A BIOGRAPHY OF JIBANANANDA DAS

In his teenage years, Jibanananda Das enjoyed writing poetry. 1919 saw the Brahmabadi release Varsa Abahan, his debut poem. In Kolkata, Das began his career as a teacher after completing his education at the University of Calcutta. He kept writing and publishing poems throughout this period, and the Bengali literary scene quickly grew to love his works. Nevertheless, Das lived a life of solitude and avoided the spotlight despite his fame and fortune

Jibananand’s writing career started to take shape. He wrote a poem called “Deshbandhu Prayane” in tribute to Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das in Bangabani following his passing in June 1925. After that, the poem appeared in Jhara Pal, his first book of poetry. “This Brahmin poem must have been written under the pseudonym of an established poet,” poet Kalidas Roy said after reading the poem. 

The controversy surrounding the Holy Prophet Kalimohan Das was the subject of Jibanananda’s first essay, published in 1925 and serialized in three issues of the Brahmanical journal. That same year, the poem “Nilima” came out in Kollol, garnering the interest of numerous youths. His pieces became steadily published in a variety of literary publications in Kolkata, Dhaka, and other cities. Notable journals from this era include Kallol, Kali and Pen, Pragati, etc. The initial volume of Kabir’s poetry appeared in 1927. He removed Das Gupta after that and began writing Das.

In 1927, he released Jhara Palok (Fallen Feathers), his debut collection of poetry. After a few months, Jibanananda got fired from his position at the City College. The college had experienced student unrest over a religious holiday, which harmed enrollment. Jibanananda, a professor who is still only in his late 20s, received the harshest criticism for being so young. Additionally, he was the target of frequent criticism in Calcutta’s literary community. In the criticism sections of Shanibarer Chithi (the Saturday Letter) magazine, Sajanikanta Das, one of that period’s most committed literary critics, started to write harsh criticisms of his poetry. 

Jibanananda departed Calcutta and traveled to Bagerhat, where he enrolled in the Bagerhat P C college before leaving. Immediately following that, he traveled to Calcutta in 1929 to enroll in Ramjas College. However, his marriage in Barisal prevented him from going to Delhi to resign. Even though Jibanananda eventually found work as a lecturer in the English department at Calcutta University, he spent a significant amount of his life feeling unemployed and depressed. 

It wasn’t long before he borrowed money from his younger brother to run his business, but it didn’t last. Jibananda’s poverty did not cause family strife at the time because his father was still alive, and his wife lived in Barisal.

During this time, Das published his most controversial poem. An artistic uprising quickly ensued after Sudhindranath Dutta’s Porichoy magazine published Camp’e (At the Camp). The poem’s apparent theme was a moonlit deer hunt. But, many accused him of promoting sexual immorality through his poetry. He began using the short narrative format in secret more and more. 

He composed the poetry that would serve as the foundation of the Ruposhi Bangla collection in 1934. Ruposhi Bangla was not published until 1957, three years after his death, and no one knew about these poems when he was still alive.