Indians, they say, are obsessed with people's life stories. So much so that we fail to critically assess the works and evaluate the contributions of great personalities, and rather elevate them to the pedestal of divinity. Our fascination for hagiology has contributed to M K Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Thakur, Subhash Chandra Bose and even Jawaharlal Nehru look like demigods.
The passing away of eminent litterateur Sunil Gangopadhyay and the subsequent reactions remind me of this trait, especially among the Bengalis. Moreover, our liking for hagiology knows no bound when someone has passed away. We simply push anything critical about that person under the carpet, probably for fear of being branded as uncivil, although it is hypocritical to be concealing ones unsavoury feelings with untruthful flowery praises
Sunil Gangopadhyay, undoubtedly, was a great writer. The way he looked at things around him, manifested his inner feelings, his choice of words and expressions - all carry the hallmarks of a profound thinker. Although an admirer of his writings, especially his lucid prose - despite his open expression of first love for poetry, I am neither qualified nor competent enough to comment on his literary skills. Being an admirer of someones literary or creative skills, however, doesn't necessarily mean that one has to fall in line with whatever that person says about every other thing in life.
Despite being a creative person and his literary works dealing with intricate human emotions, Sunil Gangopadhyay was conspicuous by his non-expression of sensitivity after the killing of innocent people in Nandigram and the brutal use of force in Singur. It was within his democratic rights to be a votary of the Left Front, but that didn't necessarily entitle him to undermine those who took to the streets after the killings on 14 March 2007. He even branded some of the vocal protesters as being "holier than though". (Anandabazar Patrika, 26 October 2012)
Sunil Gangopadhyay was a great thinker, and quite justifiably had a particular view on development, but someone else was also entitled to infer that he (Sunil Gangopadhyay) was totally indifferent and even ignorant about the life world of those who relied for generations on land. It was extremely difficult for someone with an urban bias to realise the importance of land to farmers. And by his own admission, Sunil Gangopadhyay's work was generally based around urban life.
Undoubtedly, Sunil Gangopadhyay was a custodian of the Bengali language, but his suggestions that all the shops in Bengal should have Bengali names or names written in Bengali, and no advertisement should be allowed in the state other than in Bengali smacked of parochialism and also suffered from short-sightedness, especially in this age of globalisation.
In fact, we are so self-absorbed and pedagogic that we hardly care to look beyond our myopic vision. Rather than critically assessing a person we resort to hagiography. Paying respect for us means conferring sainthood, especially to the deceased.
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Tirthankar.Bandyopadhyay.Blog@gmail.com
Sunil Gangopadhyay's suggestions that all the shops in Bengal should have Bengali names was not merely parochialism... he was playing into Leftists hands..democratic right to be a Lefist is another intellectual joke
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