An unsung hero of Bengali poetry

When the influence of Tagore started to decrease - a new voice emerged - a voice less melodramatic a voice full of angst. Critics coined a new term to address that new voice "Bangla Adhunik Kobita" (Bengali Modern Poetry). Binoy Majumdar was a part of those angry young poets, who wanted to bring a change through words and verses; but he was certainly not an activist like his comrades.

- SOUMALYA CHATTERJEE

After studying for a few years in Presidency College, he moved to Shibpur to earn a degree in engineering. His mathematically sharp brain was an inseparable part of his poetry. The molding of science with poetry is a rare instance in world literature. Binoy successfully did this when he wrote a verse such as: "If you never come again. Never blow through this steaming regions/ Like cooling drifts of the upper air, even the absence is an encounter." Binoy's brain was trained to think through the angles of geometry, it worked through the thin lanes of enigmatic algebra. Binoy wrote three books on mathematics, but they remained unpublished, although the drafts are available in the National Library.

Binoy started writing poetry when he was in school. He used to write for his school magazine. In 1958, his first book “Nakshatrer Aloye” was published. A massive influence of the great poet Jibanananda Das can be seen in “Nakshatrer Aloye”. According to some scholars, Binoy tried to imitate Jibanananda in his earlier poetry, but the scenario changed when he published his Magnum Opus, "Fire Esho, Chaka" in 1962. It was first published under the name of "Gayatrike" but then Binoy changed the name and added a few more poems to this anthology.