The 142nd death anniversary of Michael Madhusudan Dutt, one of the greatest poets in Bangla literature today. Many poets, litterateur and critics term him father of Bangla sonnet and also a pioneer of modern Bangla drama.

Michael Madhusudan Dutt was a popular 19th century Bengali poet and dramatist. He was born in Sagordari, on the bank of Kopotaksho River, a village in Keshobpur upozila, Jessore District, East Bengal (now in Bangladesh) on January 25, 1824.

His father was Rajnarayan Dutt, an eminent lawyer, and his mother was Jahnabi Devi. He was a pioneer of Bengali drama. His famous work Meghnad Bodh Kavya, is a tragic epic. It consists of nine cantos and is quite exceptional in Bengali literature both in terms of style and content. He also wrote poems about the sorrows and afflictions of love as spoken by women.

From an early age, Madhusudan desired to be an Englishman in form and manner. Born to a Hindu landed gentry family, he converted to Christianity to the ire of his family and adopted the first name, Michael. However, he was to regret his desire for England and the Occident in later life when he talked ardently of his homeland as is seen in his poems and sonnets from this period.

In His Own Words

“Where man in all his truest glory lives,
And nature`s face is exquisitely sweet;
For those fair climes I heave impatient sigh,
There let me live and there let me die.”

Madhusudan embraced Christianity at the church of Fort William in spite of the objections of his parents and relatives on February 9, 1843. Later, he escaped to Madras to escape persecution. He describes the day as:

“Long sunk in superstition`s night,
By Sin and Satan driven,
I saw not, cared not for the light
That leads the blind to Heaven.
But now, at length thy grace, O Lord!
Birds all around me shine;
I drink thy sweet, thy precious word,
I kneel before thy shrine!”

On the eve of his departure to England:

“Forget me not, O Mother,
Should I fail to return
To thy hallowed bosom.
Make not the lotus of thy memory
Void of its nectar Madhu.”

Madhusudan in his early years was taught at home by his mother, Jahnabi Devi, and later he joined Sagardari Primary School. At the age of 7 he went to Khidirpur School, Kolkata. In 1843 he got admitted to Kolkata’s famous Hindu College. Here, amongst other subjects, he also studied Bengali, Sanskrit and Persian.

He was very imaginative from his boyhood. Early exposure to English education and European literature at home and in Kolkata made him desire to emulate the proverbially stiff upper-lip Englishman in taste, manners and intellect. One of the early impressions were that of his teacher, Capt. D.L.Richardson at Hindu College. In this respect, he was an early Macaulayite without even knowing it.

He dreamt of achieving great fame the moment he landed abroad. His adolescence, coupled with the spirit of intellectual enquiry 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 enquiry and appreciation of greater intellectual sophistry to appreciate his myriad talents.

He espoused the view that free thinking and post Enlightenment West would be more receptive to his intellectual acumen and creative genius. In this, perhaps he forgot the colour of his skin, as he was to realize later on in life, much to his consternation and disgust. He composed his early works—poetry and drama—almost entirely in English. Plays like Sormistha, Ratnavali and translations like Neel Durpan and poems like Captive Ladie which was written on the mother of his close friend Sri Bhudev Mukhopadhyay, indicate a high level of intellectual sophistication.

Madhusudan Dutt 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 (blank verse).

Michael’s exceptionally colorful personality and his unconventional, dramatic and in many ways tragic life have added to the magnetism and glamour of his name. Generous in friendship, romantic and passionate by temperament, he was also fond of the good life; he was financially irresponsible, and an incorrigible spendthrift. He experimented not only in the field of writing, but also in his personal life.

The poet embraced the Christian faith in 1843. Dutt attended Bishops College after moving to England from 1844 to the year 1847, but his father cut off the funding for his education, and he moved to Madras, where he earned a living by being a teacher and a journalist. He married Rebecca McTavish in 1848, and had four children with her, but in 1856 he left her and his children behind, moving to Calcutta with Amelia Sophia, with whom he had a child in 1959. Here, for the next three years, Dutt wrote a collection of works, including his first Bengali poem and a heroic epistles collection. He also wrote The Slaying of Meghnanada during this time, in 1861.

He was the first to write Bengali plays in the English style, segregating the play into acts and scenes. He was also the pioneer of the first satirical plays in Bengali – "Buro Salik er Ghare Row" and "Ekei Ki Bole Sovyota (Is this what we call Civilisation?".

Although Dutt was a literateur par excellence, he was an alcoholic from his youth and his addiction grew as he aged. It was the source and cause of many of his hardships and miseries-both financial and mental. He was supported in his times of financial crisis by his friends and Sri Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar; the latter sent him monthly allowances regularly on the condition that Dutt should concentrate all his efforts in creating great specimens of Bengali poetry. Dutt was, however, never able to master his addiction and it led to his untimely death.

Dutt decided to move back to England in 1862, where he continued to write. His lavish lifestyle, which included drinking, added to his financial difficulties and in 1867 he returned to Calcutta. Becoming a member of the Calcutta Bar did not solve his financial difficulties and his health also began to fail. Sadly he died in June 29 , 1873, and was given a Christian burial service.

Michael Madhusudan Dutta was an important figure of the Bengali Renaissance who helped place Bengali literature on the throne it holds at present. He was hailed as the greatest poet of the Bengali language until the advent of Rabindranath Tagore. Even now, he is one of the great poets of the Bengali language.