Roychowdhury, Sarojkumar

Roychowdhury, Sarojkumar (1903-1972) journalist and fiction writer, graduated with Honours in English from Calcutta National College. In 1921, he participated in the non-cooperation movement and came into close contact with subhas chandra bose and Kiran Shankar Roy. On the request of Subhash Chandra, he briefly edited the paper Atma Shakti (later, Naba Shakti). He was imprisoned for publishing an anti-government poem by Rabindra Mitra in the paper. Afterwards, he worked as a journalist for Ananda Bazar Patrika for 10 years. After retirement, he edited a monthly magazine named Bartaman.

Though Saroj Kumar was a good journalist and wrote serious articles, he was famous mainly for his prose fiction. His 25 books include novels and collections of short stories. Three of his novels, Grha Kapoti, Somlata and Mayuraksi, describe the lives of Vaishnavas. His other books include Bandhani (1931), Panthanibas (1935), Deha-Jamuna (1936), Maner Gahane (1936), Hangsa-Balaka (1937), Akash O Mrttika (1940), Kalo-Ghoda (1946), Anustup Chhanda (1951), and Nagari (1961). His novels analyse the psychology of his characters and depict their social interactions. Some of his novels have been made into films. [Sushanta Sarker]