Manik Bandopadhyay

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Manik Bandopadhay (Bangla: মানিক বন্দোপাধ্যায়) (1908-1956) is one of the most influential novelists in Bangla literature. His important works include Padma Nadir Majhi (The Boatman of River Padma) and Putul Nacher Itikotha (A History of Puppet Dance) and numerous short stories. His writing stands in stark contrast to that of other luminaries like Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay who portrayed life in rural Bengal in a gentle, lyrical light. Manik's writing dealt with the pettiness and wretchedness of existence in a village context. His primary concern was the dark alleyways of the human mind, even among the supposedly simple village folk, and not the serene beauty of nature that was always in the background in his novels. In Putulnacher Itikotha he took on rather savagely the touchy topic of hypocrisy in villages: an elderly couple are canonised as saints after committing morpheine - induced suicide; the daughter of one of the village's elders gets married off to a wealthy businessman in Kolkata who treats her as a 'kept'woman, she develops a drinking habit and comes back to her old home just a shadow of her former self. However, the people around her keep pretending that nothing untoward has happened. Numerous other examples abound.

[edit] Biography

Manik Bandopadhay was born Prabodh Kumar Bandopadyay on 19 May 1908 in West Bengal, India. He was his parents' fifth son. His father was Harikar Bandopadhyay and his mother was Niroda Devi. Manik was his nickname. Harihar was a government official and was often transferred to different areas of then undivided Bengal. Manik hence had experience with different areas of Bengal in his childhood. Bandyopadhyay matriculated from Midnapore in 1926. In 1928, after completion of his I.Sc. examinations from the Welleslyan Mission College in Bankura, he was admitted to the B.Sc. course at the Presidency College in Kolkata. Manik never completed the degree.