Abani Chakravarty was an Indian humanitarian poet of the late twentieth century

Assamese literature Assamese literature is the entire corpus of poetry, novels, short stories, plays, documents and other writings in the Assamese language. It also includes the literary works in the older forms of the language during its evolution to the contempor ...

. Apart from original poetry his works included two novelettes and translations of the

third-world The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the Southern Cone, NATO, Western European countries and oth ...

poetry.

Early life

Chakravarty was born in Nalbari subdivision (now

Nalbari district Nalbari (Pron: nɔ:lˈbɑ:ri) is an administrative district in the state of Assam in India. The district headquarters is located at Nalbari. The district derives its name from the combination of two words, "Nal" and "Bar." It is situated in ...

) of

Undivided Kamrup district Undivided Kamrup district is a former administrative district located in Western Assam from which Kamrup Rural district, Kamrup Rural (2003), Kamrup Metropolitan district, Kamrup Metropolitan (2003), Barpeta district, Barpeta (1983), Nalbari distri ...

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

on 3 January 1941 to a

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

family. Abani started contributing to the

prolifically in the 1960s and continued to do so until the 1990s. He was influential in the world of Assamese poetry and literature before he disappeared on a cold Saturday evening on 12 November 1994 from his Kharguli residence in

Guwahati Guwahati () the largest city of the Indian state of Assam, and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the seat of the Government of Assam. Th ...

Works

Chakravarty published a number of books including poetry anthologies, translations and two novelettes. He published his poems in most of the major Assamese newspapers and magazines. His books were primarily published by publishers based in Assam apart from his own publication ''Kabita Prakashan''(কবিতা প্ৰকাশন). Abani was the joint editor for the Assamese magazine ''Antaranga''(অন্তৰংগ) (meaning "The Intimate", six-monthly, 1969), ''Asomiya Kabita''(অসমীয়া কবিতা) ("The Assamese Poetry", monthly, 1970) and the editor of ''Chirantan''(চিৰন্তন) ("The Eternal", three-monthly, 1972). ''Pratibadar Kantha''(প্ৰতিবাদৰ কন্ঠ) ("The Voice of Rebellion", recorded in 1985), a cassette of recitation of his poems, was the first ever cassette of recitation of Assamese poetry. His anthologies are ''Deha Romeromai Mor''(দেহা ৰমেৰমাই মোৰ) (1970), ''Slogan''(শ্লোগান)(1980), ''Kabikantha''(কবিকন্ঠ) (1987), autobiographical novelette ''Sankardev Uddyan, Si aru Apurba''(শংকৰদেৱ উদ্যান, সি আৰু অপূৰ্ব) (1990), edited anthologies ''Britta Bhangar Samay'' (বৃত্ত ভঙাৰ সময়)(1972), ''Ai Samay''(এই সময়) (1972), ''Parashu Goswamir Kabita'' (1989)(পৰশু গোস্বামীৰ কবিতা) and ''Amulya Baruar Jeevan aru Kabita''(অমূল্য বৰুৱাৰ জীৱন আৰু কবিতা) (1990). The books that were jointly edited, translated and compiled are ''Mao Tse Tungar Kabita'' (মাও চে টু্ঙৰ কবিতা)(1979), ''Tung Pi Ur Kabita'' (টুং পি উৰ কবিতা)(1979), ''Ho Tsi Minar Kabita''(হো চি মিনৰ কবিতা) (1979), ''Krishnanga Kabir Kabita''(কৃষ্ণাংগ কবিৰ কবিতা) (1982), ''Faiz Ahmad Faizar Kabita''(ফয়্জ আহমদ ফয়্জৰ কবিতা) (1985) and ''Musa Jalilar Kabita''(মুছা জালিলৰ কবিতা) (1987).

Books about Abani Chakravarty

Since Abani's disappearance, several books have been published about him. These include: ''Abani Chakravartir Nirbachita Kabita''(অৱনী চক্ৰৱৰ্তীৰ নিৰ্বাচিত কবিতা) (published by Puthi Niketan in 1996), ''Abani Chakravartir Swa Nirbachita Kabita Sankalan ''(অৱনী চক্ৰৱৰ্তীৰ স্ব নিৰ্বাচিত কবিতা সংকলন)(published by Friends Publication in 2004), ''Abani Chakravarty: Smriti aru Sristi''(অৱনী চক্ৰৱৰ্তী: স্মৃতি আৰু সৃষ্টি) (published by Kabita Prakashan in 2009) and ''Swapno Ke Saath Ek Din Thitholi'' (सपनो के साथ एक दिन ठिठोली) (A Hindi translation of a few selected poems of Abani Chakravarty by Dinkar Kumar, published by Kabita Prakashan in 2010). A special edition of the Hindi magazine ''

Ulupi Ulupi (), also known as Uluchi and Ulupika, is a Naga princess mentioned in the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. Ulupi is the daughter of the king Kauravya, and is the second wife of Arjuna. She also finds a mention in the ''Vishnu Purana'' and the ...

'' focused on Chakravarty came out in 2004.The Assam Tribune online

Website on Abani Chakravarty

A website on Poet Abani Chakravarty https://poetabani.com was launched on 3 January 2018 by the poet's family. It was inaugurated by Sahitya Akademy awardee poet Gyan Pujari at Gahpur, Assam.

References

External links