The meticulous weaving of their poetry rendered me breathless and left me in wonderment at the powerful hold that poetry has over our minds.
Bengali Poets Who Turned The Tide of A Rich Literary Tradition

The meticulous weaving of their poetry rendered me breathless and left me in wonderment at the powerful hold that poetry has over our minds.
It began with Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury who pioneered the art of producing children’s literature. His son, Sukumar Ray, then chose to carry forward his father’s legacy with his innovative writing style that flabbergasted children. Then came his son, Satyajit Ray, with a creative mind that appealed to children as well as adults and gave a new direction to The Ray Legacy.
One revival came in the form of radio programmes that carried forward the oral tradition of storytelling. They created audio stories out of pre-written scripts and had them performed on radio by voiceover artists. The narrative changed voices, included sound effects and added creative humour. In short, radio programmes breathe life into the words that were lying frozen in the pages of old books.
When our hearts break, the first thing we wish to do is to forget all the sweet memories of our beloved. The best memories become the most painful ones. And on our lonely nights, the memories come back to remind us of the stark contrast between our past and present. Yet, our heart is unable to forget them as it doesn’t come with a ‘delete’ button.
Poetry has a way of touching the deepest corner of our hearts and talking directly to our souls. The trail of the essence that it leaves in our minds is what makes us relate poetry to the most beautiful art of the Universe. It’s like painting on the canvas of the soul with words from Heaven.
For a long time, Tagore wasn’t allowed to leave the premises of his house. But he wanted to see the outside world. When someone visited their house, young Tagore asked them to narrate stories of the world outside. The more he heard, the more his desire rose. Yet, there was no escape.
No age had ever been able to produce such a great talent. A common belief goes that one cannot complete reading all his literary works in one life - such is the vastness of his genius. No doubt, he is almost worshipped by the Bengalis. Tagore wrote short stories, poems, novels, dramas and songs.