Annada Shankar Ray | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Native name | অন্নদাশঙ্কর রায় |
| Born | (1904-03-15)15 March 1904 |
| Died | 28 October 2002(2002-10-28) (aged 98) |
| Occupation | Writer, poet, essayist |
| Language | Bengali,English,Odia |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Notable works | Pathe Prabaase, Banglar Reneissance |
| Notable awards | Padma Bhushan |
Annada Shankar Ray (15 March 1904 – 28 October 2002) was an Indian poet and essayist inBengali. He also wrote some Odia poetry.[1]
He wrote several Bengali poems criticising thePartition of India. Most notable is "Teler shishi bhaanglo bole khukur pare raag karo. Among his many essays, the bookBanglar Reneissance has an analytical history of the cultural and social revolution in Bengal. Ray's best known work isPathe Prabaase, a diary of his trip in Europe in 1931. He died inKolkata on 28 October 2002.
ThisBengali icon's ancestral place is Kotrung (present-dayUttarpara Kotrung) in theHooghly district ofWest Bengal. His ancestors migrated from Kotrung toBalasore district ofOdisha. His grandmother, Durgamoni, was the daughter of an aristocrat Bengali Sen family of Jajpur . Annada Shankar Ray's father was Nimaicharan Ray and his mother was the daughter of an aristocratKayasth family of Cuttack. Nimaicharan Ray shifted his base toDhenkanal following a family feud.[2]
Ray graduated in English fromRavenshaw College in Cuttack. He topped the list ofIndian Civil Service examinees in 1927. He had failed to make the mark in the previous year, being cut off by one rank. He was the first ICS officer from the territory later forming the state of Orissa.
After serving in various administrative posts, he sought voluntary retirement in 1951 to devote himself to literary pursuits. Ray was a Gandhian in politics andRabindranath Tagore inspired his literature. His first published book wasTarunya (1928), which gave him a footing as an essayist. In 1928, his first collection of poetry namedRakhi also got published. It includes poems he composed when was inEngland and they are creations based onRomantic imaginations thus involving the innate bond of nature and human emotions. His first two novels wereAsamapika andAgun Niye Khela. As an essayist, he was urbane and sophisticated and combined in his craft two different styles of prose, represented by Tagore andPramatha Choudhury. A significant breakthrough in his literary career came with the publication of Pathe Prabase, a diary of his Europe trip, in 1931. Ray also established himself as a short-story writer. His collections includePrakritir Parihas (1934),Man Pavan (1946),Kamini Kanchan (1954) andKatha.
A Bengali rendering of a short story by Tolstoy and an appraisal ofSarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s essayNarir Mulya marked his debut on the literary scene at the age of 16.
InOriya, the poetry"Sabita" finds place in higher studies of the language at college level, making him one of the few poets to have the distinction of getting such acclaim from two different language speaking states of India.
Annadashankar Roy was a contributor of both prose and poetry.
He received the Vidyasagar Smriti Award from the state government and thePadma Bhushan.[3] He was made a fellow of theSahitya Akademi in 1989. TheVisva Bharati conferred on him the Desikottama and an honorary D.Litt. He also received the Rabindra Puraskar, the Ananda Puraskar twice and the Zaibunnisa Award of Bangladesh.
