Jogindranath Sarkar (28 October 1866 – 26 June 1937) 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 w ...

children's author. He wrote more than seventy books.

Early life and education

Son of Nandalal Sarkar, a native of

Jaynagar Majilpur Jaynagar Majilpur () is a city and a municipality of South 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is situated in the southern suburbs of Kolkata. As an urban setup in the vicinity of Kolkata, the city is within the area of ...

, he was born in the house of his maternal uncle in

Netra Netra (''Norddeutsche Erdgas Transversale'') is a long natural gas pipeline system in Germany, which runs from the Dornum natural gas receiving facility at the coast of North Sea to Salzwedel in eastern Germany, where it is connected with the ...

village of

South 24 Parganas South 24 Parganas (Pron: pɔrɡɔnɔs; abbr. 24 PGS (S)), or sometimes South Twenty Four Parganas and Dakshin 24 Parganas, is a district in the Indian state of West Bengal, headquartered in Alipore previously, with its Zilla Parishad now in Ba ...

district, on 28 October 1866. His father came from an impoverished family in

Jessore Jessore (, ), officially Jashore, is a city of Jessore District in Khulna Division. It lies in southwestern Bangladesh. It is home to the first flight training school of the Bangladeshi Air Force, established in 1971. Jessore city consists of 9 wa ...

and later settled in Jaynagar. Doctor and philanthropist Sir

Nilratan Sircar Sir Nilratan Sircar (1 October 1861 – 18 May 1943) was an Indian medical doctor, educationist, philanthropist and swadeshi entrepreneur. He was awarded honorary DCL by University of Oxford and LL.D. by University of Edinburgh. He was a renow ...

was Jogindranath's elder brother. Jogindranath was a member of the

Brahmo Samaj Brahmo Samaj ( ) is the societal component of Brahmoism, which began as a monotheistic reformist movement during the Bengal Renaissance. It was one of the most influential religious movements in India and made a significant contribution to ...

. Jogindranath studied at Deoghar High School and was admitted to City College, but was unable to complete his degree.

Career and writings

He then began teaching at City Collegiate School, Kolkata, and became interested in writing children's literature at around the same time. He was adept at

nonsense verse Nonsense verse is a form of nonsense literature usually employing strong prosodic elements like rhythm and rhyme. It is often whimsical and humorous in tone and employs some of the techniques of nonsense literature. Limericks are probably th ...

. His work was published in various Bengali children's magazines, including '' Sandesh''. He was also the editor of the children's magazine '' Mukul''. Popular books include ''Hasi Khushi'' (1897), and his illustrated books of poetry ''Khukumanir Chhada'' (1899) and ''Hasirashi'' (1899). Other books for children include ''Chhabi-O-Galpo'' (1892), ''Ranga Chhabi'' (1896), ''Pashu-Paksi'' (1911), ''Bane-Jangale'' (1929), ''Galpa Sanchay'', ''Shishu Chayanika'', ''Hijibiji'', and others. In addition, he wrote schoolbooks for children, among them ''Gyanamukul'' (1890), ''Charupath'', and ''Shiksa Sanchay''. In 1896 Jogindranath established the City Book Society, which published Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury's debut book ''Chheleder Ramayana'', an adaptation of the ''

Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

'' for young readers. Despite suffering from

hemiplegia Hemiparesis, also called unilateral paresis, is the weakness of one entire side of the body ('' hemi-'' means "half"). Hemiplegia, in its most severe form, is the complete paralysis of one entire side of the body. Either hemiparesis or hemiplegia ...

from 1923, Jogindranath continued to write and publish until his death in 1937.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarkar, Jognidranath 1866 births 1937 deaths Bengali-language writers Bengali writers Brahmos Indian children's book illustrators Indian children's writers Indian printers People from Jaynagar Majilpur University of Calcutta alumni Writers from Kolkata Writers from British India