Syed Mustafa Siraj

Syed Mustafa Siraj সৈয়দ মুস্তাফা সিরাজ is an eminent Bengali writer. In 1994, he received the Sahitya Akademi award for his novel Aleek Manush অলীক মানুষ. In 2005, his short story Ranirghater Brittanto রানীরঘাটের বৃত্তান্ত was made into the film "Faltu" by Anjan Das.

The famous Bengali writer Syed Mustafa Siraj সৈয়দ মুস্তাফা সিরাজ was born in a village named Khoshbaspur in the district of Murshidabad in 1930. In his early days, he enjoyed a bohemian life style. Once he joined a folk drama group 'Aalkaap আলকাপ' and travelled the districts of Murshidabad, Malda, Burdwan, Birbhum and also performed in Kolkata. In those days, he used to perform whole night and sleep in day time. He used to play flute. He was a teacher of folk dance and drama. But oneday 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 enter the world of serious writings and immediately became famous for his short stories. "Inti, pisi o ghatbabu ইন্তি, পিসি ও ঘাটবাবু", "Bhalobasa o down train ভালবাসা ও ডাউন ট্রেন", "Hizal Biler Rakhalera হিজল বিলের রাখালেরা" and "Taranginir Chokh তরঙ্গিনীর চোখ" brought fame for him. He joined one Bengali daily news paper as a journalist and minded in serious and creative writing. He wrote around 150 novels and 300 short stories. His short stories " Uro pakhir Chhaya উড়ো পাখির ছায়া ", "Manusher Janma মানুষের জন্ম", "Ranabhumi রণভূমি", "Rakter Pratyasha রক্তের প্রত্যাশা ", " Maati মাটি ", "Goghna গোঘ্ন ", "Mrityur Ghora মৃত্যুর ঘোড়া " immediately attaracted the bengali readers and intellectuals. He got "Ananda Puraskar", "Bankim Puraskar", "Sahitya Akademy Puraskar", "Bhualka Puraskar", "Narsingdas Puraskar" and a lot of awards for his literary excellence.

His first novel is "Neel Gharer Nati নীলঘরের নটী". The other novel "Trinabhumi তৃণভূমি" (and also "Kingbadantir nayak কিংবদন্তীর নায়ক", "Aleek Manush অলীক মানুষ" and "Uttar Jahnabi উত্তর জাহ্ণবী" ) was a big success and was translated into all major Indian languages. His short stories " Mrityur Ghora মৃত্যুর ঘোড়া", " Rakter Pratyasha রক্তের প্রত্যাশা", "Goghna গোঘ্ন" and many other stories have been translated in different languages.

He is also a creator of a detective character "Goenda Karnel গোয়েন্দা কর্নেল" - Detective Colonel. An ex-Colonel Niladri Sarkar is the hero to find out the culprit or killer. The stories are so interesting that Siraj has got own fan followings. From children to old people, there are huge number of readers who are fond of Colonel Niladri Sarkar.

A retired Colonel – Niladri Sarkar – was the eccentric sleuth in Syed Mustafa Siraj’s stories, narrated by a lazy journalist (Jayanta) who accompanied him on his missions. The colonel was a butterfly collector and ornithologist, smoked pipes and had a Santa beard. He was also jovial and liked quoting Bengali proverbs & nursery rhymes.

Siraj did not start his career writing for children. 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.