‘Ekhud Kokaideu’ Nabakanta Barua (নৱকান্ত বৰুৱা):29 December marks the birth anniversary of one of Assam’s most well-known figures, Nabakanta Barua. Barua’s imprints can be found in the pages of his influential works in Assamese literature. His contributions to Assamese literature and culture will be remembered forever.
Nabakanta Barua was an Assamese novelist and poet who lived from 1926 to 2002. Ekhud Kokaideo is another name for him. Barua, along with Hem Barua and Amulya Barua, were regarded as the Assamese renaissance poets.
Nabakanta Barua was born in Guwahati on December 29, 1926 to Nilakanta Barua and Swarnalata Barua. His father worked as a school inspector before becoming a teacher. He had three brothers and sisters. Barua went to Government Mojolia School. He graduated from the Nagaon Government Boys School.
He also attended Cotton College and earned a BA from Shantiniketan as well as an MA from Aligarh Muslim University. The family eventually relocated to Nagaon. The novelist died on July 14, 2002, as a result of respiratory problems.
Eminent poet-litterateur Nabakanta Baruah has enriched Assamese literature with scores of his timeless creations. Paying tributes to the doyen on his birthday anniversary with a lesser known fact about him and another great personality of the cultural arena of Assam. pic.twitter.com/StCp8iYD7P
— MyGov Assam (@mygovassam) December 29, 2022
Take a look at ‘Measurements,’ one of Barua’s most famous poems. This poem will blow your mind as you read the lines about how he depicted the life of a city dweller who measures everyday activities and ends up in absurdity. His writings will always be relevant to the theme of absurdity in Assamese poetry.
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Aside from poems, Barua also wrote for children in the form of short stories and novels at a time when there were no passable books written for children. He wrote numerous such books and continued to do so until his death. Barua contributed 39 books to Assamese art and literature, including 11 poem collections, 5 novels, essays, short stories for children (Xeuali palegoi ratanpur), and lyrics. His works have been translated into several Indian languages. In 1984, he launched the Assamese magazine Sirolu, which was later renamed Natun Sirolu. He received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1975 for his novel Kokadeutar Har.
He received the prestigious Padmabhusan award in 1976. Other awards include the Assam Prakashan Parisod Award for Mur aru Prithibir in 1974, the Assam Valley Literary Award in 1993, the Soviet Land Nehru Award, and the Kabir Samman. Nabakanta Barua, along with Amulya Barua and Hem Barua, were regarded as the state’s modern poetry renaissance. In addition to poetry, Barua’s contributions to other forms of literature, such as novels and short stories, were significant and timely. Barua began writing, mostly poems, during the Second World War and flourished during the post-independence period.
He served as president of Asam Sahitya Sabha’s Dhing Adhibashan in 1968 and presided over Asom Sahitya Sabha’s Bishwanath Chariali convention in 1990.
