Dinesh Das

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Wikipedia

Dinesh Das
Born(1913-09-16)16 September 1913
Chetla, Alipore, Calcutta, Bengal, British Indian Empire
Died13 March 1985(1985-03-13) (aged 71)
Gopalnagar, Bangaon subdivision, North 24 Parganas district, India
EducationSouth Subarban College, Scottish Church College
OccupationsPoet, Author, Novelist
Notable workKaste, Ram Gache Banabashe
Political partyCommunist Party of India (Marxist)
SpouseManika Biswas
Children3

Dinesh Das (16 September 1913 – 13 March 1985) was a Bengali poet and Communist activist.[1]

Early life

He was born in his maternal home at Chetla in Alipore, a locality on the bank of Adi Ganga creek in a Mahishya family, to Rishikesh Das and Kattayani Debi.[2] When he was in Class IX, at around 15 years old, he became involved in secret revolutionary Indian independence movement. He also became involved in Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi's Salt Satyagraha movement which hampered his formal education. However, he passed Matriculation Examination in 1930, and I.A. in 1932 from the South Suburban College (now Asutosh College). In 1933, he was admitted to B.A. in Scottish Church College. In 1934, first poem "Sraboney" was published in Desh. However, he could not complete his B.A. due to his revolutionary and literary activities.

Career

In 1935, he took a job at Khayerbari Tea Estate and moved to Kurseong. There he became disillusioned with Gandhism and on return to Calcutta next year, he became inspired by communism and read writings of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels and Ralph Fox. In 1937, he created a stir with his poem Kaste (Sickle). He immortalized Kolkata's Clive Street in one of his poems:[3][4][1]

Here, in a hundred snake-like veins,
Streams of people come and go.
Through these shrunken veins the blood,
Of the country must flow.
O Mighty City's beating heart,
O Clive Street of Bengal,
A thousand dumb veins freeze to make,
The cornerstone of your high hall.

Works

  • Kabita (Poems)
  • Bhukhmichhil (Hunger Procession)
  • Kancher Manush (Glass Humans)
  • Ram gechhe Banabase (Ram is in Forest Exile)
  • Kaste (Scythe; also, part of the symbol of the Communist Party): an allegory on modern industrial life[5][6]

Awards

Dinesh Das's first best collection of poems, 'Ultorath', published in 1959, was awarded a prize. In 1980, he received the first Nazrul Puraskar from Nazrul Academy. In 1982, Dinesh Das was honored with the Rabindra Puraskar for his last collection of poems, 'Ram Gache Banobashe'.[7][8]

Personal life

In 1939, he married Ms. Manika Biswas, the third daughter of Rai Saheb Jamini Ranjan Biswas, a high-ranking government employee from Dhaka. He was the father of two sons Shantanu and Bhairab and one daughter, Jonaki.

References

  1. 1 2 "কবি দীনেশ দাস". www.bhorerkagoj.com. Retrieved 17 November 2020.[permanent dead link]
  2. ↑ Senapati and Das, Uma and Dulal Krishna (2018). মাহিষ্য রত্নাবলী-জীবনী শতক [Mahishya Ratnavali-Biographical Century] (in Bengali) (2nd ed.). Kolkata: Tuhina Publications (published 2020). pp. 91 to 92. ISBN 9788194434641.
  3. ↑ "Kolkata on Wheels Magazine : Drive outs around Kolkata". Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  4. ↑ Alok, Bardhan (2020). Bangla Shikshak (For the class XII). Chhaya Prakashani.
  5. ↑ "Kaaste-Kobi Dinesh Das Samparke Alpo Kotha -- Bengali essay by Jyotirmoy Das - Parabaas Issue 53, কাস্তে-কবি দিনেশ দাস সম্পর্কে অল্প কথা, জ্যোতির্ময় দাশ, পরবাস-৫৩". parabaas.com. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  6. ↑ "দিনেশ দাস (Dinesh Das): 'কাস্তে'র কবি". Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  7. ↑ "কবি দীনেশ দাসের জন্মবার্ষিকী আজ". Gramerkagoj || Daily Newspaper in Bangladesh. Retrieved 21 November 2025.
  8. ↑ "কবি দীনেশ দাসের মৃত্যু". www.dainikamadershomoy.com. Retrieved 21 November 2025.