold story of his turning a novelist. And it was the beginning of Sunil’s long journey into the Bengal’s literary world. Sunil wrote over 3000 poems, short stories and other writings. He also wrote over 200 novels, of which, some 70 exclusively for the children, making Kakababu as the protagonist. Many of his famous novels and other literary works had been translated in several foreign languages. Several of his novels were also picturised in the Hindi, Bengali, Tamil and Oriya movies. Some stories were also serialised on television. His famous novels include Sai Samay (In those days), a novel on the 19th century renaissance, Purba-Paschim (The partition of East Bengal), Pratham Alo (The First Light, also on the Bengal renaissance), which had been acknowledged as one of the masterpieces of Bengali literature. His novels on adventure for the children are still enormously popular. Sunil has experimented in the writing of poetry, novel, drama, travelogue, essays, biography, memoirs and what not. He is poet, novelist, playwright, story-teller, essayist, prose writer. The novelist-turned journalist Santosh Kumar Ghosh had said: "Sunil travelled every branch in literature and he had been successful. Sunil has innumerable admirers among all section of people. The poet-chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has been his admirer. "Sunilda has been our pride", Buddhadeb openly admires Sunil Gangopadhyya. For his writings, Sunil was awarded the Ananda Puruskar and the Bankim Puraskar. He also wrote under his pseudo-name, Nillathit and Sanatak Pathak on various current topics mostly for the newspaper readers and they had been highly praised. The writer will now play a new administrative role in the Sahitya Akademi. He is basically a poet and he wants to die and be remembered as a poet.
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