Rajsekhar Bose
Encyclopedia
Rajshekhar Basu better known by the pen name Parashuram (পরশুরাম) (March 16, 1880 - April 27, 1960) was a Bengali
writer
, chemist
and lexicographer. He was chiefly known for his comic
and satirical
short stories, and is considered the greatest Bangla humorist of the twentieth century. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan
in 1956.
district of West Bengal
, India
. He was the second son (and sixth child) of Chandrasekhar and Lakshmimani Devi. Rajshekhar spent his childhood in Darbhanga
, in the state of Bihar
, and learned to speak Hindi
as a first language
, rather than Bangla. He was an inquisitive child and manifested a knack for science early in life. Shashisekhar, his elder brother, later wrote that the young Rajshekhar put together a laboratory at home equipped with two cupboards of various chemicals; he would forecast the weather by looking at a barometer that he had hung on the wall, would write prescriptions of cough-mixtures for his family members, and later, would even go to the Temple Medical School to dissect corpses.
Basu was introduced to Bengali literature when he went to Patna
to study for the F.A. degree, where he interacted with a number of Bengali speakers. After school, he moved to Calcutta and joined Presidency College
, where he completed his B.A.
and M.A.
degrees in chemistry
. After graduating in, he completed a degree in law
as well, but only attended court for three days, after which he quit the legal profession for good, and decided to pursue a career in science.
Around this time, he met Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy, who had recently started a company - Bengal Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals
. In 1903, Basu joined the company as a chemist. He was very quickly promoted to the high-ranking position of manager, and began a long association with the company, which continued even after his retirement in 1932.
of mythology. In fact, Basu simply borrowed the surname of someone at hand, the family goldsmith
, Tarachand Parashuram. His first book of stories, Gaddalika, was published in 1924 and drew praise from such personalities as Rabindranath Tagore
.
In 1937, when he published Chalantika, a monolingual Bengali dictionary, Rabindranath commented:
Chalantika also included Basu's first efforts to reform and rationalize Bengali orthography
. A few years before its publication, in 1935, Calcutta University formed a committee, chaired by him, to formulate a set of guidelines governing the spelling of Bengali words. The recommendations of this committee were broadly accepted, and Chalantika is still in use today.
in the form of money and chemicals, and also provided his expertise in making bombs.
Basu also played a major role in the history of printing in Bengal. He was principal assistant to Sureshchandra Majumdar, credited with creating the first linotype
in the Bengali script. The second edition of Parashuram's Hanumaaner Svapna Ityadi Galpa was the
followed suit the next year. Krishnakali ityadi golpo won the Rabindra Puraskar
in 1955, and in 1956, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan. In 1958, he was awarded the Akademi Puraskar for Anandibai Ityadi Galpa.
in 1959, he continued writing. On 27 April 1960, he suffered a second stroke while he was resting and died in his sleep.
Rajshekhar's younger brother, Girindrashekhar Bose (1887-1953), was the first Freudian psychoanalyst of the non-Western world, and also wrote books for children.
, were based on short stories by Parashuram. These were Parash Pathar
(পরশ পাথর (The philosopher's stone)), based on the story of the same name; and Mahapurush
(মহাপুরুষ (The holy man)), based on the short story Birinchibaba (বিরিঞ্চি বাবা).
Bengali people
The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, chemist
Chemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
and lexicographer. He was chiefly known for his comic
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
and satirical
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
short stories, and is considered the greatest Bangla humorist of the twentieth century. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan
Padma Bhushan
The Padma Bhushan is the third highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan, but comes before the Padma Shri. It is awarded by the Government of India.-History:...
in 1956.
Early life
Basu was born at his maternal uncle's home in BardhamanBardhaman
'Bardhaman or Burdwan , is a city of West Bengal state in eastern India. It is the headquarters of Bardhaman District....
district of West Bengal
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. He was the second son (and sixth child) of Chandrasekhar and Lakshmimani Devi. Rajshekhar spent his childhood in Darbhanga
Darbhanga
Darbhangā is a twin city and a municipal corporation and the capital city of the Darbhanga district and Darbhanga Division in the state of Bihar, India. It is one of the most important districts of North Bihar situated in the very heart of Mithilanchal. According to the latest 2011 census, the...
