Manohar Mouli Biswas

Manohar Mouli Biswas[1][2] is the pseudo-name of Manohar Biswas, a popular and most likely the best known bilingual poet, essayist and writer[3][4][5] of Dalit Literature from Bengal.

Manohar Mouli Biswas
Born (1943-10-03) 3 October 1943
Dakshin Matiargati, Khulna, Undivided Bengal, British India
NationalityIndian
OccupationBilingual writer and poet
Parent(s)Late Prahlad Chandra Biswas and Late Panchu Bala Biswas

Life and career

Manohar Mouli Biswas was born into Namasudra caste at Dakshin Matiargati, Khulna in East Bengal (erstwhile undivided Bengal in British India) in 1943.[6] Having suffered from dire poverty since his childhood he struggled and beaten up all the obstacles in his route and became educated and finally established himself as an acclaimed Dalit writer in India. None of his forefathers had the privilege of going to school. He saw the pains suffered by his illiterate masses and the humiliation faced by them. He has no shame to acknowledge that he is a first generation learner in his family. It is all this pain pent up within his heart that has forced him to become a writer. It was during his stay in Nagpur in 1968–1969 that he came in close contact with Dalit people and the Dalit literary movement in Maharashtra that changed the course of his life as a litterateur.

Manohar Mouli Biswas is a legend in his own right. He is the current President of Bangla Dalit Sahitya Sanstha. He has been editing the pioneering bi-monthly literary magazine Dalit Mirror in English for more than a decade. The magazine upholds the cause of the Dalits in Bengal. He has written four volumes of poems, one collection of short story, seven books of essays and an autobiography entitled Amar Bhubaney Ami Benche Thaki (2013) which is later translated by Angana Dutta and Jaydeep Sarangi and published as Surviving in My World : Growing Up Dalit in Bengal[7] (2015). This translated autobiography has earned national and global reputation and has been enlisted into the syllabus of different universities. Jaydeep[ Sarangi has edited a collection of essays on him, "Bangla Dalit Writer Writes Back" (2019)

Poems in translation

His poems are translated widely from Bangla into English and into other languages. His translated poems are gradually attracted by the wide-readers, and have come into the scholastic discussions. A Rose of Revolt: Two Poems in Bengali by: Manohar Mouli Biswas[8] –

ফুলন দেবী

চব্বিশবারের বদলা নিয়ে ছিলে একুশটি ইচ্ছা তো ছিল চব্বিশটির এই সাহস তোমাকে কে দিয়েছিল? অপমান, না লজ্জা ঢাকার পণ? শুনেছি, হে ফুলন, তুমি শূদ্রা ছিলে দূর গাঁয়ের দরিদ্র দুর্বলার যারা বলাৎকারী জেনে নিক এই সত্য বেহড়বাগী ফুলন প্রতিটি রমনী।

Phoolan Devi

At the age of twenty four
She gun fired all
Against humiliation
Her determination registered
Oh! Phoolan, you have come from
The lowest caste
From a marginalised village.
Oppressors of women, be aware of it—
She resists at some points;
Every woman is a Phoolan in spirit

সংগ্রাম

আমার শরীরের জ্যান্ত মাংসের মধ্যে কিল বিল হাঁটে, কাটে, পোকা? ভিনসার অলিতে গলিতে ক্যান্সার, খরার গোটা শরীরটাকে টুকরো টুকরো- হায়রে, খান্ খান্ ঝরে কেন? লাল পতাকা রক্তের নেশা প্রতিরোধ কনিকার প্রয়াস তরতরে তাজা ব্যক্তিতে আমার গোটা শরীরটার প্রয়োজন ওই সংগ্রাম প্রতিটি ক্ষয়িত কোষের বাঁচার।

Warfare
In the flesh alive of my body
The worms eat up, bit by bit.
Why does the cancer spread in streets of the whole body?
Red flag has thirst for blood;
A rose of revolt.
All my decaying cells
Restore the spirit I have
To live as rails of protest.

