Travel-enthusiastic Bengali Writers
Traveling is one of the most interesting visual experiences ever. For bookworms, there is a never-ending hunger for knowledge inside their minds. An author’s writing is strongly stimulated by the grasp taken out of the places the author visited. Bengali travel literature is exalted by the exquisite explanations of our literary figures. Although, the yearn for traveling of many people today is somewhat a derivative of social media postings and travel blogs on the internet. Bangla literature has plenty of travel writing stimulants. Many of our eminent and beloved authors were travel-enthusiasts. Several writers of the present are soulful travelers, each of their style is a signature. Their affection towards exploration helped create odes to travel literature.
Here are some names of Bengali authors who were (some are) intensely driven by traveling:
Rabindranath Tagore:
Bangla traveling literature is inadequate without Kobiguru Rabindranath Tagore’s contributions. His penning is spectacularly creative, along with that he had a particular penchant for traveling quite often. Since he belonged from the family of a landlord, the luxury of traveling was quite available to him. Journeying to various places back and forth was one of his routine work. He wrote about his visits in multiple books for instance ‘Europe Probasher Dinguli’ (Days of residing in Europe) and ‘Russiar chithi’ (Letters of Russia). In his collection of self-written letters ‘Chinnapatra’, he had depicted the impact of seeing and experiencing on the human psyche in an elaborated body. Traveling indeed had extra influence over him.
Satyajit Ray:
Satyajit Ray was a designated carrier of wanderlust. One simple evidence of Satyajit’s desire for traveling is if we check on the details of ‘Feluda’ or ‘Professor Shonku’ we can see that the writings are enriched by the sceneries, views of the events taking place, and the characters are seen moving from one place to another. The legend’s eagerness for traveling was deep and his extraordinary writings were sharply based on his journey memoirs.
Syed Mujtaba Ali:
Syed Mujtaba Ali is not essentially a streamlined travel writer. I find the visual storytelling of Syed Mujtaba Ali extremely clear. His writing has a sense of amusing metaphor to compare things. This man’s hippy wanderlust had made into his unique style of travel literature. The way he had explained his fondness of food and exploration in ‘Deshe Bideshe’ is critically arousing in a manner. The real-life characters he approached in that book are so direct and they all feel so readable and genuine. His posture of storytelling has marked an important step in Bangla travel literature.
Sanjeev Chandra Chatterjee:
Sanjeev Chandra Chatterjee is the legendary creator of ‘Palamau’ which is said to be the first significant Bangla travel literature piece. He was a deputy magistrate and due to his profession, he had the access to visit many places. This hearty traveler affably visited the scenic destinations of India including Ranchi, Palamu, and others.
Rabeya Khatun:
The seminal authoring of Rabeya Khatun includes a sensual description of the elements from nature. Opinionatedly, there is an architectural yet fictional vibe in Rabeya Khatun’s writings. I once read her ‘Bhromon shomogro’ — a compilation of all her touristic write-ups. Her literary sense amalgamated with traveling description is mesmerizingly gifted.
Jahanara Imam:
The ‘Mother of Martyrs’ Jahanara Imam is not particularly known for her traveling musings in person. But, she loved to travel and after the liberation war of 1971, she voyaged extensively to many parts of the world. Back in her time, it was rare to obtain foreign scholarly degrees. Jahanara received not one, but two bachelor’s degrees, the first one from India, and the second one from the University of Dhaka.
Annada Shankar Ray:
Essayist and poet Annada loved journeying. His well-known ‘Pothe Probashe’, a travel book based on Annada Shankar’s visit to Europe is a notable write-up. He loved being a passenger to new places. Annada Shankar defined traveling as a passion and this passion is a matter of the heart. Till today, his book holds a great level of influence in Bangla travel literature.
Buddhadeb Guha:
Buddhadeb is an intensely romantic novelist who loves romanticizing with nature. Depth of emotion, love, and matters of the heart are beautifully told in his writings. He is a traveler from the core of his heart and has paid visits to many parts of his birthplace India and other parts of the world. Buddhadeb is extremely fond of being in the green. Traveling from one location to another, musing about the natural comeliness, and experiencing the divinity of knowing souls and people are vividly and femininely described in his literary formations.
