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| Siraj did not start his career writing for children until later in life.<ref name=toi/> His reputation was built on writing novels & short stories for adults. He started writing for children to respond the huge demand for that genre in Bengali. | Siraj did not start his career writing for children until later in life.<ref name=toi/> His reputation was built on writing novels & short stories for adults. He started writing for children to respond the huge demand for that genre in Bengali. | ||
| ==Voice of the ‘other’ India falls silent on 4th September, 2012== | |||
| From the newspaper "The Hindu" :- | |||
| Bharat has lost its voice. A voice that answered to the name of Syed Mustafa Siraj fell silent as the veteran Bengali writer passed away after a brief illness in Kolkata. Siraj, a Sahitya Akademi winner for his novel, Aleek Manush, in 1994, penned over 300 short stories and 150 novels. Though Siraj wrote for adults as well, and lately for children, he always strived to bring the scent of the soil to his works. His was a realist narrative, quite removed from the mysticism and romanticism that characterised much of contemporary Bengali literature. No self-aggrandisement, he was a master of the unsaid word. | |||
| Though in the autumn of his life he came across as somewhat wistful, with memory being only a selective companion, he retained his innate earthiness till the end: even when he occupied urbanscape! He always had an ear to the ground that helped him talk about man and nature at a time when more and more writers were lost to urban India. His characters, his plots, settings of his novels and short stories were all about rural Bengal and by extension about Bharat that is increasingly disappearing from the literary map of the country. | |||
| ==His inspirations== | |||
| In recent years, Siraj’s worth came to be appreciated by a wider section of people, thanks to noted Bengali filmmaker Anjan Das, who picked Siraj’s story Ranir Ghater Brittanto to make Faltu, a feature film that, like the book, talked of an orphan’s struggle as part of a village populated by people from the other side of Bengal. Set in Ranighat in Murshidabad, the film only strengthened a feeling among cinemagoers what literati knew all along — Murshidabad, where Siraj was born in 1930, played a central role in his writings. In fact, his origins reflected consistently in his works. His much-lauded Aleek Manush was based in Murshidabad and focused on the different cults within the Muslim community there. | |||
| Incidentally, Siraj, though born in a Muslim household, was against any organised religion and believed that he was free of any denomination. The fact that he respected people’s beliefs probably helped him find a larger circle of readership when he started penning a series called Detective Colonel. | |||
| Like in Ranir Ghater Brittanto and Aleek Manush, Siraj’s village in Birbhum formed a recurring landscape in his fiction. Even here, Siraj was against idle nostalgia or mere romanticism and believed that the reddish, arid soil brought with it a lot of hardship. That, however, should not be regarded as a licence for man to tamper with nature’s own cycle. All along, in his works, nature had a sharp, clear voice with even trees, rivers, rain having a purpose. For him, it was only man who disturbed the harmony between different elements of nature. In what was probably the last interview of his life, Siraj told The Hindu Metro Plus on August 26: “I essentially explore man’s relationship with nature and try to demonstrate that whereas trees, rivers, rainfall, etc live out their own course without obstructing any natural or human cycle, man tries to direct the course of nature by building dams across rivers or curb the freedom of his fellow beings in sundry ways.” | |||
| Though his writings were translated into many languages, including English, Hindi, Urdu and Tamil with a couple more in Dogri on the anvil, Siraj was not an easy writer to translate. His style of writing bereft of verbs and articles often challenged translators. In fact, translations as a bridge came to have only a limited benefit for Siraj, who never came to command as wide a readership as, say, Mahesweta Devi or in recent years Sunil Gangopadhyay. This despite the fact that some of the earliest translations of his books came as early as the 1960s! | |||
| Almost incredibly, the literary world almost never had him. In the early years of his life, Siraj was closely involved with the folk drama group Aalkaap. He played the flute and a little later taught folk dance! He travelled widely and performed across Bengal. It was only with the passage of time that he realised his true calling. | |||
| ==English translations== | ==English translations== | ||
Revision as of 15:31, 7 September 2012
Syed Mustafa Siraj (Bengali: সৈয়দ মুস্তাফা সিরাজ ; 1930-2012) was an eminent Bengali writer. In 1994, he received the Sahitya Akademi award for his novel Aleek Manush, considered his most lauded work. In 2005, his short story "Ranirghater Brittanto" was made into the film Faltu by Anjan Das. He wrote around 150 novels and 300 short stories.
Life and works
Syed Mustafa Siraj was born in a village named Khoshbaspur in the district of Murshidabad in 1930. In his early days, he enjoyed a bohemian life style. He joined a folk drama group Aalkaap where he played the flute and was a teacher of folk dance and drama. He travelled the districts of Murshidabad, Malda, Burdwan, Birbhum and also performed in Kolkata. In those days, he used to perform whole nights and sleep during the day. But one day he got tired of this life and felt he had a wider life spreading around him. He turned his face to writing poetry and short stories. Later he came to Kolkata and entered the world of serious writings and immediately became famous for his short stories. "Inti, pisi o ghatbabu", "Bhalobasa o down train", "Hizal Biler Rakhalera" and "Taranginir Chokh" brought fame for him. He joined a Bengali daily newspaper and worked as a journalist for years. He wrote around 150 novels and 300 short stories. His short stories "Uro pakhir Chhaya", "Manusher Janma", "Ranabhumi", "Rakter Pratyasha", "Maati", "Goghna", and "Mrityur Ghora" immediately attracted Bengali readers and intellectuals. He received major literary awards Sahitya Academy, Bankim Purashkar, Bhuwalka and Narsinghdas.
His first novel is "Neel Gharer Nati". Other notable novels include "Trinabhumi", "Kingbadantir nayak", "Aleek Manush" and "Uttar Jahnabi"; "Trinabhumi" was translated into all major Indian languages. His short stories "Mrityur Ghora", "Rakter Pratyasha", "Goghna" and many others have been translated into different Indian languages Hindi, Urdu and Tamil.
He is the creator of the detective character "Goenda Colonel", the Detective Colonel. Ex-Colonel Niladri Sarkar is the hero who finds the culprit or killer. The stories are very popular earning Siraj a dedicated fan following. From children to old people, there are huge number of readers who are fond of Colonel Niladri Sarkar. A retired Colonel – Niladri Sarkar – is the eccentric sleuth in Syed Mustafa Siraj's stories, narrated by a lazy journalist, Jayanta, who accompanies him on his missions. The colonel is a butterfly collector and ornithologist, smokes pipes and has a Santa beard. He is also jovial and likes quoting Bengali proverbs & nursery rhymes.
Siraj did not start his career writing for children until later in life. His reputation was built on writing novels & short stories for adults. He started writing for children to respond the huge demand for that genre in Bengali.
English translations
Not much of Siraj has been translated into English. In 2004, Delhi University professor Nivedita Sen translated some of Siraj's popular stories written for children that featured the detective Colonel Niladri, the collection is called The Colonel Investigates. In 2012, Sen translated Die, Said the Tree and Other Stories, a collection of 10 short stories.
References
- ^ Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty (August 26, 2012). "So says Siraj". The Hindu. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
- ^ Ziya Us Salam (September 5, 2012). "Voice of the 'other' India falls silent". The Hindu. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
- ^ "Literary world to miss its bohemian genius". The Times of India (Kalkuta). Sep 5, 2012. Retrieved August 4, 2012.