- translated by Jaydeep Sarangi

List of works

Poetry collections
  • Ora Amar Kabita (8 May 1985), Dipali Book House, Kolkata, West Bengal
  • Tarer Kanna : Titiksha (31 December 1987), J/3 Tangra Govt. Housing Estate; distributed by Aditya Prakashalaya, Kolkata, West Bengal
  • Vivikto Uthaney Ghar (June 1991), J/3 Tangra Housing Estate; distributed by Dipali Book House, Kolkata, West Bengal
  • Poetic Rendering As Yet Unborn, (Translation of Bangla poetry in English) (2010), published by Shubhra Biswas in Calcutta Book Fair 2010, Kolkata, West Bengal, ISBN 978-81-926702-1-8
  • Bikshata Kaler Banshi (16 August 2013), Chaturtha Dunia, Stall22 Bhabani Dutta Lane, Kolkata, West Bengal, ISBN 978-81-926702-5-6
  • The Wheel Will Turn (Translation of Bangla poetry in English) (2014), Cyberwit.net, Allahabad, India, ISBN 978-81-928187-3-3

Short story
  • Krishna Mrittikar Manoosh(8 May 1988), published by Satyabrata Majumdar; distributed by Nirmal Book Agency, Kolkata, West Bengal

Autobiography
  • Amar Bhubaney Ami Benche Thaki (13 June 2013), Chaturtha Dunia, Kolkata ISBN 978-81-926702-4-9
  • Surviving in My World : Growing Up Dalit in Bengal (2015), Stree ISBN 978-81-926702-4-9

Essays
  • Dalit Sahityer Digboloy (1992), J/3 Tangra Govt. Housing Estate; distributed by Dr. Ambedkar Prakashani, Dalua, Garia, South 24 Parganas, West Bengal
  • Yuktivadi Bharatbarsha : Ekti Aitihyer Sandhan (1998), Chaturtha Dunia, Kolkata, ISBN 81-86551-13-1
  • Vonnochokhe Prabandha Mala (14 April 2003), Chaturtha Dunia, Kolkata ISBN 978-81-926702-6-3
  • Dalit Sahityer Ruparekha (February 2007), Bani Silpa, Kolkata
  • Prabandhe Prantajan Authoba Asprisher Diary (January 2010), Chaturtha Dunia, Kolkata, ISBN 978-81-926702-2-5
  • An Interpretation of Dalit Literature, Aesthetic, Theory and Movements : Through the Lens of Ambedkarism (January 2017), published by Shubhra Biswas on behalf of Bangla Dalit Sahitya Sanstha, and Chaturtha Dunia, Kolkata, ISBN 978-81-926702-7-0

Edited books
  • Adwaita Malla Barman : Ekti Sahityik Pratishrot (1995), Chaturtha Duniua, Kolkata
  • Shatobarsher Bangla Dalit Sahitya: Bangla Dalit Writings from 1911–2010 (26 January 2011), Chaturtha Dunia, Kolkata, ISBN 978-81-926702-3-2
  • Chaturtha Duniar Galpa (2005), Chaturtha Dunia, Kolkata
  • Krishna Chandra Thakur (Kesto Sadhu): Smriti Sambhar (1999), Chaturtha Dunia, Kolkata
  • Anya Bhashar Dalit Kabita (September 1994), Chaturtha Dunia, Kolkata

Magazine/editorial
  • Dalit Mirror (Govt. of India Registration no 71031/97), ISBN 978-81-926702-0-1

See also

References
  1. Bhaumik, Mahuya & Sarangi, Jaydeep (2017). "Growing up Dalit in Bengal: Conversation with Manohar Mouli Biswas". Clear. 4 (1): 37–45. doi:10.1515/clear-2017-0005.
  2. Haldar, Santanu (8 March 2013). "Manohar Biswas: A revolutionary Dalit voice in Bengali Dalit Literature". Merinews.
  3. Acharya, Indranil. "Search for an Alternative Aesthetic in Bangla Dalit Poetry" (PDF). Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities. VI (2): 96–106.
  4. Johny, S. "Voices of a Subaltern Diaspora: A Reading of Manohar Mouli Biswas' Surviving in My World" (PDF). Research Journal of English Language and Literature. 5 (2): 44–47.
  5. Das, Suvasis (April 2017). "The Subaltern Can Speak: A Reading of Manohar Mouli Biswas's Autobiography Surviving in My World: Growing up Dalit in Bengal" (PDF). International Research Journal of Interdisciplinary & Multidisciplinary Studies. 3 (3): 84–93.
  6. "A rose of revolt: Two poems in Bengali - Firstpost". www.firstpost.com. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  7. Thieme, John (Spring 2016). "Review(s) of: Surviving in my world: Growing up Dalit in Bengal, by Manohar Mouli Biswas. Trans. and ed. by Angana Dutta and Jaydeep Sarangi, Kolkata: Samya". Commonwealth Essays and Studies. 38 (2): 135–137.
  8. "A Rose of Revolt: Two Poems in Bengali by: Manohar Mouli Biswas".
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