, in the state of Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
, and learned to speak Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
as a first language
First language
A first language is the language a person has learned from birth or within the critical period, or that a person speaks the best and so is often the basis for sociolinguistic identity...
, rather than Bangla. He was an inquisitive child and manifested a knack for science early in life. Shashisekhar, his elder brother, later wrote that the young Rajshekhar put together a laboratory at home equipped with two cupboards of various chemicals; he would forecast the weather by looking at a barometer that he had hung on the wall, would write prescriptions of cough-mixtures for his family members, and later, would even go to the Temple Medical School to dissect corpses.
Basu was introduced to Bengali literature when he went to Patna
Patna
Paṭnā , is the capital of the Indian state of Bihar and the second largest city in Eastern India . Patna is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world...
to study for the F.A. degree, where he interacted with a number of Bengali speakers. After school, he moved to Calcutta and joined Presidency College
Presidency College, Kolkata
Presidency University, Kolkata, formerly Hindu College and Presidency College, is a unitary, state aided university, located in Kolkata, West Bengal. and one of the premier institutes of learning of liberal arts and sciences in India. In 2002 it was ranked number one by the weekly news magazine...
, where he completed his B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
and M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
degrees in chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
. After graduating in, he completed a degree in law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
as well, but only attended court for three days, after which he quit the legal profession for good, and decided to pursue a career in science.
Around this time, he met Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy, who had recently started a company - Bengal Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals
Bengal Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals
Bengal Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Limited , established in 1901, is a Public Sector Undertaking of the Government of India and is India's first pharmaceutical company. The company was started by Prafulla Chandra Roy in Kolkata and has since manufactured such household Indian products as...
. In 1903, Basu joined the company as a chemist. He was very quickly promoted to the high-ranking position of manager, and began a long association with the company, which continued even after his retirement in 1932.
Literary career
Basu began his writing career in the 1920s. He adopted the pen name of Parashuram while writing humorous pieces for a monthly magazine. The name was not, apparently, an homage to the ParashuramaParashurama
Parashurama , is the sixth avatar of Vishnu and belongs to the treta yuga, and is the son of a Brahmin father Jamadagni and mother Renuka. He is considered one of the seven immortal human. He received an axe after undertaking a terrible penance to please Shiva, from whom he learned the methods of...
of mythology. In fact, Basu simply borrowed the surname of someone at hand, the family goldsmith
Goldsmith
A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Since ancient times the techniques of a goldsmith have evolved very little in order to produce items of jewelry of quality standards. In modern times actual goldsmiths are rare...
, Tarachand Parashuram. His first book of stories, Gaddalika, was published in 1924 and drew praise from such personalities as Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature...
.
In 1937, when he published Chalantika, a monolingual Bengali dictionary, Rabindranath commented:
"At long last, we have a dictionary for Bengali. The concise grammarGrammarIn linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
for Bengali that you have included in the appendix is also wonderful."
Chalantika also included Basu's first efforts to reform and rationalize Bengali orthography
Orthography
The orthography of a language specifies a standardized way of using a specific writing system to write the language. Where more than one writing system is used for a language, for example Kurdish, Uyghur, Serbian or Inuktitut, there can be more than one orthography...
. A few years before its publication, in 1935, Calcutta University formed a committee, chaired by him, to formulate a set of guidelines governing the spelling of Bengali words. The recommendations of this committee were broadly accepted, and Chalantika is still in use today.
Other achievements
Basu was a man of diverse achievements. He was an active member of the National Council of Education, founded in 1903. He served on the Bangiya Sahitya Parishad. He even provided covert assistance to the revolutionaries of the Indian Independence MovementIndian independence movement
The term Indian independence movement encompasses a wide area of political organisations, philosophies, and movements which had the common aim of ending first British East India Company rule, and then British imperial authority, in parts of South Asia...
in the form of money and chemicals, and also provided his expertise in making bombs.
