His novel ‘Sei Somoy’ is a phenomenal work on 20th century Bengal. The author of iconic works such as ‘Hothat Neerar Janya’, ‘Aranyer Dinraatri’ and the entire ‘Kakababu’ series, Sunil Gangopadhyay talks to Aishwarya Bhattacharyya.
Your autobiography ‘Ordhek Jeebon’ (Half Life) was published decades back. Was it not too early? Would you write another one talking about your life after ‘Ordhek Jeebon’?
Autobiographies or memoirs are incomplete in their very essence. Even Rabindranath Tagore wrote his autobiography by the time he was 50. An autobiography is never complete, hence ‘Ordhek Jeebon’. There are other reasons too. People never write about every aspect of their life. Some things forever remain in the mind, away from the public eye.
Your pseudonyms, like Sanaton Upadhyay, Sanaton Pathak, Neel Lohit, must have been carrying certain sentimental values …
(smiles and nods) Not just sentiments. These are born of reality. They originated at a time when I was unemployed. I didn’t have a job, or maybe did not get a job. But earning became essential to support the family. This is when I started writing stories, a notable variation from myself as a poet. Now if newspapers and magazines published stories by the same author time and again, people might get annoyed. Who is this man? His stories appear every single day! Hence I began using pseudonyms. Three pseudonyms headed three varied writing styles. Back then, no one even guessed. Over the years, they have come to know whom the names belong to. At times, a discussion would lead to people telling me how they hated Neel Lohit’s work. It is an unforgettable feeling, to have a work appreciated under your name and criticized under your pseudonym.
You founded ‘Krittibas’ around half a century ago. The little magazine’s website boasts of some amazing volumes and a grand golden jubilee celebration video, not to forget the eminent contributions. What are your plans for ‘Krittibas’ in near future?
It is very difficult to predict Krittibas’s future. If I die suddenly, I don’t know who will take the responsibilities of the little magazine. There is neither dearth of funds, nor glitches vis-à-vis publishing. All ‘Krittibas’ aims at now is to encourage the youth and maintain the quality of its content. To involve young writers is essential. Nothing more can be said about the future.
You have been to many places, including the USSR. We read about it in ‘Itihasher Swapnobhongo’. You were in Berlin in 1989, during The Fall of The Berlin Wall. What differences do you see between then and now, vis-à-vis Russia?
There are definite changes. The present Russia differs from the USSR vastly. The city of Moscow had no hoardings. There was no need for any advertisement campaigns as the State owned everything. There was no other seller to buy from. The simplest commodities would fascinate people, for instance, the availability of cucumbers in the local markets! Dusk onwards nothing lit up the way, save the street lights. You can see the difference not just between the two Moscows, now and then, but all over Eastern Europe. Materialism and consumerism in Russia, today, is just as much as anywhere else in the world.
Changes vis-à-vis literature after the transition from USSR to Russia…
It is very hard to discuss such a thing exhaustively. One thing we must keep in mind, generally readers around the world will have to wait for English translations of these works. Then social scientists judge these and only after considering a large number of variants, can one comment on the difference in the field of literature. But during the Revolution, a young poet became pretty famous even outside Russian territory. He is Voznesenski. Let there be more translations. May be then it will be easier to comment on this.
You are an avid traveller but it has been quite some time since your last travel piece. Can we look forward to more on travel from you?
My travel pieces have been around for a long time now; it has now been put together in a series of 3 books, ‘Bhromon Somogro’ . I might write some essays in the coming years, but there are no plans for anything big.
Most of the young authors of Modern India choose to write in English. What is the scope of regional literature in present India?
Who said most of them write in English? That is not true. There are many young authors writing in different Indian languages like Malayalam, Tamil, Guajarati, Bengali, etc. Yes some write in English or in English too, but I believe it is too early to say that regional literature is suffering due to any fascination with English. Maybe such a situation will never arise.
You have worked with the likes of Satyajit Ray and Gautam Ghose. How do you view your relationship with cinema?
No. No. I have not worked with Satyajit Ray. He chose my work and wrote the script himself. Of course, he discussed the background with me. Yes, with Gautam I have worked more intricately. I was involved in the scripting and dialogue-writing processes. Before these, I worked with Biplob Roy Choudhury. He made a Hindi film based on my story, ‘Porombhash’. It got nominated for several awards. I wanted to be a director. Now there was an interesting reason behind this. I had this friend. He was a Malayalam writer, M. T. Vasudevan Nair. Once we were rivals at elections. We have been good friends for a long time now. He told me that he directed movies because it was a viable source of income. There is no need to go looking for a story, a script. As long as he had a producer, he was willing to direct into films his own stories and scripts. He had funds, producers were available and things became more comfortable on financial grounds. He often said that one would have to write a lot to earn a decent living, and it was not easy even for a writer to keep writing constantly. So if an occasional movie got him around 4-5 lacs, it would be sufficient to run the household for some time. He made a few really popular regional films this way.
