Synopsis
Buddhadeva Bose belonged to that generation of Bengali writers of the thirties and forties who fought tooth and nail to escape the all-pervading influence of Rabindranath Tagore to establish their personal idioms. He succeeded, but the fascination, admiration, and awe of the older poet remained.
He twice visited Shantiniketan with his family, once in 1938 and then in the summer of 1941, invited by the poet himself. The younger poet, who in youth rebelled against him, now worshipped him and truly loved him. The title of this memoir Sab Peyechhir Deshe ('The land where I found it all') says it all. He intended to give this book personally to Rabindranath as a gift of his deep appreciation, but, sadly, by the time the book came out of the press, Rabindranath had passed away. And what had been conceived as a gift of gratitude now turned into an elegy, a younger poet's homage to his Master.
This book has ever been a favorite with Bengali readers, and constitutes an invaluable addition to the study of Tagore and his life.
About the Authors
Buddhadeva Bose (1908-1974) is a major Bengali writer of the twentieth century, the most multi-talented amongst those belonging to what is for convenience termed the 'post-Tagore' period. Like Rabindranath Tagore, he was a versatile writer, comfortable in every literary genre. A brilliant poet, he also wrote novels, short stories, plays in both prose and verse, and non-fictional prose such as travelogues, memoirs, and literary essays. He was also an editor-publisher, a translator, a writer for children, and a consummate critic. (from 'Selected Poems of Buddhadeva Bose', translated by Ketaki Kushari Dyson)His first book of poetry was published when he was only seventeen years old. Although he worked as a teacher at different colleges and universities, he devoted his whole life to literature. This is symbolized by the name of his residence in Calcutta, which was Kavita Bhavan (tr. 'The House of Poetry'). His first novel was published when he was 18, in 1930. He wrote more than 40 novels, but his epic novel 'Tithidore', published in 1949, became his most admired novel and is now considered a classic. He published more than 160 titles during his lifetime. As an editor of his historical magazine Kavita (Poetry), the first magazine in India devoted solely to modern Bengali poetry, he demonstrated his ability to identify the best talents of 20th-century Bengal. His prose style was also established on a diction developed by himself. His novels remain modern even by the standards of the 21st century. He established a style of appreciative literary criticism that remains unparalleled. Also, his verse plays, written at the end of his life, created a poetic style all his own.
Dr. Nandini Gupta is a Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. Apart from requisite scientific publications, her translations of modern Bangla poetry into English have been included in national and international anthologies published by the Centre for the Art of Translation, San Francisco, Oxford University Press India, etc. She regularly translates for the Parabaas Webzine, and her translation of Buddhadeva Bose's memoir has been published by Parabaas in 2018 as 'The land where I found it all'. Her translations have been included in anthologies published by the Antonym Collections, and her translation of Sadique Hussain's book of short stories was recently released as 'Giyas Ali's love and His Time Alone' by the same publication house.
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