Kalidas Roy (1889–1975) was a poet of the

Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

era of

Bengali literature Bengali literature () denotes the body of writings in the Bengali language and which covers Old Bengali, Middle Bengali and Modern Bengali with the changes through the passage of time and dynastic patronization or non-patronization. Bengali h ...

and a teacher. He was born in Karui village of

Bardhaman Bardhaman (, ), officially Bardhaman Sadar, is a city and municipality in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of Purba Bardhaman district, having become a district capital during the period of British rule. Burdwan, an a ...

(now

Purba Bardhaman district Purba Bardhaman district is in the Indian state of West Bengal. Its headquarters is in Bardhaman. It was formed on 7 April 2017 after the division of the previous Bardhaman district. Great revolutionary Rash Behari Bose was born in village Suba ...

) at West Bengal in a Vaidya (

Baidya Baidya or Vaidya is a Bengali Hindu community located in the Bengal region of Indian subcontinent. A caste (''jāti'') of Ayurvedic physicians, the Baidyas have long had pre-eminence in society alongside Brahmins and Kayasthas. In the coloni ...

) family and was from the family lineage of the

Vaishnava Vaishnavism () ), also called Vishnuism, is one of the major Hindu traditions, that considers Vishnu as the sole supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, that is, '' Mahavishnu''. It is one of the major Hindu denominations along wit ...

poet, Lochan Dash. His father was Jogendranarayan Roy. He wrote in both

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

. He was the first Head master of Ulipur M.S. High School & College, which one of the oldest school of

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

.He died in the city of

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

(Modern day Kolkata).

Career

He earned his first degree from the Krishnanath College, Berhampore, Bengal Presidency, then affiliated with the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

. Later he studied for his MA examinations in philosophy from the

Scottish Church College Scottish Church College is a college affiliated by Calcutta University, India. It offers selective co-educational undergraduate and postgraduate studies and is the oldest continuously running Christian liberal arts and sciences college in Asia. ...

.''Some Alumni of Scottish Church College'' in ''175th Year Commemoration Volume''. Scottish Church College, April 2008, p. 589 During his teaching career, Roy taught in various institutions like Barisha High School (South 24 Parganas, near Kolkata) and Mitra Institution, Bhowanipore Branch, Kolkata, where he served as the Assistant Headmaster. He was one of the poets of the

era of Bengali literature. His poetry was specially influenced by Vaishnava thoughts. He wrote 19 books of verses. His famous poems include ''Chhatradhara'' (The Stream of Students), which describes a teacher's appreciation of his interaction with students, and ''Triratna'' (The Three Jewels). In addition to poetry, he also translated Sanskrit works and made critical reviews of books. In Kolkata he lived in a house near Tollygunge, which he christened as "Sandhyar Kulai" (Evening Abode). He died on 25 October 1975.

Bibliography

A few of his books of poetry are: *Parnaput *Ritu Mangal *Kisholoy *Brojobenu *Boikali *Lajanjali *Ballari *Aharan *Aharani *Khudkunra *Rashkadombo *Purnahuti *Haimanti *Chittachita

Awards

*Kavishekhar (The Chief/Topmost Poet, 1920), awarded by Bangiya Sahita Parishad, Rangpur *Jagattarini Swarna Padak (Gold Medal, 1953), from the University of Calcutta *Sarojini Swarna Padak (Gold Medal), from the University of Calcutta *Ananda Purashkar (1963) awarded by Anandabazar Group *Rabindra Purashkar (1968), awarded by for his poetry called "Purnahuti" *Deshikottam (1970), awarded by the Visva Bharati University *Hony. D.Litt. (1972) from the

Rabindra Bharati University Rabindra Bharati University is a public research university in Kolkata, India. It was founded on 8 May 1962, under the Rabindra Bharati Act of the Government of West Bengal in 1961, to mark the birth centenary of the poet Rabindranath Tagore. I ...

*Hony. D.Litt. (1976, posthumous) from the

University of Burdwan The University of Burdwan (also known as Burdwan University or B. U.) is a public state university located in Purba Bardhaman, West Bengal, India. It was established by the West Bengal Government as a teaching and affiliating university on 1 ...

References

1889 births 1975 deaths Bengali Hindus Bengali male poets Bengali-language poets Scottish Church College alumni University of Calcutta alumni Recipients of the Rabindra Puraskar Indian male poets Indian male essayists Indian textbook writers 20th-century Indian essayists 20th-century Indian poets 20th-century Indian male writers 20th-century Bengali poets Writers from Kolkata Poets from West Bengal Writers from West Bengal People from Purba Bardhaman district {{India-poet-stub