Ramapada Chowdhury (Bengali pronunciation:[/ˈrɑːmɔˌpɔd̪ɔˈtʃɔʊd̪ʱuːɾi/]RAH-maw-paw-daw) (28 December 1922 – 29 July 2018)^[1] was aBengali-language novelist and short story writer in India.^[2][3] He was the longtime editor ofRabibashoriyo, the Sunday supplement ofAnandabazar Patrika. His works are often seen as "sham-naturalistic" reflections on society.^[4] In 1988, he received theSahitya Akademi Award for his novelBari Badle Jay.^[5]

Ramapada Chowdhury
Born	(1922-12-28)28 December 1922 Kharagpur,Bengal Presidency, British India
Died	29 July 2018(2018-07-29) (aged 95) Kolkata, India
Occupation	Writer
Language	Bengali
Nationality	Indian
Education	Master of Arts
Alma mater	Presidency College,University of Calcutta
Subject	Novel, short story
Notable works	Banpalashir Padabali,Ekhoni,Kharij,Je Jekhane Danriye,Bari Badle Jay
Notable awards	Ananda Puraskar Sahitya Akademi Award Rabindranath Tagore Memorial International Prize

He was also honoured with theRabindra Puraskar and several other literary awards, including the inaugural Rabindranath Tagore Memorial International Prize. Many of his works have been adapted into films, most notablyKharij, directed byMrinal Sen, andEk Doctor Ki Maut, directed byTapan Sinha—both of which earned critical acclaim.

Chowdhury began writing duringWorld War II and remained closely associated withAnandabazar Patrika for many years. His writing style is marked by brevity and precision. He is regarded as one of the most significant short story writers in modernBengali literature.

Ramapada Chowdhury was born on 28 December 1922 inKharagpur,Bengal Presidency,British India (now in the Indian state of West Bengal). His father, Maheshchandra Chowdhury, worked in the raiways, and the family often moved from one place to another. Thus young Ramapada was exposed to life in several different parts of India.^[6]Ranchi,Raipur,Bilaspur,Guwahati andDibrugarh were some of the towns he lived in. All of these places figure in his early works of fiction.^[7] His Mother was Durgasundari Devi. He completed his schooling from Kharagpur. Subsequently, he studied atPresidency College,Calcutta, and obtained his master's degree in English literature from theUniversity of Calcutta.^[8]

Chowdhury wrote his first short story as a student, in response to a challenge from his friends. It was written sitting in a restaurant near his college, and was published in the newspaperJugantar.^[6] After completing his Master's, he got a job withAnandabazar Patrika. Later he became Associate Editor of the newspaper, and edited its Sunday supplementRabibasariya for many years.

Chowdhury started writing short stories on a regular basis from the age of twenty-five. He published two collections of stories before the publication of his first novelPratham Prahar (1954).^[9] Although an established writer in the 1950s, Chowdhury received wider recognition with his 1960 novelBanpalashir Padabali, which appeared in serial form in the well-known literary magazineDesh. He was awarded the Rabindra Puraskar in 1971 for his novelEkhoni and the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1988 forBari Badle Jay. In all, he wrote around fifty novels and over one hundred short stories. He also edited an anthology of stories originally published inDesh. According toShamik Ghosh, Chowdhury was among the few Bengali authors who preferred quality to quantity.

In 2011, the Indian Institute of Planning and Management instituted the Rabindranath Tagore Memorial International Prize. Ramapada Chowdhury won the award in its inaugural year, for his novelBanpalashir Padabali. According to writer and scholar Surajit Dasgupta,

"Banpalashir Padabali is a stunningly vibrant and intensely human work that serves to reaffirm his reputation as a master story-teller in the Bengali language."^[10]

The Sahitya Akademi, in its series of films on eminent Indian writers, has produced a film on Ramapada Chowdhury, directed by Raja Mitra.^[11]

Writing forDesh,Bani Basu described him as "sharp and witty," noting his experimentation with different storytelling forms while preserving traditional styles and exploring the "criticism of life" in his writings. Krishna Basu saw him as a "distant personality" and counted him among his favorite novelists, alongside the three Bandopadhyays:Tarasankar,Manik, andBibhutibhushan.Dibyendu Palit remembered him as an editor who encouraged young writers, unafraid to both praise and critique their work, whileNirendranath Chakraborty reflected on their long friendship, before and after joiningABP, and how he quit smoking after Ramapada did. Chakraborty later died the same year on 25th December.Nrisingha Prasad Bhaduri remembered him as an editor with a keen ability to draw out quality writing, praising his craftsmanship in novels, short stories, and even the brief, starkly radical notes he occasionally sent to fellow writers—each word, he said, was "irreplaceable."^[4]

• Pratham Prahar (1954)
• Dwiper Nam Tia rang (1958)
• Banpalashir Padabali (1960)
• Parajit Samrat (1966)
• Ekhoni (1969)
• Picnic (1970)
• Je Jekhane Danriye (1972)
• Album-e Koyekti Chobi (1973)
• Kharij (1974)
• Lajja (1975)
• Hridoy (1976)
• Beej (1977)
• Swajan (1981)
• Bari Badle Jay (1988)
• Abhimanyu (1982)
• Darbari
• Lalbai
• Harano Khata
• Bahiri
• Chhad
• Shesher Seemana
• Aakash Pradeep
• Bhobishyot

• Nothing but the Truth (original titleKharij), translated by Enakshi Chatterjee, Vikas, New Delhi, 1978.ISBN 0706906632.
• Second Encounter (original titleJe Jekhane Danriye), translated by Swapna Dutta, Niyogi Books, 2016.ISBN 9789385285448.
• Dwellings Change (original titleBadi Bodle Jay), translated by Tania Chakravertty, Sahitya Akademi, 2023.ISBN 978-93-5548-630-1.

• Dwiper Nam Tiarang (1963), directed by Gurudas Bagchi
• Ekhoni (1970), directed byTapan Sinha
• Picnic (1972), directed byInder Sen
• Banpalashir Padabali (1973), directed byUttam Kumar
• Je Jekhane Danriye (1974), directed by Agragami
• Kharij (1982), directed byMrinal Sen
• Ek Din Achanak (1989) (in Hindi), directed byMrinal Sen (based onBeej))
• Ek Doctor Ki Maut (1992) (in Hindi), directed byTapan Sinha (based onAbhimanyu)
• Sundari (1999), directed byGul Bahar Singh (based on the short storyAhlaadi)
• Borunbabur Bondhu (2020), directed byAnik Dutta (based onChhad)

• Sahitya Akademi Award 1988^[5]
• Rabindra Puraskar 1971^[8]
• Ananda Puraskar 1963^[8]
• Rabindranath Tagore Memorial International Prize 2011^[12]

• Ramapada Chowdhury atIMDb
• Works by Ramapada Chaudhuri atOpen Library
• Ramapada Chowdhury – A Short Documentary Film – Sahitya Akademi