Sukanta Bhattacharya: Young poet with a mature hand in Bengali literature
Named after the poet Sukanta Bhattacharya, the first thing that comes to mind is “Ranar”, the famous poem. I read it first in my class five Bengali textbook. The poem was later sung as a song by Hemanta Mukhopaddhay.
Shukanta was born in Calcutta in 1926. By the time he grew up, World War II was raging and the heat of war was also being felt in British-ruled Bengal. It was a pivotal moment in the history of Bengal. The anti-British movement was going on and also the economy of Bengal was in a very bad condition, which resulted in a man-made famine in 1943. Sukanto was born, he observed and described the problems of the society and the suffering of the people of that epoch. Sukanta during his school life became involved in the leftist political movement. He was deeply influenced by Marxist thoughts and ideals.
In his poems he described contemporary social problems such as hunger, war, the suffering of the poor, especially farmers and day laborers. During the famine of 1943 he became a rescuer for peasants arriving in Calcutta. He also worked with trade organizations for jute mills. Sukanta died of tuberculosis when he was only twenty-one years old. In such a short time he wrote many poets and plays. Some of his works are Chhadpatra (1947), Purbabhas (1950), Mithekada (1951), Abhiyan (1953), Ghum Nei (1954), Hartal (1962), Gitiguchchha (1965).
In my writing I want to talk about two of his famous poems and they are also my favorites. The first is “Chhadpatra”, a poem in which the poet speaks of a child who has just been born and declares his arrival through tears. The poet says that the baby has come into this world and now we have to make room for this baby. The poet says that sometimes the baby cries, sometimes laughs and makes noise but nobody understands. People are irritated but the poet understands his language. It is the hope of a new world, of a new place. People will die and this newborn baby will take his place and thus the cycle of human life will advance. Here the poet is actually referring to the contemporary condition of his time: war, devastation, famine and instability in life. The poet did not lose faith in the human being. He hopes that the next generation will learn from the failings of the older ones and try to make the world a better place. The newborn baby is that sign of hope.
Another poem is “Ranar”. It is the story of a simple postman or Daak Harkara. In those days the communication system was not very developed. The postman’s role is to move letters and money orders and other important messages from one post office to another post office. This was very tiring and risky work too. The postman has to travel long distances and work at night. There are thieves and muggers hiding along the way. Ranar is a postman who risks his life every day and carries important letters and money for people. Ranar is a very poor person. He carries letters for everyone, but there is no one who wants to know about him. He lives for the day. Ranar here is the representative of the working class. The poet describes here the suffering of those poor people who go unnoticed but whose hard work contributes to human society.
Both poems are very clean and well written. They are loaded with highly emotional words. Both poems focus on the same theme a new dawn of human society a ray of hope. The hope of a new world where people do not oppress and destroy each other. It will be a world free from war, disease and famine. The newborn child and Ranar are the messenger of that new world.
