The Scholar Against Time

Nirad C Chaudhury was one of the most distinguished Indian writers of the 20th century. His writings in Bengali and English language reflect deep insight on Indian culture, society and history. While expressing his thoughts, he was courageous and uncompromising. His analysis on Bengali society and on the confrontation between orient and occident created a new school of thought. We remember this man of letters on his 15th death anniversary.

In 1938 Chaudhury was appointed as the secretary to Sarat Chandra Bose, an influential political leader for the independence movement of India
At that time Chaudury used to write articles on socio political issues in Bengali and English newspapers
He worked as the political commentator of All India Radio
At that time Chaudhury interacted with the leaders like Gandhi and Nehru and became sceptical about the ability of Indian political leadership

Chaudhury's masterpiece The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian was published in 1951
It created much controversy for his 'pro- colonial thoughts' and as he dedicated the book to the memory of British Empire in India
After this publication Chaudhuri was effectively forced out of government service, deprived of his pension and blacklisted as a writer in India.
Even in the book's latest, 1998 edition, the dedication page was simply omitted by the publisher, without the knowledge of the author

Chaudhury was very critical about the hypocritical features of Bengali society especially the class and caste system
He was an avid writer and published his last work at the age of 99
He was the first and only Indian to be awarded with  the Duff Cooper Memorial Award for his book The Continent of Circe
Chaudhury received an honorary doctorate from the University of Oxford in 1990

He was also an honorary CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) from Queen Elizabeth II in 1992
For many years Chaudhury was ostracized in his homeland as “the brown sahib” and the last British imperialist
Only in his later years did Chaudhuri win widespread acceptance and appreciation in India
This great scholar died on August 1, 1999