Rajanikanta Sen

• Name — Rajanikanta Sen • Native Name — রজনীকান্ত সেন • Born — 26 July 1865 • Birthplace — Belkuchi, Pabna, Bengal Presidency, British Raj (now Sirajganj, Bangladesh) • Died — 13 September 1910 • Place of death — Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British Raj (now Kolkata, West Bengal, India) • Occupation — * Lawyer • lyricist • composer • singer • Movement — Bengal Renaissance • Notable Works — Kantageeti, Bani, Kalyani, Amrita

• Illustration — Sri Guruprasad Sen, father of Rajanikanta Sen • Illustration — Monomohini Debi, mother of Rajanikanta Sen • Illustration — Poet Rajanikanta Sen • Illustration — Hiranmoyee Debi, wife of Rajanikanta Sen • Illustration — Shantilata Roy, daughter of Rajanikanta Sen • Illustration — House of poet Rajanikanta Sen, 1909, Rajshahi Rajanikanta was born in a Vaidya family in the Bhanga Bari village, Belkuchi, Sirajganj, Bangladesh (then greater Pabna District, Bengal Province, British India). He was the third child of Guruprasad Sen and Manomohini Debi. Rajanikanta's sister Ambuja Sundari Dasgupta was a renowned poet too. Originally, his ancestors hailed from Sahadevpur village under Tangail Subdivision of Mymensingh District on right side of Brahmaputra in Bangladesh. When Rajanikanta's great grand father Jogiram died, his pregnant wife Karunamoyee came to his Brother's residence at Bhangabari village and gave birth to Golaknath, grand father of Rajanikanta. Though Golaknath was deprived of higher education due to financial constraints, he imparted best of education to his two sons, Govindanath and Guruprasad. Govindanath practiced law in the court of Rajshahi in Bangladesh. Guruprasad, father of Rajanikanta, passed LLB from Dacca university and became a sub-judge. He served as sub-judge in many parts of Bengal, such as Rangpur, Dinajpur, Bhagalpur, Munger, Kalna, and Katwa, and finally came to Krishnanagar and retired.Guruprasad was posted in Katwa when Rajanikanta was born. Rajanikanta started his schooling at Boalia Zilla School (now Rajshahi Collegiate School). He learned Sanskrit from Rajnath Tarkaratna, a neighbour in his village Bhangakuthi during school vacations. He got Gopal Chandra Lahiri as his academic mentor. In 1882 he passed Entrance Examination from Coochbihar Jenkins School. Other claims such as he was from Koochbihar are of no substance. Then he came to Calcutta and passed FA in 1885 with second division. He completed BA degree in 1889 and BL degree in 1891 from Kolkata City College. He too then started practicing law in Rajshahi where Govindanath was practicing. Rajanikanta earned reputation quickly. However, his passion lay in cultural activities like music, literature, acting in plays etc. In this endeavor he received support from his friends such as historian Akshay Kumar Maitreya, and also from his wife. He worked as a Munsif for some days in Natore and Naogaon.

Rajanikanta's father Guruprasad was inclined to poetry and music, and was a composer of Vaishnab and Shiva-Durga songs (Padabali). Guruprasad collected age old Vaishnava lyrics in Brajabuli dialect from Katwa-Kalna area and compiled them into a book titled Padachintamanimala. His mother Manomohini Devi had interest in Bengali literature. She used to discuss it with young Rajanikanta. All these influenced his future compositions a lot. Sen got interested in music from Tarakeshwar Chakrabarty, his friend in Bhangabari. He was fluent in writing poems in Bengali and Sanskrit from childhood. He started composing music for his poems and singing those along with playing musical instruments later. Rajanikanta's poems were published in various local magazines such as Utsaha, Ashalata etc. He used to compose songs for inaugural and closing ceremonies for various assemblies in his college days even in very short notice. One such song is stated below, which Rajanikanta composed within a very short period of one hour for such an assembly in Rajshahi library: • তব, চরণ নিম্নে, উৎসবময়ী শ্যাম-ধরনী সরসা; উর্দ্ধে চাহ অগণিত-মনি-রঞ্জিত নভো-নীলাঞ্চলা সৌম্য-মধুর-দিব্যাঙ্গনা শান্ত-কুশল-দরশা ৷ — |:Beneath your feet lies the prosperous and bountiful earth:Behold the blue sky engraved with countless gems above:She is like a sweet and graceful angel

