Sunil Gangopadhyay passes away

 

Sunil Gangopadhyay

Indian poet and novelist Sunil Gangopadhyay, one of the doyens of Bengali literature, died of heart attack at his south Kolkata residence early Tuesday.
The 78-year-old writer, whose works have delighted generations of readers cutting across ages in West Bengal and Bangladesh, had not been keeping well for the last few days and lost appetite, reports our New Delhi correspondent Pallab Bhattacharya quoting family sources.
On Monday night, he went to bed without having any food. At one stage, he felt unwell and asked his wife Swati for help.
Later, the writer died at around 2:00am before a local doctor could be summoned.
The cremation of the writer will be held on Wednesday after the arrival of his son from USA.
A pall of gloom descended on the literary circles in West Bengal following the death of Sunil Gangopadhyay.
Meanwhile, Indian President Pranab Mukherjee led the country in paying tributes to the writer.
"Sunil had enriched Bengali literature through his unique style. He was one of the best intellectuals among his contemporaries. The vacuum created by his death cannot be filled," the president said.
Born on September 7, 1934, in Faridpur district of Bangladesh, the prolific poet and novelist had explored almost all genres of literature, short stories, novels, plays, literary criticism, travelogues and children's literature.
But he had always maintained that poetry was his first love and closes to his heart.
His Nikhilesh and Neera series of poems became hugely popular.
He penned more than 200 books and was conferred several prestigious awards, including the Sahitya Academy Award.
Sunil Gangopadhyay had often used pen-names like 'Nil Lohit', 'Sanatan Pathak' and 'Nil Upadhyay'.
His short stories under the title “Nil Lohiter Chokher Samney”, which used to be published in Ananda Bazar every week in 1970s, had become a popular among readers of all ages.
The stories reflected the writer’s lucid prose and ability to churn out highly-fascinating stories out of most ordinary events on day-to-day lives of common people.
Some of his poems, including “Keu Kotha Rakheni” had become hugely popular among the youth in West Bengal in 1970s and 1980s.
Among the best-selling works of Sunil, are 'Sei Samay', which was serialised in “Desh” magazine, “Protham Alo”, “Purbo-Paschim” and “Aranyer Din Raatri” which was made into a feature film by none other than maestro director Satyajit Ray.
The writer’s another novel “Pratidwandi” was also turned into a film by Satyajit.
Sunil, recipient of Bankim Puraskar in 1982 and Ananda Puraskar twice (in 1972 and 1989), was the founder-editor of “Krittibas, a little magazine for poetry that encouraged new poets experimenting with new forms and became immensely popular in West Bengal in 1970s and 1980s.