Santosh Kumar Ghosh

Santosh Kumar Ghosh (9 September 1920 – 26 February 1985) was an Indian Bengali litterateur and a journalist of repute.

Early life Born in Faridpur district of what is now in Bangladesh, Santosh Kumar had his ancestral house in Barisal district. Son of Suresh Chandra Ghosh and Sarajubala Devi, he passed the Matriculation examination with a first division scoring very high percentage in both Bengali and mathematics. In the year 1940 he passed B.A. examination with a distinction.

Career as journalist In the year 1941 Santosh Kumar started his career as journalist in Pratyaha Daily. Later in his career he worked in Jugantar and The Statesman and finally in the year 1951 went to Delhi to join Hindusthan Standard, the English publication of Anandabazar Patrika. He also worked for The Morning News and The Nation. Santosh Kumar also tried his hand in other literary forms like drama, poetry and essays. Two of his plays, Ajatak (1969) and Aparthibo (1971) are worth mentioning. As for poems there is a collection named Kabitar Praye (1980). His first published poem was 'Prithibi' (Nabashakti, 1937) and first published short story was 'Bilaati Dak' (Bharatbarsha, 1937). Amongst essays are 'Rabindrachinta', 1978, 'Rabir kar', 1984. Apart from these Santosh Kumar also tried his hand in juvenile literature. 'Dupurer Dike' written by him which was published in the year 1980 was meant for such young adults.

His first novel was Kinu Goalar Gali (published in 1950 in the magazine Desh) which immediately caught the attention of readers and contemporary writers. Sisir Kumar Das wrote that "his forte is the impact of the socio-economic changes on the moral life of the middle class".

In 'Nana Ranger Din' the nationalist movement of pre-independent India is voiced through the autobiographical perspective. In 'Mukher Rekha', 'Jal Dao', and 'Swayang nayak' and 'Sesh Namaskar: Sricharaneshu Maa ke', where Santosh Kumar has combined the autobiographical and confessional mode of narration to deal with the roots of different social evils. Shesh Namaskar has been translated into English by Ketaki Datta under the title "Shesh Namaskar (The Last Salute)" and published by Sahitya Akademi (2013). A continuous seeker of new fictional methods, he wrote 'Renu Tomar Mon' in second person point of view (which is still unique in Bengali literature) and at the same time combined poetry, essay and story in his book Mile Omile.

Awards and recognition Throughout his literary career Santosh Kumar won various awards. Some of the notable ones listed below: Ananda Puroshkar in the year 1971. Bisesh Ananda in 1972. The Sahitya Akademi Award in 1972. Honorary D.Lit from Taiwan Kobisangha in 1984.