Sukumar Ray (Bengali: ) (1887-1923) was a Bengali humorous poet, story writer and playwright. As perhaps the most famous Indian practitioner of literary nonsense, he is often compared to Lewis Carroll. His works such as the collection of poems "Aboltabol" (Bangla: "")("Gibberish"), novella "HaJaBaRaLa" (Bangla:), short story collection "Pagla Dashu" (Bangla:" ") ("Crazy Dashu") and play "Chalachittachanchari" (Bangla: "") are considered nonsense masterpieces equal in stature to Alice in Wonderland, and are regarded as some of the greatest treasures of Bangla literature. More than 80 years after his death, Ray remains one of the most popular of children's writers in both West Bengal and Bangladesh.
Sukumar Ray was the son of famous children's story writer Upendrakishore Ray (Ray Chowdhury) and the father of legendary Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray. Sukumar Ray was also known as the convenor of "Monday Club", a weekly gathering of likeminded people at the Ray residence, where the members were free to express their irreverent opinions about the world at large. A number of delightful poems were penned by Sukumar Ray in relation to the matters concerning Monday Club, primarily soliciting attendance, announcing important meetings etc.
The Prakalpana Movement of Kolkata was sparked off in the Bengali language on September 6, 1969 by Vattacharja Chandan with the assistance of Dilip Gupta and Asish Deb. They later declared the day as "Prakalpana Day," because to them "the earth stood still" on the natal day of the movement. Swatotsar, the journal of the movement was published by Vattacharja Chandan and named by Dilip Gupta. Swatotsar was dubbed to be an "anti-magazine," for, in keeping with its iconoclastic content, the magazine was printed to be read in Asian stylei.e. from back to front. In addition, Swatotsar was shaped like an axe bladean axe (according to its editors) to be used against the roots of conventionalism. Up to that time, modern Bengali literature and art had been over-burdened by colonial styles, adaptations and ideas such as Surrealism, Absurdist literature, the Beat Generation, Existentialism, Concrete poetry, free verse, blank verse, etc. Consequently, the Prakalpana Movement has as its goal the defining and promulgating of a brand new, indigenous genre of literature for the literary world of the new millennium.
