Nirendranath Chakraborty no more

The famous Bangla poet of “Amalkanti is my friend …he wanted to be sunshine” is no more.

The poet, Nirendranath Chakraborty, who had been suffering from breathing problem over the last few months, succumbed to a heart attack at a hospital in West Kolkata's Mukundapur yesterday at the age of 94.

Nirendranath was acclaimed not only for his poetry but also for his short stories and novels. But he was often referred to as the creator of “Amalkanti,” the man who had never been able to be sunshine as he wished and lost himself in the darkness of a printing press having failed to succeed in life like his other friends.

“It is a great loss for Bangla literature. Nirendranath Chakraborty was a guardian of literature. We have lost him,” tweeted West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, expressing deep shock at the demise.

He wrote his last poem on November 18, said his daughter Sheuli Sarkar.

Famous Bengali author Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay said, “I lost my father… Nirendranath Chakraborty had a great influence on my life like my father.”

Nirendranath Chakraborty gained critical acclaim for his poetry book Ulongo Raja. It exposed the hypocrisy of the contemporary society with biting satire. He won prestigious Sahitya Academy Award for this book. Kolkatar Jishu was another of his masterpieces.

Apart from Banga Bibhushan, Nirendranath won other notable awards including Ananada Shiromani award, Tarashankar award.  He also got honourary PhD degree from Calcutta University.

Born in Bangladesh's Faridpur, Nirendranath went to Kolkata in 1930. His first poetry book Nil Nirjon was published in 1954.