The 66th death anniversary of Poet Jibanananda Das has been observed today at Barisal, his ancestral city, with day-long programs.
Born on February 17, 1899, Jibanananda Das is arguably the most influential romantic poet of the post-Tagore era.
Jibanananda Das got hit by a tram while crossing a road near Kolkata’s Deshpriya Park on 14 October 1954. He succumbed to his injuries on October 22, 1954.
Activists of Jatiya Kabita Parishad (JKP) Barisal branch, put floral tribute on the altar of the portrait of the poet at the Poet Jibanananda Memorial Hall.
Tapankar Chakraborty, president JKP, presided over the discussion program held at the at the parental home of the poet on Kobi Jibanananda Das Sarak in the city Thursday morning
Among others Nazmul Hossain Akash, Partha Sarathi, Apurba Goutam, Suvash Das Nitai, Bahauddin Golap, Shovan Karmakar Krishna, Kamrun Nahar Munni, and Abdur Rahman participated in the programs.
District Shilpakala Academy in collaboration with the district administration arranged similar types of programs at the conference room of Barisal Circuit House on Thursday night.
Ajiar Rahman, deputy commissioner and president of the district Shilpakala Academy presided over the programme conducted by Kamrun Nahar Munni.
The discussion session was attended by Maksud Alam, district cultural officer, S M Iqbal, Kajal Ghosh, Pankaj Roy Chowdhury, leading cultural activists, and Asma Chowdhury, S M Imanul Hakim, educationists.
Shamsuzzoha, Hasan Mahadi Laltu, and artists of Shilpakala Academy participated in the programs.
The participants of the programs discussed the life, work, and achievement of the great poet and his influence on Bangla literature and culture.
They said Jibanananda Das is the greatest Bengali poet of all times.
Jibanananda, best known as the poet of ‘Ruposhi Bangla’ is the creator of ‘Bonolota Sen’— the unparalleled character embodying the serene beauty of a Bangali woman.
Vivid imagery and surrealist expansion were the theme of poetry that Jibanananda created. His poems, portraying rural Bengal, inspired people from all walks of life, especially in the ‘60s and during the war of independence in 1971, the speakers explained.
He was unhappy with the conditions of modern living arrangements and often expressed a deeply tragic sensibility.
As a college teacher of English in Barisal and Kolkata, he was well-read in Mallarme, Rimbaud, Valery, Pound, and Eliot.
Participants of the programme demanded implementation of the Dhansiri River eco- park project and excavation of the Dhansiri River, establishing museum, memorials and sculptures of the poet in places connected with his life, work, and memories.
They also stressed for more study and research on the life, work, ideology, and influence of the poet on Bangla language and literature.
His talent was mostly acknowledged after his death with the discovery of many of his unpublished manuscripts.
Many of his novels were published posthumously including Malyaban, Sutirtha, Jalpaihati, Jibanpranali, Basmatir Upakhyan, and others. He wrote about two hundred stories. A collection of his short stories is titled Jibanananda Daser Golpo.
His volumes of poems include Jhara Palak (1927), Dhusar Pandulipi (1936), Banalata Sen (1942), Mahaprithibi (1944), Satti Tarar Timir (1948), Rupasi Bangla (written in 1934, published in 1957), Bela Abela Kalbela (1961).
