I consider myself fortunate in staying close to such a living legend who has created waves in the literary world. He is none other than Sri Arup Kumar Dutta, the internationally acclaimed writer more popularly known as the Blyton of India, who has given the young as well as the old a literary feast for the last three decades with his exhilarating and flamboyant literary creations like The Unicornis, Hammer Blow, The Kaziranga Trail, The Blind Witness and so on.
Born in 1946 at Jorhat, he completed Senior Cambridge from Lawrence School, Sanawar, and completed his BA (English honours) as well as MA from Delhi University. Though spent most of the early phase of his life outside Assam, he returned to his birthplace because of his attachment and desire to become a writer. Before becoming a full-time professional writer in English for both children and adults, he served as a professor in English for many years at JB College, Jorhat.
The Kaziranga Trail being his first published work in 1978. His novels for the juvenile have proved best sellers and have been translated into many foreign languages such as German, Russian, Japanese, Czech, Hungarian, Italian etc. He won the prestigious Shankar’s Award in 1979 (instituted to mark the International Year of the child) and a Journalist Welfare Foundation Award in 1982 which took him to Europe and UK. Three of his novels have been made into feature films — The Kaziranga Trail into Rhino, The Blind Witness into Netrahin Sakshi and Revenge into Pratishodh. His book The Lure of Zangrila was given the NCERT most outstanding book award in English in 1998. Arup Dutta’s latest book The Brahmaputra, published by the National Book Trust of India, was released in New Delhi on 13th September, 2001 by Sri Atal Behari Vajpayee, Prime Minister of India and has received commendable reviews.
Author of 7 non-fiction books for adults and 15 novels for the young. He is the first author to write about Sankardeva and Lachit Barphukan in 1970. During his conversation with me, he lamented that Shivaji, the great Maratha warrior is recognised as a national icon but Lachit Barphukan, the great Ahom general who defeated the Mughals not less than three times is still unknown to the people outside Assam. His mission is therefore to expose and acquaint our culture and literature to the people outside Assam and he has been successfully doing so through his powerful and captivating writings.
Arup Dutta’s immortal creation Cha Garam – The Tea Story has created a sensation by dint of his wonderful capacity for narration, devoid of any digression or overlapping of the basic foundation of the story. The story is an endeavour to present to the lay-readers a glimpse into the fascinating history of this beverage. The book traces the genesis of tea among aboriginal tribes, its evolution in China and its spread around the globe. It relates the equally compelling story of how British ingenuity and enterprise succeeded in establishing the Indian tea industry. While briefly touching upon the growing, manufacturing and marketing of tea, the book also attempts to acquaint the readers with the gradual changes in tea craft successfully.
A freelance columnist and journalist, his short-stories and articles have appeared in many of India’s leading journals and newspapers. The Kaziranga Trail and The Blind Witness have been brought out in Japanese Braille for blind readers. An astute short-story writer with encyclopaedic knowledge, his art of telling his story is simple. He manages to draw the immediate attention of his readers by the simplicity of his, making even a serious subject of study truly engaging. In his engrossing and thought-provoking book The Brahmaputra he has attempted to sketch a profile of this fascinating river and has at the same time enlightened the readers with the society which evolved on it banks and the heights of civilisation it attained. Starting with the origin of the river from mythical times, The Brahmaputra which has been a silent observer of the metamorphosis and transformation of Assam and the north-eastern region over the centuries, from a once inaccessible area to its present state. The writer very vividly traces in his book the Mughal invasion of Assam, the coming of the British, the opening of tea gardens, the Saraighat Bridge and even the hydro-electric potentiality of the river Brahmaputra.
Arup Dutta’s story-telling skills is very well reflected in his memorable story The Kaziranga Trail. Here the entire plot revolves around three alert teenage village boys Dhanai, Bubul and Jonti, along with their young elephant Makhoni and their thrilling adventures and encounters with the rhino poachers in the Kaziranga sanctuary, finally nabbing them with the help of the district forest officer. The author in this story exhibits complete mastery and dexterity by keeping his inquisitive readers spellbound.
A man of pleasant demeanour and intellectual vigour, he was invited as a resource person in a four day workshop at Kolkata last year by UNICEF. On being asked about his source of inspiration to write, he said "Inspiration comes from within and my family members are my source of inspiration." Arup Dutta’s The Blind Witness is a heart-rending story of a blind boy Ramu and the thoughtless remarks and gushingly sympathetic attitudes of the people who consider this handicap to be a curse. Here the author tries to convey a strong message that blindness is not a curse and such attitudes and remarks tend to sap the self-confidence of such physically handicapped persons. The author in his story has tellingly conveyed his message that an individual, however handicapped, had the capacity to overcome his shortcomings, given the will and courage, just as the blind Ramu, being the only ‘witness’ to a cold-blooded murder with his sharp senses helps the police to nab a gang of dreaded smugglers.
Regarding the present upcoming writers, Dutta said that though there are not too many writers in English, in regional language young talents have done a tremendous job as short-story writers as well as poets. In a note of advice he said that one should know himself and how much one is capable of. True talent can never be hidden. According to him an appetite for books is a sine qua non for every writer. His only mission is to expose, acquaint and familiarise our literature, culture and tradition to the outside world. Two of Dutta’s books have been included in the Literature Of The World series published by the Asahi Shimbun, along with those of Satyajit Ray and Ruskin Bond.
An erudite and sublime writer and a visionary thinker, Arup Dutta is a silent conqueror of the hearts of his readers. He is truly a gift to the younger generation and his enthralling writings will continue to regale them.
