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Quote by Sunil Gangopadhyay

“Sandipan, why have you not written much of late? What is this thing about occasional prose pieces? This habit of yours has attracted you to the Hungry Hangama—this latest fad. I did forbid you. And you did not trust me. And then you simply distanced yourself gradually. I never stopped Shakti. Shakti is greedy. Utpal too has taken that route. But I knew that you were not greedy. I have often shared a bed with you, stood in the same shadow while walking in the sun. I know very well the contours of my own greed. And therefore, I could instinctively feel that your greed is less than mine. I became deeply uncomfortable, generated some strong aversion to this new phenomenon. I had always felt that to compose in the English language in order to earn cheap accolades in the West is the worst possible form of greed and narcissism. This feeling has deepened this time here, at Iowa. Would you ever like to be an object of curiosity and pity to the outsider? I have met some Hungry wallahs here—it is these that drive them at the bedrock. Every single day I receive some invitation or the other to write in English. I have refused. Steadfastly. There are 7 crores of potential Bangla readers for me. Much more than French and Italian. I am just doing fine. I write poetry and have no intention to translate my sensibilities. If you wish to access my thoughts in English—do translate me. Happily. I had officially come here to do this kind of mutual back-patting. So far I have resisted that lure.”

Quote by Sunil Gangopadhyay

Book:অর্ধেক জীবন
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অর্ধেক জীবন

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Sunil Gangopadhyay

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“সমীর অন্য অনেক সময়েও আমাকে অনেক সাহায্য করেছে । একই কলেজে পড়ার সময়ে বন্ধুত্ব, যদিও আমাদের বিষয় ছিল আলাদা । সমীরের জীববিজ্ঞান আর আমার অর্থনীতি । কলেজে তো অনেকের সঙ্গেই পরিচয় হয়, কিন্তু কারুর কারুর সঙ্গে সে-বন্ধুত্ব খুব গাঢ় হয়ে ওঠে । গ্র্যাজুয়েশানের পর সমীর খুব তাড়াতাড়ি চাকরি পেয়েছিল । আমি বেশ কয়েক বছর বেকার অবস্হায় টিউশানি-মিউশানি করে কাটিয়েছি । সেই সময়ে সমীর কৃত্তিবাসের সঙ্গে যুক্ত হয়ে পড়ে । হাংরি জেনারেশনের সঙ্গে কৃত্তিবাসের খানিকটা টানাপোড়েন তো ছিলই, সমীর সেটা মেটাবার অনেক চেষ্টা করেছে । ওর ছোটোভাই মলয় রায়চৌধুরীকে পুলিশ গ্রেফতার করে, তাতে, হাংরি জেনারেশনের সঙ্গে আমার কোনো সম্পর্ক না থাকলেও, মলয়ের পক্ষে সাক্ষ্য দিয়েছিলাম আমি । বিহারে চাকরিরত হলেও সমীর কলকাতা থেকে একটি প্রকাশনা সংস্হা চালু করতে চেয়েছিল । তার প্রথম বই, আমার ‘একা এবং কয়েকজন’ । তখন আমাকে কবি হিসাবে ক’জনই বা চেনে । তবু আমার কবিতার বই প্রকাশ করায় সমীরের অনেকখানি ঔদার্য প্রকাশ পেয়েছিল । সমীরের প্রথম কাব্যগ্রন্হ বেরুল, ‘ঝর্ণার পাশে শুয়ে আছি’ । নামটা বোধহয় আমারই দেওয়া । প্রেসেও ছোটাছুটি করেছি আমি । সে সময় সমীর চমৎকার রোমান্টিক কবিতা লিখত । পরে তার কবিতা একটা অন্য দিকে বাঁক নেয় । ওই সংস্হা ( কৃত্তিবাস ) থেকে সমীরের আরেকটা কবিতার বই বেরিয়েছিল, ‘আমার ভিয়েৎনাম’ । পরে সেই প্রকাশনা বন্ধ হয়ে যায় ।”

LifeMalaySamirKrittibasEkakoyekjon
Book:অর্ধেক জীবন
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“Even amid the erratic crowd and the loud voices that drowned everything in coffee, Ginsberg commanded attention. Samir had recalled to Malay: He approached our table, where Sunil, Shakti, Utpal and I sat, with no hesitation whatsoever. There was no awkwardness in talking to people he hadn’t ever met. None of us had seen such sahibs before, with torn clothes, cheap rubber chappals and a jhola. We were quite curious. At that time, we were not aware of how well known a poet he was back in the US. But I remember his eyes—they were kind and curious. He sat there with us, braving the most suspicious of an entire cadre of wary and sceptical Bengalis, shorn of all their niceties—they were the fiercest lot of Bengali poets—but, somehow, he had managed to disarm us all. He made us listen to him and tried to genuinely learn from us whatever it was that he’d wanted to learn, or thought we had to offer. Much later, we came to know that there had been suspicions about him being a CIA agent, an accusation he was able to disprove. In the end, we just warmed up to him, even liked him. He became one of us—a fagging, crazy, city poet with no direction or end in sight.”

PoetryCountercultureShaktiMalayHungryalismSamirSunil
Book:The Hungryalists
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“In the entire vista of Malay literature—including even the Indonesian literatures—he was unique. None rivalled him in originality and poetic genius; in Malay Sufi literature none excelled the clarity and flowing simplicity of his prose which, nevertheless, reveals profound metaphysical insight in the Sufi doctrines; none exceeded him in poetry, whether it be in terms of literary output or in terms of intellectual content. He was, as I have earlier shown, the first man to set forth in systematic writing the essential aspects of the Şufi doctrines in Malay, and he not only impressed his influence upon certain historiographically important literary usages in Malay literature, but introduced as well new technical terminologies and concepts into the Malay language in general, and into Malay Sufi literature in particular, having do with theology, metaphysics and philosophy.”

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Book:The Origin of the Malay Sha'ir
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“Reason tells us that we should always be able to work things out with words. But the absurdly profound truth is that in many crucial moments of conflict, when sanity and safety hang in the balance, choosing not to engage verbally can be by far the most powerful form of speech.”

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Book:Get Out of Here Alive: Inner Alchemy & Immortality
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