The Spirit of Bengal

Jibananda Das

During the era of Tagore and Nazrul there was a poet who nourished the Bengali literature in a different way. It was Jibananda Das, the Bengal's greatest romantic poet. He is also hailed as the “Best loved poet” of Bengal. Literary critic Amit Chaudhury says, “It's safe to claim that Das is the pre-eminent and best loved Bengali poet after Tagore.” Besides poetry, Das was an eminent writer, novelist and essayist. We remember this great poet on his 60th death anniversary.

Jibanananda Das was born in 1899 in the small district town of Barisal, Bangladesh (then British India)
Jibanananda was the eldest son of his parents, and was called by the calling name Milu
Das completed his BA honours in English literature in 1919 from the Presidency College of Calcutta
His first poem called Borsho Abahon appeared in print in the Boishakh issue of Brahmobadi journal

In 1927 his first collection of poems was published under the title “jhora Palok (Fallen Feathers)
His prose works also started to be published in prominent literary journals of that time such as Kallol, Kalikalam and Progoti
At that time Das's works came under intense criticism for his modernistic approach
Being frustrated, Das left Calcutta and started to live in the small town of Bagerhat

Struck with poverty and frustration, Das returned to Barisal and joined Brajamohan College as a lecturer
Das continued to write and after reading his poem Mrittur Agey,  Rabindranath Tagore wrote, “Jibanananda Das's vivid, colourful poem has given me great pleasure.”
In 1935 in the second issue of literary magazine Kobita, Das published his now legendary poem “Banalata Sen”
Today, this 18-line poem is among the most famous poems in the language

Buddhodeb Bose was a steadfast champion of Das's poetry, providing him with numerous platforms for publication
Just before partition in August 1947, he quit his job at Brajamohan College and left Barisal for Calcutta
In 1948, Das completed two of his novels, Mallyaban and Shutirtho, neither of which was discovered during his life
In the last year of his life, he was acclaimed as one of the best poets of the post-Tagore era
On October 14, 1954, while crossing a road Das was hit by a tramcar and died in a hospital on  October 22