The poverty of villagers and laborers and the unseemly affluence of some opportunists made the young generation hopelessly depressed.

This literary crusade was championed by Bishnu Dey, Jibanananda Das, Buddhadeb Basu, Sudhindranath Dutta, Amiya Chakravarty, and others.

Bishnu Dey was steeped in his country’s lore; he was in tune with India’s traditions even as he wrote what might be called revolutionary poetry, both in form and content.

He translated poems written in the Santhal, Oraon, and Chhattisgarh languages through William Archer and Verrier Elwin.

“Deeply drawn towards the social analysis of Marxism, he has achieved, in his own way, a unique mental adjustment – it has cost him much, especially the Establishment’s ire, but perhaps it has given him the sustenance which is the secret of his unceasing literary labors.” (by Hirendranath Mukherjee, book jacket of ‘In the Sun and the Rain’ by Bishnu Dey) Dey's seminal work, Smriti Satta Bhabishyat (স্মৃতি সত্তা ভবিষ্যৎ; Memory, the Being, the Future, 1955–61, published in 1963), set a new precedent in Bengali poetry.

From 1930-32, Dey pursued his bachelor's degree at Kolkata’s St. Paul’s College, majoring in English, with Philosophy and History.

Thanks to his teachers, he could reach deep into Western classical music and Marxist philosophy – both remained inseparable from his existence till the end.

Dey's stories and poems were regularly published in Pragati, Bichitra, Dhupchhaya, Kallol (প্রগতি, বিচিত্রা, ধূপছায়া, কল্লোল), and other noteworthy magazines.

Here, he met luminaries from the amazing talent pool of Bengal, like the artist Jamini Roy and the scientist Satyendra Nath Bose, both of whom became lifelong friends.

Singer-composer Jyotirindra Moitra (Dey’s classmate from his university days), the poets Chanchal Chattopadhyay and Samar Sen, and many other intellectuals were regular visitors.

[5] While WW2 ravaged the world, many students and teachers of Ripon College fled Calcutta, fearing air raids.

From June to September 1943, Dey also worked at Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis’s statistical lab at Presidency College.

Dey published his articles and poems and requested Jibanananda Das, Buddhadeb Basu, Sudhindranath Dutt, and others to help make it a literary success.

In 1945, Dey’s close friend from the Calcutta Group, artist Nirode Mazumdar, invited the family to Rikhia, a village in the Santhal Parganas (now in Jharkhand).

The famous ‘1/10 adda’ sessions featured the Who’s Who of scholars, litterateurs, musicians, artists, filmmakers, actors, scientists, et al. Dey sought out and visited folk artists like Balai Pal and folk art collectors like Hirendra Nath Mitra and Kamal Kumar Majumdar.

Despite several invitations from abroad, Dey never ventured out of India, but the world did arrive at his doorstep to appreciate his work and knowledge.

During WW2, many British and American soldiers stationed in Kolkata were interested in Indian art and culture and visited Dey; some became lifelong friends.

However, due to the lack of medical facilities, they were forced to return to Kolkata, where, after a prolonged illness, Bishnu Dey passed away on December 3, 1982.

Poetry: Urboshi O Artemis (1933) • Chorabaali (1937) • Purbolekh (1941) • Baishe June (1942) merged to Shaatbhai Champa (1945) • Sandwiper Chawr (1947) • Anwishta (1950) • Naam Rekhechhi Komal Gandhar (1953) • Alekhya (1958) • Tumi Shudhu Ponchishe Boisakh (1958) • Smriti Satta Bhabishyat (1963) • Shei Andhokar Chaai (1966) • Sambad Muloto Kabyo (1969) • Itihashe Tragic Ullashe (1970) • Ishabashyo Dibanisha (1970) • Rabi Korojjol Nijodeshe (1973) • Chitraroop Matto Prithibir (1975) • Uttore Thako Mouno (1977) • Aamaar Hridoye Bancho (1981) Collected Poems: Bishnu Dey-r Shreshtha Kobita (1955) • Ekush Baish (1965) • Rushoti Panchashoti (1967) • Bochhor Pnochish (1974) • Kobita Samogro Vol.

3 (1995) • Kobita Samogro (2015, omnibus) Translations: Caramel Doll (1946, with Pranati Dey, ‘Kheerer Putul’ by Abanindranath Thakur) • Samudrer Mouno (1946, ‘Le Silence de la mer’ by ‘Vercors’) • Eliot-r Kobita (1953, 1960, 1969) • Hey Bideshee Phul (1956, collection of translated poems.)

• Mao Tse-tung (1958, 18 poems) • Africa-y Asia-y Muralee Mridonge Turje (1970, mainly from modern African poems) • Selected Poems (1972, Bishnu Dey’s poems translated by the poet and others) • History’s Tragic Exultation (1973, Bishnu Dey’s poems, translated by the poet) • Tumi Rabe ki Bideshinee (1986, extended and edited version of Hey Bideshee Phul) Essays: The Art of Jamini Roy (1944, with John Irwin) • Introducing Nirode Mazumdar (1946) • Ruchi O Pragati (1946) • Sahityer Bhabishyat (1952) • The Paintings of Rabindranath Tagore (1958) • India and Modern Art (1959) • Sahityer Desh Bidesh (1962) • Satyendranath Bose: A Legend in his Lifetime (1964) • Rabindranath O Shilpsahitye Adhunikatar Samashya (1966) • In The Sun and the Rain: Essays on Aesthetics (1972) • Speech of Sri Bishnu Dey, the Award-winner (1973) • Janasadharaner Ruchi (1975) • Jamini Roy (1977) • Sekal Theke Ekal (1980) • Chharano Ei Jiban (Memoir: This Scattered Life; transcribed and published in Ananda Bazar Patrika; included in Kobita Samogro) • Collection of essays published by Dey’s Publishing in two volumes Bishnu Dey was inspired by Marxist philosophy.