Bengal pays tribute to Sunil Gangopadhyay

I am deeply saddended by Sunil Gangopadhyay’s death. I met him in 1964. In his long literary career, he had established himself as one of the finest writers of our generation with his poems, novels, short stories and essays.
In his novels, he captured the myriad problems of presentday society. He had created many unique characters. His poetry was intellectual, yet managed to touch us with its deep humane qualities.Sunilda was a wonderful man; his liberal thinking was reflected in his adda. It also gave us a glimpse of his secular, rational thinking. Bengali literature and poetry will be forever indebted to him.
- Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Former CM, West Bengal
Sunil Gangopadhyay was an extraordinary man who always had that pleasant smile on his face. As a poet, he was unparalleled. Meeting him and later knowing him as a person was a great experience. He was not only an eminent writer but a brilliant human being too. Equally adept in both prose and poetry, Sunil was one of the most effervescent writers of modern Bengali literature. The last time I met him was at Sahitya Akademi, where we had a long chat. As the president of Sahitya Akademi the amount of good work that he had done is unforgettable. He had launched several projects to popularize Indian literature across the world and encouraged interactions between writers in various Indian languages. Sunil never let his ill health affect his work. From poems to travelogues, children’s fiction, short stories, features to essays, Sunil’s writings will be etched in our memories forever.
- Mrinal Sen, Filmmaker
It was Rinadi’s (Aparna Sen) idea to use one of Sunilda’s poems from Smritir Sahar for Iti Mrinalini. On a rainy evening, she read out Amake taan maare ratri jagano din and I put it to tune almost immediately. She said permission would never be an issue with Sunilda. Once I was through with the composition, I made him hear it on the phone. A few months back, I met him at a music release when Sunilda told me, ‘Smritir Saharer aro kobita niye gaan banao’. There was a time when I would live in his neighbourhood and every morning, when Sunilda would be out for a walk, we would talk about poems and music. He told me once, ‘Salildar (Chowdhury) sathe amar kina Americaye giye dekha holo!’ Today, he is not there. But his memories will continue to inspire me.
- Debajyoti Mishra, Composer
Six years back, I joined Krittibas as the assistant editor. Sunilda was my mentor. He was associated with this magazine since he was 19 and dedicated his entire life to its welfare. I have learnt a lot having worked under him. He was an excellent editor. Many budding poets of Bengal have been able to find a foothold in the literary world through the platform that Krittibas provided. For us, his death is an insurmountable loss. Krittibas and Sunilda have been one; I can’t imagine one without the other. But, we have the responsibility of taking his dream forward and keep Sunilda alive through Krittibas. If I’m successful in this venture, it would be my biggest tribute to the man I respected the most.
- Pinaki Thakur, Assistant Editor, Krittibas
Sunilda was tremendously excited on hearing that we were planning to adapt his Mishar Rahashya on celluloid. I met him two-three times. He asked me to reinterpret the novel since it was written in the ’80s. He has always been extremely contemporary in his thinking and gave me the creative liberty to adapt it the way I want to. Santu’s childhood was different, the children of that era were different, in fact, the generation was different. He wanted to read the script once it was ready. Before the Pujas, he was away, and I couldn’t meet him. Now that the script is ready, he is no longer there to go through it.
- Srijit Mukjerji, Filmmaker
(As told to Ruman Ganguly, Zinia Sen & Madhusree Ghosh)