Pritish Nandy

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Pritish Nandy (born 15 January 1951) is a poet, journalist, politician, television personality and film producer. He is a member of Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian parliament.[1] He has published a number of poetry books and translated poems by other writers from Bengali into English.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Nandy was born in Bhagalpur in the state of Bihar in eastern India. He is the son of Satish Chandra Nandy and Prafulla Nalini Nandy. He was educated at La Martiniere College and, briefly, at Presidency College in Kolkata.[1] Nandy's mother was a teacher at La Martiniere Calcutta and subsequently became the school's first Indian vice principal.[2]

[edit] Publishing career

Nandy's first book of poems Of gods and olives was published in 1967. Three further volumes followed in the 1960s and a further 14 volumes were published in the 1970s.[3] In July 1981 Nandy was nominated as a Poet Laureate by the World Academy of Arts and Culture at the Fifth World Congress of Poets in San Francisco.[4]

In 1982 Nandy became a full-time journalist. He was publishing director of The Times of India from 1982 to 1991, and editor of The Illustrated Weekly of India from 1983 to 1991. He has also served as the editor of The Independent and Filmfare. He served concurrently as the publisher of The Illustrated Weekly of India, The Independent, Filmfare, Femina, Science Today, Dharmayug and Madhuri. He is currently a syndicated columnist with The Times of India and over thirty other leading Indian newspapers.[1]

Nandy opened India's first cyber café in 1996.[1]

[edit] Political career

Nandy was elected to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian parliament, in July 1998 - as a representative of a Hindu nationalist party, the Shiv Sena. He is on a number of committees including the National Committee to Celebrate 50 years of Independence, the Parliamentary Committee for Defence, the Parliamentary Committee for Information and Broadcasting, and the Telephone Advisory Committee.[1]

[edit] Film and TV career

Nandy's production company Pritish Nandy Communications was founded in 1995. Its first programme was a chat show entitled the Pritish Nandy Show which aired on Doordarshan, a public broadcasting channel. The World This Week also aired on Doordarshan. This was followed by Fiscal Fitness, India's first weekly business show, on Zee TV, and The Pritish Nandy Business Show. Nandy has presented over 500 news and current affairs shows on Doordarshan, Zee TV and Sony TV. [1] Nandy's film and television productions include:

[edit] Awards

  • National Science Talent Scholar 1964
  • American Field Service Scholar, 1964
  • Homi Bhabha Fellow, 1982
  • E. M. Forster Padmashri, 1977
  • Shrikant Verma Award for Journalism, 1988
  • Outstanding Citizen Award, 1986 and 1992
  • Vijaya Ratna Award, 1989
  • Shiromani Vikas Award, 1990
  • Priyadarshini Award, 1990
  • Freedom of Information Award, 1990
  • Several Rotary, Giant and Lions Awards for Journalism.[1]

[edit] Selected works

[edit] Poetry collections

  • Of gods and olives. Calcutta: Writers' Workshop, 1967, 32pp.
  • I hand you in turn my nebbuk wreath: early poems. Calcutta: Dialogue (distributed by Writers' Work Shop), 1968, 16pp.
  • From the outer bank of the Brahmaputra. New York: New Rivers Press, 1969, 38pp.
  • Rites for a plebeian statue: an experiment in verse drama. Calcutta: Writers' Workshop, 1969, 48pp.
  • Madness is the second stroke. Calcutta: Dialogue Publications, 1971, 56pp.
  • Masks to be interpreted in terms of messages. Calcutta : A Writers' Workshop Publication, 1970, 48pp.
  • The poetry of Pritish Nandy. New Delhi, 1973.
  • Lonesong street. Calcutta: Poets Press, 1975, 32pp.
  • Riding the midnight river: selected poems of Pritish Nandy. New Delhi: Arnold Heinemann Publishers (India), 1975, 144pp.
  • A stranger called I. New Delhi: Kavita in association with Arnold Heinemann, 1976, 48pp.
  • In secret anarchy. Calcutta: United Writers, 1976, 38pp.
  • On either side of arrogance. (A Writers' Workshop Redbird Book.) Calcutta: Writers' Workshop, 1976, 32pp.
  • The nowhere man. New Delhi: Heinemann, 1977, 32pp.
  • Pritish Nandy, 30. Calcutta?: Kavita in association with A. Heinemann, c1978, 30pp.
  • Anywhere is another place. New Delhi: Heinemann, 1979, 48pp.
  • The selected poems of Pritish Nandy. Edited by Krishna Srinivas. Madras : Poet Press India, 1979, 63pp.
  • Tonight, this savage rite: the love poems of Kamala Das and Pritish Nandy. New Delhi : Arnold-Heinemann, 1979, 55pp.
  • The rainbow last night. Poems by Pritish Nandy. New Delhi: Arnold-Heinemann, 1981, 48pp.

[edit] Fiction

  • Some friends: Stories by Pritish Nandy. New Delhi: Arnold-Heinemann, 1981, 104pp.

[edit] Translations

  • The complete poems of Samar Sen. Transcreated from the Bengali by Pritish Nandy. Calcutta: Writers' Workshop Publication, 1970, 192pp.
  • Poet of the people: poems of Subhas Mukhopadhyay translated from the original Bengali by Pritish Nandy. Calcutta: Dialogue Calcutta Publications, c1970, 24pp.
  • Bangla Desh. A voice of a new nation. Fifty poets, seventy five poems. Calcutta: Dialogue Publications, 1971.
  • Shesh Lekha: The last poems of Rabindranath Tagore. Translated by Pritish Nandy. Calcutta: Dialogue Publications, 1973, 15pp.
  • The poetry of Kaifi Azmi translated by Pritish Nandy. Calcutta: Poets Press; New Delhi: Distributed by Heinemann, 1975, 32pp.
  • Pritish Nandy translates the poetry of Kaifi Azmi. Calcutta: Poets Press; New Delhi: distributors, Arnold Heinemann, 1975, 32pp.
  • Snake and other stories. Translated from Bengali by Rina and Pritish Nandy. Calcutta: Seagull, 1990. ISBN 8170460735.
  • Unchained melody: Pritish Nandy rediscovers the love poems of Amaru. New Delhi: Rupa, 1994. ISBN 8171672175
  • Untamed heart: Pritish Nandy rediscovers the love poems of Bhartrhari. New Delhi: Rupa, 1994. ISBN 8171672167
  • Careless Whispers: Pritish Nandy recreates the best of Sanskrit love poetry. New Delhi: Rupa, 1994. ISBN 8171672205.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Biographical Sketches of Members of Rajya Sabha – 1998 accessed September 2007
  2. ^ Pritish Nandy. 'A short pause'. Rediff on the net. accessed September 2007
  3. ^ Arvind Krishna Mehrotra (ed). A History of Indian Literature in English. London: Hurst and Company, p254. accessed September 2007
  4. ^ Authors Guild of India: Indian Author, 1981. accessed September 2007
  5. ^ Pritish Nandy on the Internet Movie Database accessed September 2007

[edit] External links