Shankha Ghosh, last ‘Pandava’ of Bengali lit, succumbs to Covid

KOLKATA: Iconic poet and thinker Shankha Ghosh, 89, passed away at his home around 11.30am on Wednesday, seven days after testing Covid-positive. He was in home isolation as he did not want hospitalisation.
With this, Covid has dealt another blow to the Bengali cultural world after snatching actor Soumitra Chattopadhyay last November.
Among the most respected names in contemporary Bengali literature, Ghosh was one of the ‘Pancha Pandavas’ — along with Shakti Chattopadhyay, Sunil Gangopadhyay, Binoy Majumdar and Utpal Kumar Basu — who gave a new identity to the Bengali literary world in the post-Jibanananda era.
An intensely private man in personal life, Ghosh was very much vocal on social issues. Not only did he clearly express his views in his works, he also came out on the street to protest social wrongs on several occasions. He had clear political views, but never aligned with any particular political party. That is why, on the rare occasions he spoke — whether on Nandigram or more recently, on the Citizenship Amendment Bill — the literary world listened to him with awe and respect. His strong rebuttal to NRC — through his poem ‘Mati’ — won critical acclaim.
Ghosh won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1977 for his book ‘Babarer Prarthana’. In 2011, he was awarded Padma Bhushan and in 2016 he received the Jnanpith Award.
He was also honoured with Desikottama by Visva-Bharati. Ghosh, however, never let fame come in the way of his humility and simple living.
He shook the Bengali literary world with his works like ‘Dinguli Raatguli’, ‘Panjore Dnarer Shabdo’, ‘Murkho Boro, Samajik Noy’, ‘Adim Lata-Gulmomay’, Mukh Dheke Jay Biggapone’ and ‘Babarer Prarthana’.
The world knew him as Shankha Ghosh, but his official first name was Chittapriya. Born in Chandpur (now in Bangladesh) on February 6, 1932, he did his BA in Bengali language and literature from erstwhile Presidency College and subsequently did his post-graduation from the University of Calcutta. As a teacher, he groomed generations of students at Bangabasi College, City College and Jadavpur University.
In 1967, he participated in the International Writing Program’s Fall Residency at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. He also taught at Delhi University, the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla, and Visva-Bharati.
"He was a poet’s poet so far as his linguistic style and unique experimentation with meter is concerned. Not too many poets will be able to bring to form a line as unique as Panjore Dnarer Shabdo or ‘I hear my ribs rowing’! And at the same time, he was the common man’s poet when he wrote ‘Jamunabati Saraswati’," said poet Subodh Sarkar.
He was widely considered to be an authority on Rabindranath Tagore. ‘E Amir Abaran’ that deals with the philosophy behind Tagore songs, ‘Nirman O Srishti’ and ‘Ocampor Rabindranath’ are some of his best-known books on Tagore. "Reading and analysing Tagore was his passion and he could so lucidly explain his thoughts that it never seemed like a lecture," said writer Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, who knew the poet for over six decades.
Ghosh was an impassioned observer of the society and its changes, taking up his razor-sharp pen — quite unlike his soft-spoken nature ? to protest atrocities and wrongs. He did not shy away from writing against any political colour when he felt the need to protest. "It was not easy to stay steadfast in one’s opinion, ignoring what the consequences might be. It didn’t matter to him. He wrote what he thought he should in the face of a crisis," said poet Srijato.
Ghosh also wrote both poetry and prose for young readers. ‘Sob Kichhutei Khelna Hoy’, ‘Sokalbelar Alo’, ‘Supuriboner Sari’, ‘Chhotto Ekta School’ and ‘Ichhamotir Mosha’ are some of his best-loved children’s books.
He spent a lot of time with Bengali linguistics and the etymology of Bengali spellings. He often wrote under the pen name Kuntak for this genre of writing.
An extremely shy person since his student days, stories of how he had refused to recite at the University Senate Hall and had to be literally hounded by another legendary poet Subhas Mukhopadhyay is now legendary.
He even refused to receive the best alumnus award of the Presidency University Alumni Association, because he loved to stay away from the limelight, said the association vice-president Bivas Chowdhury. "He, however, ensured that the award went to Nabaneeta Dev Sen in the conclusion of our bicentennial in 2018," Chowdhury added. Ghosh remained an inseparable part of the association. "At the inaugural of our bi-centennial, he walked from Vivekananda’s house to College Street, singing with past students," said Chowdhury. The alumni association will organise a virtual global condolence soon.
Celebrated director Kumar Shahani deeply mourned the demise of the poet. "It was during the making of Char Adhyay’ that I interacted with him," he said over a telephonic conversation from Delhi. "It has a non-linear narrative, so I was looking for a different kind of enunciation of Tagore from the declamatory one that was current then, on stage and elsewhere. Shankha-da had a soft-spoken manner that worked for me. The mantle of Tagore had fallen on him. At author Sibaji Bandopadhyay's suggestion, two lines of a Tagore poem were combined with two lines by Shankha-da. On my request, he recited those lines in the film which essentially is on the impact of politics on personal lives and questions both, blind nationalism and blind hero worshipping of a leader." The 1997 film in Hindi, produced by NFDC, had to face a court case prior to its release, "and again, Shankha-da had mediated with the person and convinced him to drop the case," the grateful director says.