Sanjib Chattopadhyay ( bn, সঞ্জীব চট্ট্যোপাধ্যায়; born 24 october 1936 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 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

) is an Indian Bengali novelist and writer of short stories. His style is characterized by use of short satirical sentences mixed with very lively language.

Childhood and education

Sanjib Chattopadhyay spent his childhood in the hilly terrain of

Chota Nagpur Plateau The Chota Nagpur Plateau is a plateau in eastern India, which covers much of Jharkhand state as well as adjacent parts of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal and Bihar. The Indo-Gangetic plain lies to the north and east of the plateau, and the b ...

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of ''Dashti Kishore Upanyas'', collection of novels by Sanjib Chattopadhyay, Kolkata: Ananda Publishers, 2012 under the care of his father after his mother died when he was five. They relocated to Calcutta and he was admitted to Victoria Institution school which he joined at grade seven. He later graduated 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 ...

where he studied chemistry.

Work

The subjects of his fiction are mostly families living in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comm ...

city. Within the confines of these homes, he challenges the moral values of the fast-changing

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Co ...

of the city. Chattopadhyay frequently uses old men as his protagonists. These aged characters create the spiritual and philosophical edge found in his novels ''Lotakambal'' (The Vessel and Quilt) and ''Shakha Prasakha'' (Branches). Arguably the most famous of his creations is ''Lotakambal''. His most famous novella ''Swet Patharer Table'' (The Ivory Table) is an example of his characteristic style of story-telling which mixes tension, dilemma, curiosity, pity, humor, and satire. He has written fiction for children and continues to write for magazines and newspapers. Chattopdhyay's current writing is related to Ramkrishna Paramhansa Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda. Some of his major works apart from the above-mentioned are: * ''Parampadokamale'' (At His Divine Feet) * ''Cancer'' * ''Duti Chair'' (Two Chairs) * ''Roshe Boshe'' * ''Rakish Maa Roshe Boshe'' * ''Besh Achhi Roshe Boshe'' * ''Tumi Aar Aami'' (You And I) * ''Eke Eke'' (One By One) * ''Kolkata Achhe Kolkatatei'' (Calcutta Is In Calcutta) * ''Sheuli'' - A novel about a family consisting of grandfather, grandmother, father, mother and their son and daughter with many aspirations nestled inside satire. * ''Mapa Hashi Chapa Kanna'' (a book on satire) * ''Halka Hashi Chokher Jol'' (a book on satire) ight Smile Tears* ''Ujan Beye Jai'' * ''Mojar Foara'' * ''Bhagabaner Kaane Dilen Bhagabaner Naam'' by Dey's Publishing * ''Nirbane Anirban Buddha Bhagaban'' by Dey's Publishing * ''BHOR HOLO'' by Patra Bharati * ''Ka Tobo Kanta'' by Dey's Publishing * ''Porokiya'' by Patra Bharati * ''BRAMHADATYIR BACCHA'' by Patra Bharati Apart from these, his notable juvenile literature includes the Ruku-Suku and Badomama-Mejomama series (recompiled & published as ''Mama Samagra'' by KGB Prakashani) which are fun-filled and analyse various philosophical aspects of life through the eyes of children.

Awards

* Chattopadhyay is the recipient of the Ananda Puraskar in 1981. * He received the Banga Bibhushan award from the Govt. of West Bengal in May, 2012. * He received the

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 ...

in 2018 for his novel ''Sri Krishner Sesh Kota Din'' at an age of 82 years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chattopadhyay, Sanjeev Bengali writers Bengali-language writers Bengali male poets Bengali-language poets Indian children's writers Indian male novelists Scottish Church College alumni University of Calcutta alumni Recipients of the Ananda Purashkar 1936 births Living people 20th-century Indian novelists Poets from West Bengal 20th-century Indian poets Indian male poets Novelists from West Bengal 20th-century Indian male writers Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Bengali Writers from Kolkata