Rajshekhar Basu (Bengali: রাজশেখর বসু; better known by the pen name Parashuram; 16 March 1880 – 27 April 1960) was a Bengalichemist, author and lexicographer. He was chiefly known for his comic and satirical short stories, and is considered the greatest Bengalihumorist of the 20th century. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1956.[2][3]
Basu was born at his maternal uncle's home at Bamunpara near Kandorsona, British India (now Purba Bardhaman district of West Bengal, India). He was the second son (and sixth child) of Chandrasekhar Basu and Lakshmimani Devi. His father, who belonged to the Basu family of Birnagar in Nadia District of West Bengal,[4] was the Dewan Darbhanga Raj. Rajshekhar spent his childhood in Darbhanga, in the state of Bihar, and learned to speak Hindi as a first language, rather than Bengali. 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.[citation needed]
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 BA and MA degrees in chemistry. After graduating 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 post of director, 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, a homage to the Parashurama 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:
"At long last, we have a dictionary for Bengali. The concise grammar for Bengali that you have included in the appendix is also wonderful."
Chalantika also included Basu's first efforts to reform and rationalise 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.
Basu's collection of short stories, Anandibai Ityadi Galpa, won a Sahitya Akademi Award for Bengali literature in 1958. The book was published under his pen name, Parasuram, and contained fifteen satirical stories, touching on themes of love, courtship, families, and politics.[5]
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 Movement 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 the principal assistant to Sureshchandra Majumdar,[who?] credited with creating the first linotype in the Bengali script. The second edition of Parashuram's Hanumaaner Svapna Ityadi Galpa was the first book to be completely printed in Bengali linotype.
Awards and honours
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 University 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.
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 stroke in 1959, he continued writing. On 27 April 1960, he suffered a second stroke while he was resting and died in his sleep.
Two Bengali movies, both directed by Satyajit Ray, were based on short stories by Parashuram. These were Parash Pathar (Bengali: পরশ পাথর (The philosopher's stone)), based on the story of the same name; and Mahapurush (Bengali: মহাপুরুষ (The holy man)), based on the short story Birinchibaba (Bengali: বিরিঞ্চি বাবা).
In the film Chaar, one story (Bateswarer Abodan) is written by Rajshekhar Basu. The film is directed by Sandip Ray.
References
^Samsad Bangali Charitabhidhan (Bengali ed.), Subodh Chandra Sengupta and Anjali Bose, Sahitya Samsad, Calcutta, 1976, p. 458
^"Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
^"Basu, Rajshekhar - Banglapedia". en.banglapedia.org. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
^Samsad Bangali Charitabhidhan (Bengali ed.), Subodh Chandra Sengupta and Anjali Bose, Sahitya Samsad, Calcutta, 2021, p. 458
rajshekhar, basu, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, august, 2. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Rajshekhar Basu news newspapers books scholar JSTOR August 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message Rajshekhar Basu Bengali র জশ খর বস better known by the pen name Parashuram 16 March 1880 27 April 1960 was a Bengali chemist author and lexicographer He was chiefly known for his comic and satirical short stories and is considered the greatest Bengali humorist of the 20th century He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1956 2 3 Rajshekhar BasuPBBorn 1880 03 16 16 March 1880Bamunpara Kandorsona Bengal Presidency British India now Purba Bardhaman West Bengal India 1 Died27 April 1960 1960 04 27 aged 80 Calcutta West Bengal IndiaNationalityIndianOther namesParasuramOccupation s Chemist Author LexicographerAwardsRabindra Puraskar 1955 Padma Bhushan 1956 Sahitya Akademi Award 1958 Contents 1 Early life 2 Literary career 3 Other achievements 4 Awards and honours 5 Personal life 6 Works 7 Screen adaptations 8 References 9 External linksEarly life EditBasu was born at his maternal uncle s home at Bamunpara near Kandorsona British India now Purba Bardhaman district of West Bengal India He was the second son and sixth child of Chandrasekhar Basu and Lakshmimani Devi His father who belonged to the Basu family of Birnagar in Nadia District of West Bengal 4 was the Dewan Darbhanga Raj Rajshekhar spent his childhood in Darbhanga in the state of Bihar and learned to speak Hindi as a first language rather than Bengali 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 citation needed 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 BA and MA degrees in chemistry After graduating 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 amp Pharmaceuticals In 1903 Basu joined the company as a chemist He was very quickly promoted to the post of director and began a long association with the company which continued even after his retirement in 1932 Literary career EditBasu 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 a homage to the Parashurama 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 At long last we have a dictionary for Bengali The concise grammar for Bengali that you have included in the appendix is also wonderful Chalantika also included Basu s first efforts to reform and rationalise 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 Basu s collection of short stories Anandibai Ityadi Galpa won a Sahitya Akademi Award for Bengali literature in 1958 The book was published under his pen name Parasuram and contained fifteen satirical stories touching on themes of love courtship families and politics 5 Other achievements EditBasu 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 Movement 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 the principal assistant to Sureshchandra Majumdar who credited with creating the first linotype in the Bengali script The second edition of Parashuram s Hanumaaner Svapna Ityadi Galpa was the first book to be completely printed in Bengali linotype Awards and honours EditBasu 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 University 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 Personal life EditBasu 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 stroke 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 Girindrasekhar Bose 1887 1953 was an early Freudian psychoanalyst of the non Western world and also wrote books for children Works EditDictionary Chalantika 1937 Short stories Sri Sri Siddheswari Limited 1922 Gaddalika 1922 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 Asmani choti JaliyatTranslations Kalidaser Meghdut 1943 Valmiki Ramayan 1946 Krishnadvaipayan Vyas krita Mahabharat 1949 Hitopadesher Galpa 1950 Shrimadbhagabat GitaCollection of essays Laghuguru 1939 Bharater Khanij 1943 Kutir Shilpa 1943 Bichinta 1955 ChalachchintaPoetry Parashuramer Kabita published posthumously Screen adaptations EditTwo Bengali movies both directed by Satyajit Ray were based on short stories by Parashuram These were Parash Pathar Bengali পরশ প থর The philosopher s stone based on the story of the same name and Mahapurush Bengali মহ প র ষ The holy man based on the short story Birinchibaba Bengali ব র ঞ চ ব ব In the film Chaar one story Bateswarer Abodan is written by Rajshekhar Basu The film is directed by Sandip Ray References Edit Samsad Bangali Charitabhidhan Bengali ed Subodh Chandra Sengupta and Anjali Bose Sahitya Samsad Calcutta 1976 p 458 Padma Awards PDF Ministry of Home Affairs Government of India 2015 Retrieved 21 July 2015 Basu Rajshekhar Banglapedia en banglapedia org Retrieved 11 August 2022 Samsad Bangali Charitabhidhan Bengali ed Subodh Chandra Sengupta and Anjali Bose Sahitya Samsad Calcutta 2021 p 458 Bose Rajasekhara Acharyya Saroj Ranjan 1959 Anandibai Ityadi Galpa Indian Literature 2 2 73 75 ISSN 0019 5804 JSTOR 23329329 External links EditRajsekhar Bose Section in Parabaas Rajsekhar Bose Section in Abasar Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Rajshekhar Basu amp oldid 1131281860, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
