Poet Nirmalendu Goon turns 71

Aminul Islam: Famed Bangladeshi poet Nirmalendu Goon is considered the pioneer of modern romantic Bangla poems. He is lauded by many for his accessible verse in an age where Bangla poetry has become increasingly complex.

 

The legendary today turns to 71 years today. He was born in Barhatta in Netrokona, in undivided India, now in Bangladesh on June 21 in 1945.

 

Nirmalendu Goon was one of the few people who openly protested Sheikh Mujibur Rahman`s assassination in 1975 in a period when even mentioning Mujib was considered dangerous.

 

He is a writer of conscience, a poet of silence, nature and emotion. But surpassing all, he is a poet of romance. He is considered one of the most renowned poets of Bangla literature, whose literary work is going on.

 

The poet has been portraying his thoughts and emotions through his poetry since 1970 when his first book of poems was published. He is a poet of the 60s with more than fifty collections of poetry and twenty-five collections of prose.

 

Part of the generation of poets of 1960s, Goon`s poetry contains stinging criticism of the nouveau riche and a touching description of the contrasting fate of the masses.

 

A love of freedom and faith in the human spirit also permeates many of his poems. An avowed Marxist, Goon has also written poems urging an upheaval of the poor against the rich.

 

He also has written a number of poems on important personalities, including Rabindranath, Sheikh Mujib, Lenin, Shakti Chattopadhyay and others.

 

He drew the cover of his first book of poetry. In late years he started to paint on a regular basis. The first exhibition of his paintings was held in the seminar room of Public Library, Dhaka in July 2009.

 

He received Bangla Academy Award in 1982 and Ekushey Padak in 2001.

 

He passed Matriculation in 1962 and ISC in 1964.

 

Later, he studied at Bangla department in Dhaka University where he got Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s daughter Sheikh Hasina as a classmate.

 

Selected works of Nirmalendu Goon:

Ānandaudyāna (1995) ISBN 984-458-089-7,  Bhrami deśe deśe (2004) ISBN 984-8682-90-2, Caitrera bhālobāsa (1975), Cirakālera bām̐śi (1986), Dhābamāna hariṇera dyuti (1992), Dūra ha duḥśāsana (1983), Gadyasamagra (1997) ISBN 984-412-041-1 (v. 1), Gīnasabārgera saṅge (1994), Kābyasamagra (1992-1993), Muthophone`r Kabbo (2003) ISBN 984-410-324-X, Nā premika, nā biplabi (1972),  Nāma diẏechi bhālobāsa (1998), Nirañjanera pr̥thibi (1986).

Nirbācita (2000) ISBN 984-437-116-3, Nirguṇera jārṇāla (1987), Nirmalendu Guṇera premera kabita (1987), Nirmalendu Guṇera rājanaitika kabitā (1989), Pañcāśa sahasra barsha (1995) ISBN 984-458-100-1, Premāṃśura rakta cāi (1970), Priẏa nārī hārāno kabitā (1996), Pr̥thibījoṛā gāna (1982), Racanā 2000 (2001) ISBN 984-8245-62-6, Raktajharā Nabhembara 1975 (1997) ISBN 984-458-121-4, Śaktismr̥ti o anyānya (1997).

Selected poems of Nirmalendu Goon:

(2001) ISBN 984-07-4125-X, Śiẏare Bāṃlādeśa (1998) ISBN 984-458-146-X, Tāra āge cāi samājatantra (1979), Yakhana āmi bukera pān̐jara khule dān̐rāi (1989).

"Maybe I’m no human, humans are different; They can walk, they can sit, and they can wander room to room. They are different; they are afraid of death, scared of snakes." — From Nirmalendu Goon`s "Maybe I`m No Human".

 

risingbd/June 21, 2015/Aminul