Madhu Mela

A weeklong ‘Madhu Mela’, to mark 194th birth anniversary of great poet Michael Madhusudan Dutt, began at Sagordari in Keshabpur Upazila of Jessore district on Saturday. Different cultural organisations in association with the cultural affairs ministry, district and upazila administrations organized various programmes on the occasion. The Mela (fair) will continue till January 26. Michael Madhusudan Dutt was born in a zamindar family at Sagardari on January 25, 1824, to Rajnarayan Dutt and Jhannabi Devi. He passed away at Kolkata General Hospital on June 29, 1873, only three days after his wife Henrietta breathed her last. Michael Madhusudan Dutt was a popular 19th-century Bengali poet and dramatist. He was a pioneer of Bengali drama. Madhusudan is widely considered to be one of the greatest poets in Bengali literature and the father of the Bengali sonnet. He pioneered what came to be called amitrakshar chhanda or blank verse. His famous work, Megnadhbodh Kabya is a tragic epic. It is exceptional in Bengali literature both in terms of style and content. With its publication, the Indian poet distinguished himself as a serious composer of an entirely new genre of heroic poetry, that was Homeric and Dantesque in technique and style, and yet so fundamentally Indian in theme.

From an early age, Dutt aspired to be an Englishman in form and manner. Born to a Hindu landed-gentry family, he converted to Christianity as a young man, to the ire of his family, and adopted the first name Michael. He dreamt of achieving great fame if he went abroad. His adolescence, coupled with the spirit of intellectual inquiry, convinced him that he was born on the wrong side of the planet, and that conservative Hindu society in early nineteenth-century Bengal (and by extension Indian society) had not yet developed the spirit of rationalistic inquiry and appreciation of greater intellectualism to appreciate him. He believed that the "free thinking" and post-Enlightenment West would be more receptive to his creative genius. He composed his early works—poetry and drama—almost entirely in English. In later life he regretted his attraction to England and the Occident. He wrote ardently of his homeland in his poems and sonnets from this period.

The best way to evaluate the great poet is to study his literary works extensively. Extensive research should be conducted on his life and achievements. His books should be included in school, college and university curriculums in a massive way. Institutions should be set up after his name for due recognition to his genius.

Madhu Mela

A weeklong Madhu Mela, to mark 194th birth anniversary of great poet Michael Madhusudan Dutt, began at Sagordari in Keshabpur Upazila of Jessore district on Saturday. Different cultural organisations in association with the cultural affairs ministry, district and upazila administrations organized various programmes on the occasion. The Mela (fair) will continue till January 26. Michael Madhusudan Dutt was born in a zamindar family at Sagardari on January 25, 1824, to Rajnarayan Dutt and Jhannabi Devi. He passed away at Kolkata General Hospital on June 29, 1873, only three days after his wife Henrietta breathed her last. Michael Madhusudan Dutt was a popular 19th-century Bengali poet and dramatist. He was a pioneer of Bengali drama. Madhusudan is widely considered to be one of the greatest poets in Bengali literature and the father of the Bengali sonnet. He pioneered what came to be called amitrakshar chhanda or blank verse. His famous work, Megnadhbodh Kabya is a tragic epic. It is exceptional in Bengali literature both in terms of style and content. With its publication, the Indian poet distinguished himself as a serious composer of an entirely new genre of heroic poetry, that was Homeric and Dantesque in technique and style, and yet so fundamentally Indian in theme. From an early age, Dutt aspired to be an Englishman in form and manner. Born to a Hindu landed-gentry family, he converted to Christianity as a young man, to the ire of his family, and adopted the first name Michael. He dreamt of achieving great fame if he went abroad. His adolescence, coupled with the spirit of intellectual inquiry, convinced him that he was born on the wrong side of the planet, and that conservative Hindu society in early nineteenth-century Bengal (and by extension Indian society) had not yet developed the spirit of rationalistic inquiry and appreciation of greater intellectualism to appreciate him. He believed that the free thinking and post-Enlightenment West would be more receptive to his creative genius. He composed his early workspoetry and dramaalmost entirely in English. In later life he regretted his attraction to England and the Occident. He wrote ardently of his homeland in his poems and sonnets from this period. The best way to evaluate the great poet is to study his literary works extensively. Extensive research should be conducted on his life and achievements. His books should be included in school, college and university curriculums in a massive way. Institutions should be set up after his name for due recognition to his genius.