Dear Chakravarty:
Nice to know that you were his contemporariy in Cotton college. I would like
to know more about his life in college days from what you remember. At one
point he went to Germany for higher studies. Do you know anything of his
later life. You may reply to me personally at my email address
[email protected] so that others are not bored.
Thanks
Rajen Barua
Houston
Rajen & Ajanta Barua
-----Original Message-----
From: Nitish Chakravarty
Sent: Monday, June 27, 2011 12:44 PM
To: A Mailing list for people interested in Assam from around the world
Subject: Re: [Assam] Popular Assamese writer Saurav Kumar Chaliha passesaway
(News Live )
I am deeply grieved to hear of the passing away of my old friend Suren
Medhi. He was born the same year as I and we were contemporaries in Cotton
College. Though he was in the science stream and I was a humanities student,
a couple of mutual friends linked us together.
I still remember the two of us taking a long walk one evening from Panbazar
to Ulubari and back, and our conversation on a range of subjects. I knew
then that Suren was endowed with extraordinary talent. His interest in
literature was known to some of us quite early, even before his stories got
into print. Though I lost contact with him after I moved out of Guwahati in
1961 one of our common friends updated me from time to time about his
creative as well as occasionally curious activities. On one occasion Suren
was said to have chased away a visitor who had found out that Saurav Chaliha
was indeed his nom de plume and came to his residence to congratulate him
for his literary contributions. Refusing to accept the accolade, Suren
rebuked the gentleman for identifying him with a writer like Saurav Chaliha
and said he knew no such man -- a bit prankish perhaps but what an example
of humility. His death is a great loss to
Assamese lietrature.
-- Nitish Chakravarty
--- On Sat, 25/6/11, Buljit Buragohain <[email protected]> wrote:
From: Buljit Buragohain <[email protected]>
Subject: [Assam] Popular Assamese writer Saurav Kumar Chaliha passes away
(News Live )
To: [email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected]
Date: Saturday, 25 June, 2011, 20:47
Popular Assamese writer Saurav Kumar Chaliha passes away:
Popular writer of Assam Saurav Kumar Chaliha passes away Saturday
(June 25) morning at International Hospital, Guwahati after a protracted
illness. He was hospitalised for several days due to serious illness.
Saurav Kumar Chaliha was born in the year 1930. Saurav Kumar Chaliha was
a publicity-shy person and his real name was Surendra nath Medhi.
However he was popular among the book lovers only as Saurav Kumar
Chaliha.
Considered by many to be the most innovative writer of the
Assamese short story, Saurav Kumar Chaliha is credited with having
ushered the genre into modernity with his “Ashanta Electron” written
around 1950. His stories are tempered by a cosmopolitanism that blends
the complexities of the social order with a characteristic fascination
for formalistic experimentation.
He won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1974 for his short story
collection, Golam. In the year 1995, he was also honored with the ‘Assam
Valley Literary Award’. But, the reclusive Chaliha has never cared for
any formal recognition. In one of his award acceptance speeches, he went
even further went he said, ‘I feel like an interloper.’ Writing under a
pseudonym, he has never directly come into public limelight and
continues to remain an enigma for his countless admirers to this day.
The bulk of his stories are contained in a few anthologies –
Ashanta Electron (1962)
Duporiya (1963)
Ehat Daba (1972)
Golam (1974)
Golpo Nohoi (1988)
Aji Sukrobar (1992)
Abarudha Sahar (1994)
Bhal Khobor (1998)
Kabi (1999)
Ekoish Sotika Dhemali Nohoi (2004)
Janmadin (2005)
Jonbiri (2006)
Dron aru Goethe (2007)
Nabajanma (2008)
Marudyan (2009)
and a few other recompilations like,
Swa-Nirbasito Xonkolon (1994)
Rachana Samagra (1999)
Soi Dasakar Golpo (2001)
Saurav Kumar Chaliha Rasanawali (2008)
Many of these stories first appeared in Assamese magazines and
literary journals like Banhi, Ramdhenu, Awahan, Sadin, Dainik Asom, Asom
Bani etc.... and many have been translated into English, Bengali,
Hindi, Telegu and Malayalam etc. and published in various Indian
magazines and collections.
The news of Saurav Kumar Chaliha's death spread like wildfire
and a pall of gloom grips the entire state. Several organizations,
political parties and the leading citizens mourned the death of their
beloved author. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi also mourned the death
of Saurav Kumar Chaliha. In his condolance message Gogoi described his
death as an irepairable damage to the litarery world of Assam.
(News Live )
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