Shibram Chakraborty

Shibram Chakrabarty _bn. শিবরাম চক্রবর্তী (13 December, 1903–28 August, 1980) was a popular Bengali writer, humorist and revolutionary who is best known for his humorous stories for adolescents. His best known short stories and novels are renowned for their unique use of pun, alliteration, play of words and ironic humor. He was a prolific author who also wrote poems, plays, non-fiction and novels for mature audiences in his long career.

Literary career

He worked as a volunteer in the Swadeshi movement and came under the affection of Chittaranjan Das. During this time he became involved with the magazine "Bijli" and "Forward" as a journalist. He later became the publisher of a magazine called "Jugantar".

His initial foray into literature was as a poet. His first book of poems was called "Manush" (Man). He worked as a feature writer in daily newspapers and magazines such as "Bashumati", "Ananda Bazar" and "Desh". These were tinged with humor and got him notice in the public eye. Subsequently he started writing stories and novels.

His writing is noted for use of literary puns as a key story vehicle - speculated to be a first in Bengali litarature. He is also noted for his self-deprecating humor. An example of this is the convoluted way in which he would spell his name in Bengali in his stories: শিব্রাম চকরবরতি (Shee-Bram Chakarabaraty). He would often put himself into his stories amongst fictional characters. The most famous and recurring characters in his stories are the brothers Harshabardhan and Gobardhan and his sister Bini. Advertisements for his books often bill him as the King of Laughter. Aside from funny stories, his other notable writings include the dramatization of Sharat Chandra Chatterji's novel "Dena Paona" under the title "Shoroshi" (Sixteen Year Old;ষোড়শী), the political work "Moscow bonam Pondicheri" (Moscow versus Pondicheri; মস্কো বনাম পন্ডিচেরি) and the play "Jokhon Tara Kotha Bolbe" (When they will Speak; যখন তারা কথা বলবে). His autobiography "Ishhor, Prithibi, Bhalobasha" (God, Earth, Love; ঈশ্বর, পৃথিবী, ভালবাসা) is also regarded as one of his best works. During his 60-year career he authored more than 150 books.

Personal life

Chakrabarty was born into the well known Chachal Rajbari (royal house of Chachal) family, although his ancestral home was in Murshidabad. He was born at his maternal uncle's house in Kolkata, the capital of British India. His father's name was Shibprashad Chakrabarty. A spirtualist by nature, Shibprashad would often take to the road. Shibram later inherited this wanderlust from his father. Shibram spent his early days in Paharpur and Chachal. In his boyhood days, he once ran away from home penniless. This experience would later inspire his novel "Bari Theke Paliye" (Running away from Home), which was made into a film by Ritwik Ghatak. While still in school he played an active role in the Swadeshi movement and as a result was sent to jail. Owing to these circumstances he could not sit the matriculation exam. His institutional education never progressed beyond this. However, he studied on his own and was knowledgable in a variety of subjects.

He spent the most part of his life on the second-floor mess room of a bedsit in Muktaram Babu Street in Kolkata. He put his personal touch on the room by turning its walls into a hand-written calendar, noting the time he had lived there. He never married. Shibram had a capricious nature and would often be broke. However he was known as a free spirit and generous to his friends. His Panjabi-clad frame and smiling countenance was a regular sight at the Coffee House in Kolkata. He did not even maintain proper record or preserve the manuscripts of some of his works. In the last phase of his life, he ran into serious financial difficulties and the West Bengal Government had to put him on a monthly allowance. He died in Kolkata in 1980 [ [http://www.banglalive.com/immortalbengalis/shibram.html Immortal Bengalis :: Shibram Chakraborty ] ] .

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