Pragati, The

Pragati, The a literary magazine. With the editorship of Buddhadeb Basu and Ajit Kumar Datta, it was first published from dhaka in the month of Ashar, 1334 BS (July 1927). Its office was in a modest tin-shed house at 47 Purana Paltan. This was the hub of a number of poets and litterateurs such as, buddhadev bose, Ajit Kumar, Parimal Roy, Sudhish Ghatak, Manish Ghatak, Anil Bhattacharya, Achintya Kumar Sengupta and others. In this way the Pragati became a voice of the young litterateurs of the 1930s.

The focus of the Pragati was on attaining modernism in literature. In terms of the commitment of the writers, it took up the role of the Kallol. The Pragati had an ideological conflict with the less radical magazine of the time - the Shanibarer Chithi. The writers of the Pragati were not daunted by the criticism of the Shanibarer Chithi and continued their own style' vigorously.

A remarkable characteristic of the Pragati was to retain the flow of world literature. Every issue of the Pragati used to publish translation pieces of, and comparative criticisms on, foreign literature. Its first issue was published with the painted picture of Rodenstine of H. G. Wells. This issue also contained an article on Wells, an essay on Louis Pirandello, translation of a Japanese poem titled 'Souda', a true story of Anton Chekhov and a discussion on the French literature. The Pragati was published from 1334 to 1338 BS. Financial limitation was the main reason for its short life. [Mamunur Rashid]