Now, I was an avid writer, and the only way to earn on a parallel note apart from writing would be to make films. Our country has seen many such writers being involved in films, like Premendra Mitra. However, I never really got around to doing it.
Talking about things you wanted to do, are there any unfinished pieces?
There have been so many instances when I thought of writing on a subject but never started, let alone completing it. I was fascinated by Hindu-Muslim relationship in Bengal, touching on Gour Bongo, during the advent of Islam in the middle-ages. Well, I did not write on this, and I don’t think it’ll be possible to do so in future either. I also wanted to pen a biography on Swami Vivekananda, but was too afraid to do so.
Afraid?
Yes, afraid. You see, in our country, when a man turns into a spiritual icon, followers begin to believe that the man had been an enigma right from the second he was born. He can make no mistakes and harbour no ill feelings. Now, I believe every man makes mistakes. Not every one can rise above these errors, but the one who does, becomes an icon. If I write Vivekananda used to drink, don’t you think folks from Belur would beat me up?
How would you define your relationship with Paul Engels?
He was a man of bizarre ideas. He wanted to bring the writers of the entire world on the same platform. He felt it was vital for the writers to know each other, for people to read outside their mother tongues. Imagine the intensity of lingual and cultural barriers! But yes, he was dedicated to realise his vision. He made efforts to organise international poetry forums, seminars, workshops, etc. I attended the 1st year, and then on, many other Indian poets and authors have visited the workshops. Many Bengali poets too were present. Like Syed Mustafa, Joy Goswami, Shankho Ghosh, and of course, Srijato (smiles while gesturing at the young poet, Srijato Bandopadhyay, sitting across the room).
Do you feel a globalised environment helps this writers-of-the-world-unite philosophy?
May be, yes. See, one of the primary boons of such an attempt is that it brought many writers together, who exchanged news, views, inspirations. Somehow, it helps your own pieces as well.
What is your take on students’ politics?
In reality, students’ politics is dominated by the so-called leaders of the major political parties. This is an inherent character of politics in our country. Now this will forever remain so. What we hoped for was to keep the school-goers away from its effects. It is best for those children to just concentrate on education as they are generally not well-equipped enough with information to make their own decisions regarding ideological stands. College-goers will be involved in politics. By no means can you stop that. The difference between student’s politics then and now can be primarily noticed in the level of usage of violence. Previously, there would be fights and students would get into brawls with each other, maybe hit each other with cricket bats, tennis racquets, or just shake a soda bottle and hurl it towards someone so the glass would break apart. Now students have larger access to guns, bombs, you know, you shoot at some one and the person just drops dead. I have no idea how one can come out of such a state of affairs.
Do you believe that there is a need for political awareness amongst students?
Definitely. There is a need for political awareness. Also, in a country like India it is almost impossible to stay entirely aloof from all things political. One is bound to side with an ideological line, or critically appreciate events, but will that make me rally on the streets? No, may be not to that extent.
What is on your reading list, currently?
Will it be okay for me to say I’m reading ‘Finnegan’s Wake’? Have you heard of it? It is a work of James Joyce. He was an Irish writer who wrote in English. ‘Finnegan’s Wake’ is one of his best pieces, arguably. Many notable persons in the world of English literature have often exclaimed how tough it is to complete reading it. His use of words is remarkable! The reason behind it is the deterioration of his eyesight. When one thing falters in a man, another aspect of his being is strengthened. He intricately described sounds and voices in his works. Anyway, I mentioned this because there can never be a definite reader’s list for me. I am reading this and that, all the time.
How hopeful are you about the future of Bengal? Do you have a message in this regard for the younger generation?
Is there an instrument to measure my hopefulness (laughs)? I am pretty optimistic. You cannot judge the influence or the depth of a regional language just by noticing a handful of city dwellers going to English-medium schools. There are so many youngsters in the city who don’t know me as a writer. But the real readers lie outside the peripheries of the city. And that mass is continuously growing and soon a time will come when education will balance the knowledge of English and the mother-tongues.
