No matter whether you watch Bollywood films of not, chances are, you've certainly heard of #Devdas . God knows how many movies have been made on the same story anyway. But the actual story, an immortal saga of love, was penned down by the great Kathashilpi of the early 20th century, Sharat Chandra Chatterjee (Chattopadhaya).
One of the greatest stalwarts of Indian literature following the Bengali Renaissance, Sharat Chandra is counted among the greatest story-tellers ever born in Bengal. Together with Rabindranath Tagore, Rishi Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Tarashankar Banerjee and Bibhutibhusan Banerjee, Sharat Chandra is usually regarded as the Big Five of Bengali literature.
Life and times
Chatterjee was born to a poor family of Bengali Brahmins in what is modern-day Hoogly district of West Bengal. Despite his excellent skills in fine arts, he had to struggle for his education, thanks to a perpetual state of poverty.
He had even been a Sanyasi for a while, but later rejoined the society.
It is widely accepted that the Nobel Prize committee had decided to award the second Nobel prize in literature to an Indian (following Tagore's Nobel), had Sharatchandra lived. But he died of liver cancer, aged around 60, and this ruined the prospects of India's gaining the second Nobel prize in literature back then.
Literary career
Sharatchandra is most famous for his short stories. Using the medium of the stories, he virtually teleports his readers to a world very similar to our own, riddled with problems, issues and life-stories of common people like us. But he excels in the process of telling those stories - narrating them neutrally and objectively, while masterfully presenting to the reader, all the flaws that characterize the common man of India.
Novels
Devdas is definitely the most famous of Chatterjee's novels, and it has been filmed in 16 languages allover India. Other great works by Chatterjee include Parineeta,Niskriti, Choritrohin etc.
Struggle against the caste system
Born in a very poor, rural Brahmin family in undivided Bengal, he had been possibly the greatest critique of the infamous caste system of the Hindu society. Through the powerful medium of his stories, he protested against caste system, and the ill treatment of the lower castes. Despite belonging to the highest tier of the caste system, and even Brahminism itself in Bengal (Kulin), Sharatchandra never paused for a moment before freely protesting against the casteism and racism that had become the defining nature of the Brahmins at that time.
His story Abhagir Swarga, one of the most notable creations in modern Indian literature, tells the tale of the oppression inflicted by the higher castes on the lower classes.
Honours and recognition
Sharatchandra is regarded as the greatest short-story writer in contemporary Bengali literary sphere. His works have been translated into more than 10 languages, and the title Kathashilpi or craftsman of words has been awarded to him by his readers.
The government of India (GoI) has taken over the maintenance of Sharat Kuthi, which served as the residence of Chatterjee. Annually, the Sharat Mela is organized to celebrate his birthday.
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