|
|||||||
|
Litterateur
Milon Mukhopadhyay : A Chapter Lost In Negligence |
|||||||
| Paper Id :
18101 Submission Date :
2023-09-14 Acceptance Date :
2023-09-20 Publication Date :
2023-09-25
This is an open-access research paper/article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. DOI:10.5281/zenodo.8410044 For verification of this paper, please visit on
http://www.socialresearchfoundation.com/anthology.php#8
|
|||||||
| |||||||
| Abstract |
The
period was the seventies, an important chapter in Bengali literature. The
political socio-economic situation of Bengal was sensational. Bengali
literature has not deviated from the change that stirred the social life.
Writers like Sunil Gangopadhyay, Shishendu Mukhopadhyay, Sandeepan
Chattopadhyay, Debesh Roy etc. appeared in Bengali literature in the fifties.
The sixties were diverse. This decade has been experimenting with subject
matter, style, language.A more in-depth look at the subject as well as the
variable aspect. In the 1970s or the following decade, these experiments
continued to increase. Writers who appeared in the fifties (above) gave Bengali
literature one after the other interesting works during this period i.e. the
seventies and became quite popular. Milan Mukhopadhyay appeared in Bengali
literature through the novel 'Mukh Chai Mukh' published in 'Desh' newspaper in
1976 in the crowd of these popular fiction writers.Milan Mukhopadhyay is both a
painter and a writer. This novel is written about the struggling lives of
Parisian painters. Not uncommon in literary literature. For example -
Rabindranath Tagore, Abanindranath Tagore, Satyajit Ray, Purnendu Patri etc.
Remarkably, they are all discussed. Milan Mukherjee didn't get the limelight
compared to others. He is a neglected writer. He has written continuously since
1976. He wrote nine novels, two plays, one romance and twenty one short
stories. Later these twenty-one short stories were collected together opunder
the name of 'Oraori golpogrontho', which
is an excellent anthology. Unfortunately, there has been no extensive
discussion of Milan Mukherjee so far.A few articles have a brief discussion of
his literary works. His contribution to Bengali literature is undeniable, but
due to lack of popularity, he has been forgotten. Keeping this aspect in mind,
Researcher has selected the topic 'Milan Mukhopadhyay: Life and Literature' for her Ph.D
research. The present researcher will discuss the first fundamentals of this
research in detail and overall. |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keywords | Milon Mukhopadhyay, Bengali Literature, Mukh Chai Mukh, Oraori, Bioscop etc. | ||||||
| Introduction | The decade of 1970s
was an important chapter in the history of Bengali Literature. Bengal saw a
massive change in its political, economical and social sphere and literature
was no exception. The 1950s saw the emergence of such prolific writers as Sunil
Gangopadhyay , Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay and Sandipan Chattopadhyay. The 60s was
also diverse in its experimentation of the subject matter, language and style
of literature. The 70s and the subsequent years carried out these
experimentations further. As a result, the 70s emerged as the Golden period of
Bengali Literature with its most prolific writers writing one literary
masterpiece after another in their vernacular tongue. This was the time when
Milon Mukhopadhyay with his distinct subject matter and style entered the
Bengali literary scene. His distinct style was evident in his second novel “
Mukh Chai Mukh” itself, which was published in the ‘Desh’ magazine
in 1976. The novel raised the issue of the trials and tribulations of painters,
their monetary deprivations and their struggle in the society. Although the
novel dealt with a unique subject matter, it did not receive the attention that
it deserved then. And just like his novel, Milon Mukhopadhyay also failed to
attract the attention of his Bengali readership. Milon Mukhopadhyay is
still neglected in Bengali Literature. But the question remains , why? Is it
because his body of works do not adhere to the traditional norms, or is it
because of its lack of dopamine inducing plot , or is it merely because the gap
between each of his composition was considerably long? Or is it merely the
negligence and indifference on the part of the reader that made them overlook
his serious important literary works? Whatever the reason maybe ,it is now
evident that he certainly did not deserve this negligence. His novels and
stories capture a momentous time in Bengal’s history as well as the values and
ideologies of Bengali people, which had also gone through a tremendous change
because of the socio-political upheaval. The Naxal rebellion, the Emergency,
the Marchjhapi massacre of 1978, the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984,
all these events shook the core of Bengali society and brought an immense
change in the way Bengali people perceive the world around them. It is at this
tumultuous point in history that Milon Mukhopadhyay’s novels and stories were
born. There is no better medium available to human kind than that of writing to
express a certain kind of thought or idea. Through his/her writings, a writer
tries to understand or make sense of his/her own acquired experiences or
realizations. The acquired experiences and realizations of Milon Mukhopadhyay
manifest itself in his second novel “ Mukh Chai Mukh”. His writings are
replete with the mysteries of the inner self, the empathetic portrayal of
social circumstances, and the constant conflict between the ancient and the
modern. He was a socially aware writer. He wrote constantly from 1976 to 2006.
During this time, he wrote nine novels, two plays, twenty one short stories and
several essays. His twenty one short stories were later anthologized in the
short story collection called “Oraori”. What is most unfortunate is that
there is not much discussion around Milon Mukhopadhyay’s works up until now.
