Assam: Dibrugarh Kanoi College celebrates 100th birthday of literary giant Dr Amaresh Datta

The 100^th birthday of Professor Emeritus Dr Amaresh Datta was held at Dibrugarh Hanumanbax Surajmall Kanoi College on Sunday in Dibrugarh. The programme was jointly organised by DHSK College and India Club and Theatrical Institution, Dibrugarh.

Dr Amaresh Datta was “overwhelmed” by the gesture and thanked the organisers for celebrating his 100^th birthday. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Datta reminisced his days as a teacher –“Science students were very eager to listen to my lecture and attended my classes to learn about English literature.”

Professor of Hindi at DHSK College Dr Kalpana Sengupta especially composed a song for Dr Datta on his 100^th birthday and sung the same. In his welcome speech, Dr Sashi Kanta Saikia, Principal of DHSK College, stated that it was a “historic moment” for the college to organise the 100^th birthday of Dr Datta. “We are very fortunate and privileged that today we are celebrating the 100^th birthday of Dr Amaresh Datta. We pray for his good health and a long life.”

Speaking on the occasion, former president of Assam Sahitya Sabha, Dr Nagen Saikia, said, “We are fortunate that today we are celebrating the 100^th birthday of Dr Amaresh Datta who is a well-known literary figure of our country. His contribution towards English literature is immense and he is a person to whom today’s youths can look up to.”

Dr Datta is an authority on Shakespeare and his book Shakespeare’s Tragic Vision (1963) received a lot of appreciation from eminent scholars and critics like Professor G Wilson Knight, Dr EMW Tillyard, Professor AG Stock and several others.  His collection of poems Captive Moments (1952) bagged a prestigious award from the International Association of Poetry in Rome.

Some of his published works are – Captive Moments (A collection of poems), Shakespeare’s Tragic Vision and Art, Time’s Harvest (A collection of poems on selected episodes from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata), Lotus and the Cross (A poetic play- a trilogy) and several others.

Professor Datta visited Soviet Union in 1987 as a member of the cultural delegation sponsored by the Government of India.

His family members, relatives, well-wishers and renowned citizens of Dibrugarh attended the programme. All of them spoke few lines about his contribution towards English literature. Dibrugarh University Vice-Chancellor
(V-C) Dr Ranjit Kumar Tamuli was also present on the occasion.