Kolkata, YNN (Rajat Bansal): Sahitya Akademi organised a birth centenary seminar on Nirendranath Chakravarti on 27-28 July 2024 at its Eastern Regional Office auditorium, 4 D. L. Khan Road, Kolkata 700025. The welcome address was delivered by Dr. K. Sreenivasarao, Secretary, Sahitya Akademi. He spoke briefly on the life and works of Nirendranath Chakravarti. In the introductory address, Sri Bratya Basu, Convener of the Bengali Advisory Board of Sahitya Akademi as well as the Hon’ble Minister, Ministry of Higher Education, Govt of West Bengal, spoke on the distinctive traits of the writings of Nirendranath Chakravarti. The seminar was inaugurated by the Fellow of Sahitya Akademi, Sri Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay, who spoke about how he felt attracted to the writings and personality of Nirendranath Chakravarti. In his keynote address, Sri Alapan Bandyopadhyay discussed the context of Nirendranath’s writing and how he succeeded in reshaping Bengali literature. While speaking from the chair, Dr. Madhav Kaushik, President of Sahitya Akademi, focused on how Nirendranath paved his way to become one of the greatest writers in Indian literature. The vote of thanks was proposed by Sri Kshetrabasi Naik, Officer-in-Charge, Sahitya Akademi Eastern Region.
The first academic session focused on “Nirendranath: The Man and His Times”. In the session, Professor Baridbaran Ghosh presented interesting anecdotes on the life and writings of Nirendranath Chakravarti. Professor Chinmoy Guha presented Nirendranath’s magical, passionate writing with references to his major texts. Sri Sekhar Basu spoke about his experiences working under the editorship of Nirendranath in the Anandamela magazine. The second session focused on Nirendranath Chakravarti as the journalist and editor. While Sri Harsha Datta spoke on Nirendranath as a meticulous editor who performed his duty almost religiously, Sri Pracheta Gupta informed the audience how he was influenced by the writings of Nirendranath. Professor Pabitra Sarkar spoke on how Nirendranath revolutionized Bengali literature through his writings and opinions. He led the way to bring in a new era in the Bengali language. On the next day, the seminar will resume with eminent scholars and writers and will end with a showing of a documentary film on Nirendranath Chakravarti.