Basu also played a major role in the history of printing in Bengal. He was principal assistant to Sureshchandra Majumdar, credited with creating the first linotype
Linotype
The Mergenthaler Linotype Company is a corporation founded in the United States in 1886 to market the linecaster invented by Ottmar Mergenthaler...
in the Bengali script. The second edition of Parashuram's Hanumaaner Svapna Ityadi Galpa was the
Awards and honors
Basu received a good deal of recognition for his writing. Calcutta University awarded him the Jagattarini and Sarojini medals in 1940 and 1945, respectively. In 1957, the University awarded him D.Litt.. Jadavpur UniversityJadavpur University
Jadavpur University , is a premier educational and research institution in India.It is located in Kolkata, West Bengal and comprises two campuses - the main campus at Jadavpur and the new campus at Salt Lake...
followed suit the next year. Krishnakali ityadi golpo won the Rabindra Puraskar
Rabindra Puraskar
The Rabindra Puraskar or the Rabindra Smriti Puraskar is the highest honorary literary award given in the Indian state of West Bengal. This award is administered by the Government of West Bengal under the aegis of the Paschimbanga Bangla Academy , Kolkata.The award is given for creative...
in 1955, and in 1956, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan. In 1958, he was awarded the Akademi Puraskar for Anandibai Ityadi Galpa.
Personal life
Basu was married and had one daughter. He suffered a great deal of tragedy in his personal life. His son-in-law, died of a terminal illness at a very young age, and his heartbroken daughter died the same day. In 1942, he lost his wife as well. He lived for almost 18 years after his wife's demise and wrote a great deal during this time, but he did not allow his personal tragedies to colour his writing. Even after a debilitating strokeStroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
in 1959, he continued writing. On 27 April 1960, he suffered a second stroke while he was resting and died in his sleep.
Rajshekhar's younger brother, Girindrashekhar Bose (1887-1953), was the first Freudian psychoanalyst of the non-Western world, and also wrote books for children.
Short stories
- Shri Shri Siddheshvari Limited (1922)
- Gaddalika (1924)
- Kajjali (1927)
- Hanumaner Svapna Ityadi Galpa (1937)
- Galpakalpa (1950)
- Dhusturi Maya Ityadi Galpa
- Krishnakali Ityadi Galpa (1953)
- Nil Tara Ityadi Galpa
- Anandibai Ityadi Galpa (1957)
- Chamatkumari Ityadi Galpa
Translations
- Kalidaser Meghdut (1943)
- Valmiki Ramayan (1946)
- Krishnadvaipayan Vyas krita Mahabharat (1949)
- Hitopadesher Galpa (1950)
- Shrimadbhagabat Gita
Collection of essays
- Laghuguru (1939)
- Bharater Khanij (1943)
- Kutir Shilpa (1943)
- Bichinta (1955)
- Chalachchinta
Screen adaptations
Two Bangla movies, both directed by Satyajit RaySatyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray was an Indian Bengali filmmaker. He is regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of 20th century cinema. Ray was born in the city of Kolkata into a Bengali family prominent in the world of arts and literature...
, were based on short stories by Parashuram. These were Parash Pathar
Parash Pathar
Parash Pathar was Satyajit Ray's first film apart from the Apu Trilogy. It was also his first comedy and first magical realist film...
(পরশ পাথর (The philosopher's stone)), based on the story of the same name; and Mahapurush
Mahapurush
Mahapurush is a 1965 film directed by Satyajit Ray. It is the film version of the short story Birinchibaba by bengali writer Rajshekhar Basu, under the pen name Parashuram.- Plot :...
(মহাপুরুষ (The holy man)), based on the short story Birinchibaba (বিরিঞ্চি বাবা).