Celebrated Bengali writer Mani Sankar Mukhopadhyay, fondly known as Sankar died at a private hospital in Kolkata today. He was 92.
Sahitya Akademi award winner Sankar was undergoing treatment at Peerless Hospital. The news of his death came around 1 pm.
Chowringee, Seemabaddha, and Jana Aranya are some of his famous novels.
Chowringee, first published in Bengali in 1962, revolves around the life of Shankar, an ambitious young man who loses his job of secretary after his employer, an English barrister, dies suddenly. Shankar, the protangonist, is forced to sell wastepaper baskets until a friend notices his state and helps him get a job at the Shahjahan Hotel. The story then takes readers through the lives of the elite of Calcutta (now Kolkata). The novel was adapted into a movie in 1968.
His other works, Seemabaddha, and Jana Aranya, were also made into films and directed by Satyajit Ray.
In 1959, Ritwik Ghatak started making a film 'Kato Ajanare' (All The Unknow) based on Sankar's first novel. The film project was shelved due to financial and production issues, with only a few scenes left to be filmed.
Sankar was among those Bengali writers who immortalised Kolkata through his words.
Mourning the death of the revered writer, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said it is an "irreparable loss to our cultural world."
In a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Banerjee wrote: "I am deeply shocked and saddened by the passing of the renowned Bengali litterateur Mani Shankar Mukhopadhyay (Shankar). His death marks the fall of one of the brightest stars in the world of Bengali literature."
"From 'Chowringee' to 'Kat Ajanyare', from 'Seemabaddha' to 'Jana Aranya' - his timeless creations have fascinated Bengali readers for generations. The untold stories of the struggle for life of the common man have emerged from his writings. His profound research and books, especially on Swami Vivekananda, are invaluable assets to us.
