Jibonanondo Das

Jibonanondo Das is a popular Poet of Bangladesh. He is not only a poet but also an English essay writer, non fiction writer, short story writer and novel writer. He is considered one of the precursor’s people who introduced modernist poetry to Bengali Literature. He influenced by Rabindranath Tagore’s Romantic poetry. He is generally known as, his famous work Banalota Sen’s creator or writer. He struggled whole life with about his happiness. He wrote many poetry, novels, short story etc. He loved Bangladesh and Bangladeshi nature very much.


Jibonanondo Das was born on 17th February 1899 in the district of Barisal. His ancestors came from the Bikrampur region of Dhaka district, from a now-extinct village called Gaupara on the banks of the river Padma. His father was Satyananda Das and his mother was Kusumkumari Das. His mother was a poet and she had famous poetry in the Bengali literature. The name of her poetry is “Adorsho Chhele” whose refrain is well known to Bengalis to this day: Amader deshey hobey shei chhele kobey / Kothae na boro hoye kajey boro hobey. (The child who achieves not in words but in deeds, when will this land know such a one?). His grandfather Sarbananda Dasgupta was the first to settle permanently in Barisal. Jibonanondo was the eldest son of his parents, and was called by the nickname Milu.

Jibonanondo Das successfully completed his Matriculation examination from Brojomohon in 1915, obtaining a first division in the process. After two years, he completed the Intermediate exams from Brajamohan College. Evidently an accomplished student, he left his rural Barisal to join the University of Calcutta. He completed the MA degree in English from University of Calcutta in 1921, obtaining a second class. After that, he started his teaching career. He joined the English department of City College, Calcutta as a tutor.

In 1935, Jibonanondo Das back to Barisal due to professional disappointment and poverty. Then Jibonanondo's work featured in the very first issue of the magazine, a poem called Mrittu'r Aagey (Before Death). Upon reading the magazine, Rabindranath Tagore wrote a lengthy letter to Bose and especially commended the Das poem: Jibonanondo Das' vivid, colourful poem has given me great pleasure. It was in the second issue of Kobita (Poush 1342 issue, Dec 1934/Jan 1935) that Jibonanondo published his now-legendary Banalata Sen. Today, this 18-line poem is among the most famous poems in the language. In May 1954, he was published a volume titled 'Best Poems' (Sreshttho Kobita). His Best Poems won the Indian Sahitya Akademi Award in 1955.

Young Jibonanondo fell in love with Shovona, who lived in the neighbourhood. Shovona was a cousin of Jibonanondo. He dedicated his first anthology of poems to Shovona without mentioning her name explicitly. He did not try to marry Shovona because marriage between cousins was not approved by the society in that time. But he never forgot Shovona who went by her nick Baby. She has been referred to as Y in his literary notes. Soon after wedding with Labanyaprabha Das (Nee Gupta) in 1930, personality clash erupted and Jibonanondo Das gave up hope of a happy married life. The gap with his wife never narrowed. While Jibonanondo was struggling with death after a tram accident on 14 October 1954, Labanyaprabha did not find time for more than once for visiting her husband on death bed. At that time she was busy in film-making in Tollyganj.
His major works are Bonolota Sen (poetry), Ruposhi Bangla (poetry), Sudorshona (poetry), Mohaprithibi (poetry), Dhushor Pandulipi (poetry), Malyabaan (novel), Bibhav (novel), Mrinal (novel), Karu-Bashona (novel), Jiban-Pronali (novel), Sikkha-Dikkha (short story), Kobitaar Kotha (short story), Bangla Bhasa o Sahittyer Bhobshiyot (short story), Keno Likhi (short story), The Bengali novel today (English essay), The Bengali Poetry today (English essay) etc.
On October 14, 1954, he was carelessly crossing a road near Calcutta's Deshapriya Park when he was hit by a tram. Jibonanondo was returning home after his routine evening walk. At that time, he used to reside in a rented apartment on the Lansdowne Road. Seriously injured, he was taken to Shambhunath Pundit Hospital. Poet-writer Sajanikanta Das who had been one of his fiercest critics was tireless in his efforts to secure the best treatment for the poet. He even persuaded Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy (then chief minister of West Bengal) to visit him in hospital. Nonetheless, the injury was too severe to redress. After eight days of accident, Jibonanondo died in hospital on October 22, 1954 at about midnight, at the age of 55. He left behind his wife, Labanyaprabha Das, a son and a daughter, and the ever-growing band of readers.

Following popular belief, it has been alleged in some biographical accounts that his accident was actually an attempt at suicide. Although none of the Jibonanondo biographers have indicated such, it appears from circumstantial evidence that it was an attempt to end his life. But everyday Jibonanondo returns to thousand of his readers and touches them with his unforgettable lines.