Although some essays do analyze his works but the analysis is far from being
sufficient. His contribution in Bengali literature is undeniable yet his works
are neglected, almost lost in the incessant wave of time. Our objective in this
research initiative is to analyze in detail Milon Mukhopadhyay’s works and to
bring his works to the attention of a wider readership. |
||||||
| Objective of study | In researching the subject of 'Milan Mukhopadhyay: Life and
Literature', the present researcher has selected nine novels, two plays and
twenty one short stories from the story book 'Oraori' by Milan Mukhopadhyay. 1. Analyzing the content and stylistic features of the
author's work. 2. Differences between his writings and contemporary writers.
3. To introduce the author to the reading community. |
||||||
| Review of Literature | Chapter
Format of Research Paper- A number of possible chapters have been divided for ease of study.
Chapter divisions or chapter headings may change later in the course of
research. We will,
through this research initiative, discuss this subject extensively for the
first time. Personal life and literary practices : Milon Mukhopadhyay lived
and practiced his literary pursuits from Tollygunge in Kolkata. His grandfather
was the ‘Zamindar’ or landlord of Kalashkathi village which is
situated in Bakerganj Upazilla in Barisal district. It is because of his
grandfather that Milon got to experience the country life and nature from a
close proximity in his childhood. Although he was born in Kolkata, his
work took him to Mumbai time and again. Milon’s writing career began from quite
a young age with such columns as “Chotoder Pattari” published
in ‘Jugantar’ magazine and “Sobujer Pata” published
in ‘Loksebok’ magazine. He has also regularly contributed in
college magazines. He started writing regularly in the ‘Jalsa-Satrang’ magazine
towards the end of the 60s. And his first novel in 1975, that was “
chena- ochena”. Then his remarkable novel “ Mukh Chai Mukh” was
serialized in the weekly ‘Desh’ magazine in the latter period
of the 70s. He has also written numerous serialized novels, travelogues and
short stories for many esteemed Bengali magazines such as ‘Anandabazar’,
‘Desh’, ‘Sananda’, ‘ Anandalok’, ‘Krittibas’ ‘Bartaman’, ‘Pratidin’, ‘Sambad Darpan’
etc. Milon’s formal
education began in Barisal’s Brajamohan Vidyalaya and later he continued his
education in Kolkata’s Sanskrit Collegiate School. He enrolled himself in
the Government College of Art & Craft in his daytime and in night he used
to attend the Bangabasi College. Thus he completed his education. The learning
of literature and the learning of paintings happened simultaneously for Milon.
The lifelong practice of both these arts made him, on the one hand an
accomplished painter and on the other hand a profound man of letters. Growth and diversity of Milon Mukhopadhyay as a novelist : Novel is an art form which entails of a close to life, realistic depiction of certain time and place and it tries to depict every element of a certain milieu in all its entirety and with as much precision as it possibly can. Keeping this notion of a novel in mind Milon Mukhopadhyay has written nine novels in Bengali - 1. “Mukh Chai Mukh”(1976), 2.“Hrawsvai dirghoi”(1977), 3.“Sakshatkar”(1987), 4.“Arabyakahinia”(1991), 5.“Noiswabde Mrituyr Probesh”(1991), 6.“Chena ochenaa”(1975), 7.“Atmopor”(1991), 8.“Jibsohoshro”(2004), 9.“Rat-Porider Bangkok”(2004,2012). Replete with an artist’s experiences and sensibilities , Milon’s second poetic novel “mukh chai much” is unique in its experimentation of subject matter and stylistics. The city of Kolkata and Mumbai and their surrounding suburbs form the background of most of Milon’s novels. A writer’s individual realizations and perspective can make the familiar unfamiliar. Their own specific way of narration or the use of linguistics also give their writing an individualistic fervor. In Milon Mukhopadhyay’s works these tendencies are overtly evident. Rich in the experiences and feelings of an artist's life, his novels are full of novelties and originality of subject or stylistic experimentation. The entire novel is written in the form of letters addressed to his wife, he continues to describe all the events. The desperate struggle of the painters in Paris is observed with helplessness and imperfection from the author's point of view. In parallel, the socio-economic status of native students and artists has also been shown. The theme of 'Sakshatkar' is an artist's hard struggle and the harsh reality of life with great depth and certain melancholy consequences. A successful film director who has reached the pinnacle of success, becomes mad with alcohol and unknowingly wants to have sex with his own daughter. Realizing your growing greed and inhumanity, he accidentally discovers a primitive incorrigible beast beneath the guise of elegant politeness. But self-deception and perversion of human mind was not the only aim of the writer. The story of the hard work of becoming a successful director is the core of this novel. The novelist combines empiricist and conventionalist. Experiences and passions derived from an extraordinary curiosity about human life and from deep empathy have motivated him time and again. In his second phase of novels, he made special experiments with theme and variation. The novel 'Hrwasvai Dirghoi' is novel in terms of genre fiction. The naming of each chapter is organized by Bengali alphabet. The novel 'Chena Achena' exists at the intersection of his travels, love and politics. Not just a travelogue, but the story of the narrative, the characters, the environment all progress gradually through the journey to Siliguri and Kedarnath, Badrinath. The main character of the novel repeatedly finds the lover of his imagination through these two journeys. The novel 'Noiswabde mrityur probesh' is another genre novel of the author. The novel revolves around the immoral activities of the underworld of Mumbai. There is also a detective character. It can be assumed that the writer Milon wrote this type of novel to change the taste and deviate from the usual conventions. Mst of his novels are set in Kolkata and Mumbai and the suburbs close to these two metropolises. A touch of originality in perception or philosophy makes the well-used or familiar matter fresh, and the distinctiveness of diction and penmanship also distinguishes the writer. The existence of Etadubhay is very visible in Milon's novel. “Oraori” : A
Comprehensive Discussion: The twenty one short stories included in the short story
collection “Oraori” is diverse in its subject matter, characterization, time
period and place. This diversity gives the reader a unique taste of literature.
