Annada Shankar Ray (15 March 1904 – 28 October 2002) was an Indian poet and essayist in

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

. He also wrote some Odia poetry. He wrote several Bengali poems criticising the

Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: India and Pakistan. T ...

. Most notable is "''Teler shishi bhaanglo bole khukur pare raag karo''. Among his many essays, the book ''Banglar Reneissance'' has an analytical history of the cultural and social revolution in Bengal. Ray's best known work is ''Pathe Prabaase'', a diary of his trip in Europe in 1931. He died in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

on 28 October 2002.

Family history

This

icon's ancestral place is Kotrung (present-day

Uttarpara Kotrung Uttarpara or Uttarpara Kotrung is a city and a municipality of Hooghly district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA). Uttarpara is located at , within 10 k ...

) in the

Hooghly district Hooghly district () is one of the districts of the Indian state of West Bengal. It can alternatively be spelt ''Hoogli'' or ''Hugli''. The district is named after the Hooghly River. The headquarters of the district are at Hooghly-Chinsura (''C ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

. His ancestors migrated from Kotrung to

Balasore Balasore or Baleswara is a city in the state of Odisha, about north of the state capital Bhubaneswar and from Kolkata, in eastern India. It is the largest town of northern Odisha and the administrative headquarters of Balasore district. It ...

district of

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

. His grandmother , Durgamoni , was the daughter of an aristocrat Bengali Sen family of Jajpur . Annada Shankar Ray's father was Nimaicharan Ray and his mother was the daughter of an aristocrat Bengali Palit family of Cuttack. Nimaicharan Ray shifted his base to

Dhenkanal Dhenkanal is a town and a municipality in Dhenkanal district in the state of Odisha, India. Geography Dhenkanal is at . It has an average elevation of 80 metres (262 feet). Demographics As per the 2011 India census, Dhenkanal had a ...

following a family feud.

Educational life

Ray graduated in English from

Ravenshaw College Ravenshaw University, formerly known as Ravenshaw college, is a co-educational state university situated in Cuttack, Odisha on the eastern coast of India. Founded as Ravenshaw College in 1868, the institution became a university in 2006. The u ...

in Cuttack. He topped the list of

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million p ...

examinees in 1927. He had failed to make the mark in the previous year, being cut off by one rank. He was the first ICS officer from the territory later forming the state of Orissa.

Literary career

After serving in various administrative posts, he sought voluntary retirement in 1951 to devote himself to literary pursuits. Ray was a Gandhian in politics and

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

inspired his literature. His first published book was ''Tarunya'' (1928), which gave him a footing as an essayist. In 1928, his first collection of poetry named ''Rakhi'' also got published. It includes poems he composed when was in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and they are creations based on Romantic imaginations thus involving the innate bond of nature and human emotions. His first two novels were ''Asamapika'' and ''Agun Niye Khela''. As an essayist, he was urbane and sophisticated and combined in his craft two different styles of prose, represented by Tagore and Pramatha Choudhury. A significant breakthrough in his literary career came with the publication of Pathe Prabase, a diary of his Europe trip, in 1931. Ray also established himself as a short-story writer. His collections include ''Prakritir Parihas'' (1934), ''Man Pavan'' (1946), ''Kamini Kanchan'' (1954) and ''Katha''. A Bengali rendering of a short story by Tolstoy and an appraisal of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s essay ''Narir Mulya'' marked his debut on the literary scene at the age of 16. In Oriya, the poetry ''"Sabita"'' finds place in higher studies of the language at college level, making him one of the few poets to have the distinction of getting such acclaim from two different language speaking states of India.

Works

Annadashankar Roy was a contributor of both prose and poetry.

Novels

* ''Satyasatya'' (6 Novels) *# ''Jar Jetha Desh'' *# ''Oggatobash'' *# ''Kolonkoboti'' *# ''Dukkhomochon'' *# ''Morter Sorgo'' *# ''Opposaron'' * ''Agun Niye Khela'' * ''Osomapika'' * ''Putul Niye Khela'' * ''Na'' * ''Konna''

Essays

* ''Tarunno'' * ''Amra'' * ''Jibonshilpi'' * ''Eahara'' * ''Jiyonkathi'' * ''Deshkalpatro'' * ''Prottoy'' * ''Notun Kore Bacha'' * ''Adhunikota'' * ''Art''

Autobiography

* ''Binur Boi'' * ''Potheprobashe'' * ''Japane''

Short story collections

* ''Prokritir Porihash'' * ''Du Kan Kata'' * ''Hason Sakhi'' * ''Mon Pahon'' * ''Jouban Jala'' * ''Kamini Kanchon'' * ''Ruper Day'' * ''Golpo''

Award

He received the Vidyasagar Smriti Award from the state government and the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

. He was made a fellow of the

Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian government. Its of ...

in 1989. The

Visva Bharati Visva-Bharati () is a public central university and an Institution of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India. It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it ''Visva-Bharati'', which means the communion of the ...

conferred on him the Desikottama and an honorary D.Litt. He also received the Rabindra Puraskar, the Ananda Puraskar twice and the Zaibunnisa Award of Bangladesh.

References

Writers from Kolkata

External links

* *
Annada Shankar Ray
at the West Bengal Public Library Network
"''Teler sisi''" poem
at calcuttaweb.com
Master of the rhyme is dead

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

Partition Voices Annada Sankar Ray
Andrew Whitehead {{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Annada Shankar 1904 births 2002 deaths Indian Civil Service (British India) officers Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education Recipients of the Ananda Purashkar Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship Bengali-language writers Bengali-language poets Odia-language writers Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Bengali Recipients of the Rabindra Puraskar People from Dhenkanal Ravenshaw University alumni 20th-century Indian poets Indian male poets Poets from Odisha 20th-century Indian male writers Poets from West Bengal