Guwahati: Noted Assamese poet and Sahitya Akademi awardee Rabindra Sarkar passed away on Friday in Kolkata. He was 82.
Sarkar was born on August 7, 1941, in Guwahati, Assam. He was a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2013 for his book of poems “Dhuliyori Bharir Sans”.
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He began his education in Guwahati and passed the Matriculation Examination from Bengali High School in Guwahati. He then completed his intermediate degree from B. Barua College in 1960 and his Bachelor’s degree from Damdam Motijhil College under the University of Calcutta in 1963.
Sarkar began his career as a teacher at Assam Railway School (now Railway Higher Secondary School) and Kahilipara Higher Secondary School. He later worked in the the National Christ Bank, United Commercial Bank and General Insurance company. He joined the Life Insurance Corporation of India in 1967 and retired from the LIC in 2001.
In 1997, he moved to Kolkata for work and has since settled there.
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In the seventies, he joined the Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA) and later served as the president of the Assam Branch. Sarkar was a prominent poet of Assamese as well as Bengali literature and believed in communist ideals.
He began his literary career in the late 1960s with a poem in the magazine “Navayug” edited by Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya. He was also the editor of a monthly magazine of poetry called “Assamese Poetry” from 1971-75. The magazine, in which Avani Chakraborty was involved as a publisher, was the first poetry magazine in the Assamese language.
Sarkar has authored several books of poetry, including “Britta Bhangar Samay”, “Sattarror Padatik”, “Kalantaror Kabita”, “Arup Kothar Joka”, “Rabindra Sarkar Kabita” and “Disang Mukhor Pepa”.
His memoir, “Dinbor Xonor Xonjat”, is a reflection of a period of Assam’s social and cultural life.
The death of the renowned writer has been mourned by various people in the state and tributes have been paid to the popular poet.