Milon has masterfully employed his prosaic language in accordance with the
subject matter of his stories. “Haradhoner Cheleta”, “Bioscope”,
“Ishwarer Probesh”, and “Jege Achi”- the background of
these four short stories are respectively the slum by a Mumbai rail-pull, Mumbai
and its suburbs, among the sewer filled with decomposed petals and leaves and
trash by Bandra’s rail-pull , actresses’ makeup room in a film set of
Mumbai. In the first story of the “Oraori” collection, the author, in
order to express the psychological state of Khagenbabu aka K.N. Banerjee in his
retirement day, writes that “Khagenbabu can fly”. Here we see that the author
has presented this special day in Khagenbabu’s life in a unique humorous way. Each story in
the “Oraroi” collection gives the reader a distinct and different sort of
taste. The masterful amalgamation of reality and the writer’s imagination has
brought the characters to life. The way the characters are written with all the
nuances and with empathy also reflects the empathetic, sensitive nature of the
author himself. Here in lies the success of Milon Mukhopadhyay as a
storyteller. Milon
Mukhopadhyay: Regarding various works- Apart from novels and short stories Milon Mukhopadhyay
has also written several essays which is called “ Mumbai montaj”
and two plays. The short story “Ghoraghora” was later
published as a play. Finally, a special statement about this chapter is
that Milan Mukherjee's unpublished writings do not end here, the search is
still ongoing. Later we will add all the writings we receive to this episode. Contemporary Writers and Milon Mukhopadhyay : Milon’s contemporaries were such writers as Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, Shyamal Gangapadhyay, Moti Nandi, Raghab Bandyopadhyay etc. Along with Shirshendu’s “Jao Pakhi” a quite altogether different kind of novel of Milon called “Mukh Chai Mukh” was simultaneously published in the ‘Desh’ magazine. Raghab Bandyopadhyay was also writing about Naxal uprising and its effect in his novel “Communis”. At the same time Moti Nandi was also writing novels like “Koni” for the sports enthusiasts. From the above discussion it is evident that the 70s was a time of diverse literary productions and the novelist Milon Mukhopadhyay was certainly an important writer of this momentous time in Bengal’s history. |
||||||
| Methodology |
Data collection and selection:- Go to different libraries and collect discussions related to the topic.
Descriptive Method :- The research work will be completed with the help of Descriptive Method through chronological continuity in discussion.
|
||||||
| Conclusion |
Why is Milan Mukhopadhyay rarely studied compared to his
contemporaries? Despite his valuable literary works, why is he unlit and
unreviewed? It is imperative that this unenlightened side of Milan Mukherjee be
exposed and I have taken a vow to that end. |
||||||
| Acknowledgement | The proposed research article is 'Litterateur Milan Mukhopadhyay : A Chapter lost in negligence'. During her M.Phil in Bengali Department at Visva Bharati, her esteemed master and supervisor Dr. Atanu Sasmal sir, instilled in her an interest in the rare works of Milan Mukhopadhyay. As per his suggestion researcher read Milan Mukhopadhyay's popular novel Mukh Chai Mukh. Later, the professor of Burdwan University and her supervisor Dr. Arindam Chatterjee encouraged her in this work and also pointed out the necessary direction of her proposed research work. After a long discussion with him, Researcher has selected Milan Mukhopadhyay's novels, short stories, dramas and essays from various publications and libraries as the source material. Above all, my cousin, Anusmita Sarkar who helped me in this translation. | ||||||
| References | Akar Granth 1. Milan Mukhopadhyay, Atmapar, Sahitham, 2006 2. Milan Mukhopadhyay, Arvyarajani, Mondal Book House, 1991 3. Milan Mukhopadhyay, Oraori, New Bengal Press Private
Limited, 2010 4. Milan Mukhopadhyay, Jibsahashra, Sahitham, 2004 5. Milan Mukherjee, noisobde mrityur ptobesh,1991 6. Milan Mukherjee, Jodi o songi, MC Sarkar Andsons Private
Limited, 2005 Gazetteer 1. Khoi, No. 29, 25th Baisakh 1424 2. Madhwarti, Bangla Sahitya Monthly Magazine, July 2017 3. Khoi, number 34: 7th Paush 1425 |
||||||
