Debesh Roy (17 December 1936 — 14 May 2020) was a
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 ...
writer and scholar from India. He is best known for his
Sahitya Akademi Award
The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...
-winning novel ''Teesta Parer Brittanta'' (1990).
Early life and education
Roy was born in
Pabna
Pabna ( bn, পাবনা) is a city of Pabna District, Bangladesh and the administrative capital of the eponymous Pabna District. It is on the north bank of the Padma River and has a population of about .
Etymology
* According to the his ...
in
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
. His family came to
Jalpaiguri
Jalpaiguri is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Jalpaiguri district as well as of the Jalpaiguri division of West Bengal, covering the jurisdiction of the five districts of North Bengal. The city is loc ...
on 17 December 1936. His father was Khistish Roy and his mother was Aparna Roy. He had his schooling from Ananda Model School, Jalpaiguri. He graduated from
Ananda Chandra College in Jalpaiguri. From the time he was a student, Roy worked in the
student wing
A student wing is a subsidiary, autonomous, or independently allied front of a larger organization that is formed in order to rally support from students and focus on student specific issues, typically of those attending college or university. Stu ...
of
Communist Party of India. During his such association, he learned the
Rajbanshi dialect. In 1956, while studying at
Calcutta University
The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a public collegiate state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered one of best state research university all over India every year, C ...
, he took part in mainstream
left-wing politics
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in ...
.
Career
Roy was also involved with the trade union movement in Kolkata. He worked as a research fellow in the Centre for Studies in Social Science. He made his debut in the literary scene in 1955 in
''Desh'' magazine. His first book was ''Jajati''. During his five decades-long writing career, Roy was remembered for numerous books, including Borisaler Jogen Mondal, Manush Khun Kore Keno, Samay Asamayer Brittanto, and Lagan Gandhar. Roy's life and works were inspired by the
Teesta river
Teesta River is a long river that rises in the Pauhunri Mountain of eastern Himalayas, flows through the Indian states of Sikkim and West Bengal through Rangpur, Bangladesh, Rangpur, and enters the Bay of Bengal. It drains an area of . In I ...
-based
Rajbanshi Community of
North Bengal
North Bengal ( bn, উত্তরবঙ্গ/উত্তর বাংলা) is a term used for the north-western part of Bangladesh and northern part of West Bengal. The Bangladesh part denotes the Rajshahi Division and Rangpur Division. Gen ...
. He received the Sahitya Academy award in 1990 for his epic novel Teesta Parer Brittanto. He was also honoured by Bhasa Sahitya Parishad and Bhualka Purashkar.
Publications
* ''Jajati''
* ''Teesta Parer Brittanto''
* ''Borisaler Jogen Mondal''
* ''Manush Khun Kore Keno''
* ''Samay Asamayer Brittanto''
* ''Lagan Gandhar''
* ''Attiyo Brittanto''
* ''Mafassali Brittanto''
* ''Tistapuran''
* ''Angina''
* ''Itihaser Lokjon''
* ''Udbasu''
Death
Roy suffered a massive cardiac arrest and died on 14 May 2020 at a private hospital in
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roy, Debesh
1936 births
2020 deaths
Bengali writers
Bengali-language writers
Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Bengali
Novelists from West Bengal
20th-century Indian novelists
People from Jalpaiguri
Writers from Kolkata