Parvati Prasad Baruva (1904–1964) was a noted poet, lyricist, and dramatist: an icon of

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 ...

and the

culture of Assam The culture of Assam is traditionally a hybrid one, developed due to cultural assimilation of different ethno-cultural groups under various political-economic systems in different periods of its History of Assam, history. Historical perspec ...

. Known for his simple and sensitive use of the

Assamese language Assamese () or Asamiya ( ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken mainly in the north-eastern Indian state of Assam, where it is an official language. It has long served as a ''lingua franca'' in parts of Northeast India."Axomiya is the major langu ...

, he is popularly known as the ''Geetikavi''; the lyrical poet of Assam. He was also one of the early pioneering filmmakers of Assamese cinema.

Biography

He was born on 19 August 1904 near the banks of the Dikhow river in

Sibsagar {{Infobox settlement , name = Sivasagar , settlement_type = Metropolis , image_skyline = Sivasagar.jpg , image_alt = {{multiple image , border = infobox , total_width = 270 , image_style ...

, Assam to Radhika Prasad Baruva and Himala Devi. Parvati Prasad's great-grandfather Jaduram Deka Baruva wrote the first bilingual Assamese dictionary in 1839. Parvati Prasad graduated in philosophy from Kolkata's

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. ...

as a graduating student of 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 ...

. During his sojourn in Kolkata, he would watch plays, dance dramas (or Rabindra Nritya Natyas) and other musical events based on the works of

Rabindranath 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 ...

. These experiences helped to further hone his creativity as a music composer later.Parvati Prasad Baruva
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Works

Parvati Prasad, at the age of ten, for the first time, played the part of ' Joymoti', in a play staged by the local theater group. In 1921, he started a hand written monthly magazine called ''Jhupitora''.

Cinema

* He directed the fourth Assamese movie ''Rupohi'' which was released in 1941. He also composed the music for this film.

Poetry and music

* Bhonga Tukarir Sur (?): book of poems * Gungunani (?): published book of songs; including ''Pujo Aha'', ''Nobolo Tuk'', and ''Tor Nai Je Bondhuwa Baat'' * Luiti (?): published book of bongeets about the river Luit; including ''Luitor Saporit Kore Naworiya'' * Sukula Dawor Oi Kohuwa Phul (?): published book of songs about the seasons of autumn (fall); including ''Sarodi Sandhiyar Jonaki Mel '' * ''Lakhhimi'' (?): dance drama * ''Sonar Soleng'' (?): dance drama

Dramas

* ‘Lakhimi’ and * ‘Sonar Soleng'.

Translations and awards

Baruwa's poetry has been translated into

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

, English and may other Indian languages. English translation of his poems by Paromita Das under the titles "If Life Be Lost" and "Life Awakens" was conferred with

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 off ...

Golden Jubilee Literary Translation Award in 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baruwa, Parvati Prasad Poets from Assam People from Sivasagar Dramatists and playwrights from Assam 1904 births 1964 deaths Writers from Northeast India Scottish Church College alumni University of Calcutta alumni 20th-century Indian poets 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Writers from Assam