Jibanananda Das’s birth anniv Thursday

Today is the 123rd anniversary of the birth of Jibanananda Das. Different organisations will pay tribute to the poet organising special programmes.
Jatiya Kabita Parishad Barishal will organise a programme at Jibananda Auditorium in Barishal city. Jibanananda Das was born on February 17, 1899 in Barishal.
He belonged to the group of poets who tried to shake off Rabindranath Tagore’s poetic influence.
Though Jibanananda did not achieve much popularity in his lifetime, his unique talent was realised after his death with the discovery of many of his manuscripts.
Nowadays critics consider him as the greatest poet of post-Tagore era.
Jibanananda Das started writing poems at an early age. While he was a student, his poem titled Barsa Abahan was published in the Brahmabadi in April 1919. Many of his poems were published in various magazines.
Jibanananda’s poems inspired a pride in Bengali nationhood, especially in the 1960s and during the war of liberation in 1971. Though principally a poet, Jibanananda also wrote essays, short stories and novels.
His volumes of poems include Jhara Palak Dhusar Pandulipi, Banalata Sen, Mahaprthibi, Satti Tarar Timir, Rupasi Bangla, Bela Abela Kalbela.
Many of his novels were published posthumously including Malyaban, Sutirtha and others. He wrote about two hundred stories. A collection of his short stories is Jibanananda Daser Galpa. His complete works have been published in 12 volumes as Jibanananda Samagra from Kolkata, India.
Banalata Sen received an award in 1953 at the Nikhil Banga Rabindra Sahitya Sammelan. Jibanananda Daser Shrestha Kabita won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1954.
The poet died in a tram accident in Kolkata on October 22, 1954.