• Illustration — Rajanikanta's Letter To Sharat Kumar Ray describing his interest in music After the voluntary retirement of his father the family of Rajanikanta became financially dependent on Guruprasad's elder brother's sons Barada Gobinda and Kali Kumar. Both of them died suddenly in quick succession in 1878. Rajani's younger brother Janakikanta had also just died of hydrophobia. Suddenly the prosperous family plunged into a financial crisis. Rajanikanta had to study and practice law to support the family. However, he expressed his dislikes towards the profession in a letter written to Sri Sarat Kumar Ray. He married Hiranmayee Devi in 1883, who used to discuss with and encouraged Rajanikanta regarding his poetry and sometimes suggested themes for the poems. They had four sons – Shachindra, Gnanendra, Bhupendra, Kshitindra; and two daughters - Shatadalbasini and Shantibala. Bhupendra died at a young age. Rajani's firm belief in God is reflected in the following song composed on the next day: • তোমারি দেওয়া প্রাণে তোমারি দেওয়া দুখ, তোমারি দেওয়া বুকে, তোমারি অনুভব ৷ তোমারি দুনয়নে তোমারি শোক-বারি, তোমারি ব্যাকুলতা তোমারি হা হা রব ৷ — |:You (God) gifted life but filled it with sorrow: You filled our hearts with faith in you:You gave us eyes and filled them with tears:You make me perplexed so I cry helplessly

• Indian National Movement, the Swadeshi movement in particular, greatly influenced contemporary literature. Eminent poets including Rabindranath Tagore, Dwijendralal Roy, Debabrata Basu, Satyendranath Dutta, Atul Prasad Sen and Rajanikanta's contribution came through their patriotic poems and songs, and widely acknowledged with reverence. • Rajanikanta was very close to Jaladhar Sen. One of such many incidences was cited by Jaladhar Sen himself: The song was "মায়ের দেওয়া মোটা কাপড় মাথায় তুলে নে রে ভাই" (Mayer deoa mota kapor mathay tule ne re bhai).

• Illustration — Rajanikanta Sen, on 30 August 1910 at Cottage No 12, Medical College • Illustration — Rajanikanta Sen in Medical College In 1909, Rajanikanta started suffering from throat problems. On 10 September, he was forced to move to Calcutta along with some family members. A British doctor examined him and diagnosed it as Larynx cancer. He consulted various doctors in Calcutta but his condition did not improve. As a last resort, he spent a couple of months in Varanasi with the hope of divine intervention. He had to sell off copyrights of his published books Vani and Kalyani to arrange for the trip. He had to return to Calcutta as his condition had worsened much. He underwent Tracheotomy operation by Captain Denham White on 10 February 1910 in Calcutta Medical College. He survived the operation but lost his voice forever. He spent the remaining days of his life in the cottage ward of the hospital (Cottage no. 12). It is noteworthy to mention that Hemendranath Bakshi and Bijitendra Nath Basu, students of 4th year, took personal initiative to attend and impart all medical assistance to the poet till his last breath. Dr. Mathura Mohan Bhattacharya, and Dr. Girish Chandra Maitra was in charge of his treatment. Rajanikanta used to write in his diary quite regularly during his stay in the hospital. He also started writing an autobiography which was written only up to the first chapter. Some poetry lovers and some of the students of the Calcutta Medical College tended after him, Maharaja Manindra Chandra Nandi and Sharat Kumar Ray, son of Pramathanath Ray, Zamindar of Dighapatiya, Natore, helped him financially. On 11 June 1910 Rabindranath Tagore visited the hospital to meet Sen. Sen's son Kshitindranath and daughter Shantibala sung a song composed by him and he accompanied by playing harmonium. This is reflected in the following song composed on the day Rabindranath met him: • আমায় সকল রকমে কাঙ্গাল করেছে, গর্ব করিতে চূর, তাই যশ ও অর্থ, মান ও স্বাস্থ্য, সকলি করেছে দূর ৷ ঐ গুলো সব মায়াময় রূপে, ফেলেছিল মোরে অহমিকা-কূপে, তাই সব বাধা সরায়ে দয়াল করেছে দীন আতুর; —:I am impoverished by all means, my pride shattered:I am devoid of fame, riches and my complete well being.:I was disillusioned and had descended into the dungeon of pride:His kindness has lifted the obstacles and humbled me. As gratitude towards Tagore's for visit in the hospital, Rajanikanta wrote a letter and another poem, "এই মুক্ত প্রাণের দৃপ্ত বাসনা তৃপ্ত করিবে কে ", and sent to Bolpur. Tagore wrote a letter to him on 30 July. In this, he appreciated Sen for his literary talent. During this period, he also composed a few Agamani-Vijaya songs. He died on 13 September 1910 in Kolkata. • Illustration — Kolkata Medical college hospital cottage ward, where poet Rajanikanta Sen died.