Manik Bandyopadhyay (birth name Prabodh Kumar Bandyopadhyay, 19 May 1908–3 December 1956) is a major figure of twentieth-century Bengali literature. He authored 38 novels and 306 stories. His best-known works include Padma Nadir Majhi (The Boatman on the River Padma, 1936), Putul Nacher Itikatha (The Puppet’s Tale, 1936), Shahartali (Suburbia, 1941), Chatushkone (The Quadrilateral, 1948), Swadhinatar Swad (Taste of Freedom, 1951) and Halud Nadi Sabuj Ban (Yellow River Green Forest, 1956). He was born in Dumka, Santal Parganas. His father was a government official who was transferred all over Bengal, giving young Manik a wide exposure to diverse places, cultures, dialects, and people. He became a member of the Progressive Writers’ Association in the early 1940s, and joined the Communist Party of India in 1944. In ill health and plagued by financial problems, he died at the early age of 48. His unfailing commitment to his creative objective gave him an iconic status as an ‘engaged’ author, a ‘pen-wielding proletarian’, according to the author’s own description.
Sulekha Sanyal was born in 1928 in an impoverished family that had once been indigo planters. She became a communist while a student. At thirty-five she died of leukemia, leaving a number of short
Kamran Asdar Ali is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Director of the South Asia Institute at the University of Texas at Austin. He has conducted ethnographic research in Mexico, Egypt and Pa
Ipshita Chanda is Professor at the Department of Comparative Literature, English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad. She has been ICCR Visiting Professor of Indian Culture, Georgetown Univ
Malleshappa Madivalappa Kalburgi (28 November 1938 – 30 August 2015) was a scholar of Vachana literature (Kannada literature from the 11th and 12th centuries CE) and served as Vice-Chancellor
Shahabuddin Yaqoob Quraishi is an Indian civil servant who served as 17th Chief Election Commissioner of India. He was appointed as the CEC as the successor to Navin Chawla on 30 July 2010. He has
Abdul Rahman Siddiqi is a retired Brigadier of the Pakistan Army. He was born and brought up in Delhi which he had to leave for Lahore during Partition. He now lives in Karachi.
