Arnab Jan Deka
| Arnab Jan Deka | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | 16 Sep 1967 |
| Occupation | Littérateur, Author, Novelist, Short story writer, Poet, Playwright, Columnist, Screenwriter, Television actor, Documentary Film Director, River Engineer, Jurist, Eco-Technocrat |
| Notable awards |
Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray Award, 2010, Calcutta; Assam Government Publication Board Golden Jubilee Novel Award, 2006; Katha-Goriyoshi Short Story Award, 2003, at Katha International Short Story Festival, New Delhi |
Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray Award, 2010, Calcutta;
Assam Government Publication Board Golden Jubilee Novel Award, 2006;
Arnab Jan Deka is a novelist, short story writer, poet, playwright, screenwriter, documentary film director, columnist, TV actor, jurist, river engineer and eco-technocrat. He authored 131 fiction and non-fiction books (two of them being co-authored with British and American authors respectively) and edited 14 more books in English, Assamese, Hindi and Bengali. He was also editor of a journal and a newspaper. India Government's official Academy of Letters Sahitya Academy incorporated his biography as one among the top Indian writers of the 20th Century in the End Century Edition of Who's Who of Indian Writers 1999. 'NE Live' listed him as one of the "Top 5 Contemporary Writers from Assam who have made it big outside the state also" which include such other literary stalwarts like Dr Indira Goswami, Homen Borgohain and Nirupama Borgohain, who "have not only contributed to the literary wealth of the state, they have also enlightened the world about the life and culture of Assam through their writing." In a critical literary essay 'New generation of storytellers' he has been described as one among "the bunch of most powerful storytellers" who "delved deep into the spiritual and intellectual heritage along the Brahmaputra valley, and also highlighted its environmental fragility."
He is the recipient of Assam Government's Publication Board Golden Jubilee Novel Award in 2006 for his classical novel Bhaba Ananda Sambad ('Tales of Bhabananda'). Katha International Short Story Festival held in New Delhi in January, 2004, awarded him with the Katha-Goriyoshi Award for his short-story Himalayan Mystic Meeting. He is also recipient of Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray Memorial Award (Smarak Samman) 2010 in Calcutta, conferred upon him in recognition of his lifetime contributions to literature, art and scientific research.
He is the international chairman of the Indo-British environmental project Save the Brahmaputra River.
He was the youngest Indian radio playwright. His first radio-play Mukti('Freedom') was broadcast by All India Radio in 1981 while he was a school student. His first authored book Ephanki Rhode ('A Stanza of Sunlight') was published in 1983.
His documentary film on saint-artist-littérateur Srimanta Sankardev had been publicly screened in several countries.
Arnab Jan Deka is the first creative writer in Assamese to have co-authored an Indo-British book of poetry with British poet and novelist Tess Joyce in 2009 entitled A Stanza of Sunlight on the Banks of Brahmaputra. The book received wider international success, as many leading newspapers carried exclusive coverage on this publication. In a major critical writing in The Book Review journal, literary critic and poet N Kalyani describes its poetry in these words- "Poems have a spatial and temporal location and context and relevant and significant to that, yet they are also universal in their theme and substance and not restricted to a period of time making them obsolete or decrepit for another or a future time period." In the same essay, the critic's admiration of Arnab Jan Deka's poetry has been evident, when she describes- "And in These Small Thoughts Deka reveals what Umananda is, A tiny river island amidst the mighty river Brahmaputra near the prehistoric city of Pragjyotishpur, known by its modern name Guwahati now, in a way that brings the image so alive: The tiny rivulet reflect a myriad of colour/The distant Umananda--a majestic aloof lily pad/The blackish riverbank with flowing wind/The cities dreaming of fleeced nomad/Besides the tidal marina." This book found a place of pride in the prestigious London Poetry Library, which is the first official recognition to an Assamese poet by the famous British institution devoted to poetry.
His first book Ephanki Rhode ('A Stanza of Sunlight'), published in 1983 while he was a minor school student of 10th standard, established him as a major poet and author in Assamese language. Jnanpeeth Award winner top Indian littérateur and Sahitya Academy President Dr Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya discovered this budding literary talent and officially brought the school-going teen-aged author into intellectual limelight by writing a generous Review of his first book and later days' creations.
British poet Tess Joyce wrote an evocative essay on his poetry in the literary journal published from London Luit to Thames, whose edited form was also republished by Barcelona,Spain, based journal Art of Living Guide. In her writing Joyce states as follows-- "Written during his high school years, Arnab’s poems plunged the reader into further depths – into the midst of the universe itself and the riverine landscapes only served to increase the levels of complexity the narrator saw; we are left to realise that no-one is big enough to hold the universe and so: Yet with no empty space left on the boat/the Universe sat quietly beside the reeds. Imbibed with a sense of awe, the narrator’s desires for explanations disappeared – it was the poetry that satisfied him, hence: On the bald head of the dusty earth/Ashwaklanta bestowed a stanza of sunlight."
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