Shakti Chattopadhyay

Shakti Chattopadhyay (Bengali: শক্তি চট্টোপাধ্যায়, Shokti Chôţţopaddhae) (25 November 1933 – 23 March 1995) was a Bengali poet and writer.

Early life

Shakti Chattopadhyay was born in Jaynagar, to Bamanath Chattopadhyay and Kamala Devi. He lost his father at the age of four and brought up by his maternal grandfather. He came to Bagbazar, Calcutta in 1948 and got admitted to Maharaja Cossimbazar Polytechnic School in class VIII. Here he was introduced to Marxism by a teacher. In 1949 he established Pragati Library and started a hand-written magazine, Pragati, which was soon changed into a printed one, changing the name to Bahnishikha. He passed Matriculation Examination in 1951 and got admitted to the City College to study commerce as his maternal uncle, who was a businessman and also his guardian, promised him a job of an accountant. It was the same year when he got membership of the Communist Party of India (CPI). In 1953, he passed Intermediate Commerce Examination, but gave up studying commerce and got admitted to the Presidency College (now Presidency University, Kolkata) with Honours in Bengali literature but he did not appear in the examination.

Early writings

In 1956, he had to leave his maternal uncle’s home and moved to a slum at Ultadanga along with his mother and brother. At this time he was solely dependent on the meagre wages of his brother. In March 1956, his poem "Yama" was published in Kabita, a literary magazine published by Buddhadeb Bose. After that he started writing for Krittibas and other magazines. Buddhadeb Bose also invited him to join the Comparative Literature course in newly opened Jadavpur University. He joined the course, but could not complete it either. In 1958, he terminated his relationship with the CPI.

He worked at Saxby Pharma Ltd. as a store assistant and later taught at Bhowanipur Tutorial Home (Harrison Road branch). He also started a business himself and ran it for sometime before he gave up and joined Hind Motors as junior executive. But he could not continue anywhere. He started indulging in a wayward lifestyle and drinking heavily.

Hungry Generation

He was one of the founder members of the Hungry generation movement, along with other prominent writers like Malay Roy Choudhury, Samir Roychoudhury and Debi Roy.It started with the publication of a one-page bulletin in November 1961. However he left the movement in 1963 due to differences of opinion with the other members.

Later life

Shakti Chattopadhyay worked with Ananda Bazar Patrika from 1970 to 1994, and was a visiting professor at Visva Bharati after his retirement.

Poetry

• Abani Bari Achho

• ধর্মেও আছো, জিরাফেও আছো (You are into Religion, You are into Giraffe)
• যেতে পারি কিন্তু কেন যাবো? (I can go but why should I?)
• শক্তি চট্টোপাধ্যায়ের শ্রেষ্ঠ কবিতা

In 1983, he received the Sahitya Akademi Award for his collection of entitled যেতে পারি কিন্তু কেন যাবো "Jete Pari Kintu Kêno Jabo" (I can go but why?).