Nirad C. Chaudhuri

Pseudonym:	Balahak Nandi
Born:	November 23, 1897(1897-11-23) Kishoregunge, Mymensingh, British India (presently Bangladesh)
Died:	August 1, 1999 (aged 101) Lathbury Road, Oxfordshire, Great Britain
Occupation:	writer and commentator on culture
Nationality:	Indian
Writing period:	1930s-1999
Genres:	Literature,Culture,Politics
Debut works:	Autobiography of an Unknown Indian

Nirad C. Chaudhuri (Bangla: নীরদ চন্দ্র চৌধুরী Nirod Chôndro Choudhuri) (23 November 1897 – 1 August 1999) was a Bengali Indian writer and a commentator on culture. He was born in Kishoreganj, then in the Mymensingh district of East Bengal (formerly East Pakistan, now Bangladesh). A pseudonym (Greek: , pseudo + -onym: false name) is an artificial, fictitious name, also known as an alias, used by an individual as an alternative to a persons legal name. ... is the 327th day of the year (328th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1897 (MDCCCXCVII) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Image File history File links Imperial-India-Blue-Ensign. ... Mymensingh (Bengali: ) town is one of the Pourashovas (City) of Bangladesh situated at the centre of Mymensingh District. ... is the 213th day of the year (214th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... Oxfordshire (abbreviated Oxon, from the Latinised form Oxonia) is a county in the South East of England, bordering on Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and Warwickshire. ... For the album by the Kaiser Chiefs see Employment (album) Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ... A writer is anyone who creates a written work, although the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... In English usage, nationality is the legal relationship between a person and a country. ... A literary genre is one of the divisions of literature into genres according to particular criteria such as literary technique, tone, or content. ... This article is about the Bengali language. ... is the 327th day of the year (328th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1897 (MDCCCXCVII) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... is the 213th day of the year (214th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... The Bengali people are the ethnic community from Bengal (divided between India and Bangladesh) on the Indian subcontinent with a history dating back four millennia. ... Kishoreganj is a district in central Bangladesh. ... Mymensingh (Bengali: ) town is one of the Pourashovas (City) of Bangladesh situated at the centre of Mymensingh District. ... East Bengal was the name used during two periods in the 20th century for a territory that roughly included the modern state of Bangladesh. ... East Pakistan was a former province of Pakistan which existed between 1955 and 1971. ...

His life

He was educated in Kishorganj and Calcutta (presently Kolkata). For his FA (school leaving) course he attended the Ripon College along with famous Bengali writer Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay. Thereafter, he attended the Scottish Church College, Calcutta, where he studied history as his undergraduate major. He graduated with honors in history and topped the University of Calcutta merit list obtaining a first class first, which was a rare distinction in those days. At Scottish, he attended the seminars of renowned historian Professor Kalidas Nag. Later after graduation, he enrolled for the M.A. level course at the University of Calcutta. He did not attend all of his final exams of the M.A. program, and therefore did not earn his M.A. degree. Kishoreganj is a district in central Bangladesh. ... This article is on Calcutta/Kolkata, the city. ... Surendranath College is an undergraduate college affiliated to the University of Calcutta, in Kolkata, India. ... Bengali or Bangla (IPA: ) is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit, Pāli and Sanskrit languages. ... Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay (Bengali: Bibhutibhushon Bôndopaddhae) was a Bengali novelist and writer. ... Scottish Church College at 175 The Scottish Church College, which is located at 1 & 3 Urquhart Square, Calcutta 700006 is the oldest continuing Missionary administered liberal arts and sciences academy in India. ... The title page to The Historians History of the World. ... Formally established on the 24 January 1857, the University of Calcutta (also known as Calcutta University) (Bengali: কলকাতা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়), located in the city of Kolkata (previously Calcutta), India, is the first modern university in the Indian subcontinent. ...

He started his career as a clerk in the Accounting Department of the Indian Army. At the same time, he started contributing articles to popular magazines. His first article on Bharat Chandra (a famous Bengali poet of the 18th century) appeared in the then most prestigious English magazine Modern Review. He left the job in the Accounting Department shortly thereafter, and started a new career as a journalist and editor. He was involved with the editing of the then well-known English and Bengali magazines Modern Review, Probasi (Bengali) and Sonibarer Chithi (Bengali) A group of native Indian Muslim soldiers posing for volley firing orders. ... Modern Review was the name of a monthly magazine published in Calcutta since 1907. ...

He started two short-lived but highly esteemed Bengali magazines, Samasamayik and Notun Patrika.

In 1938, he got a job as the secretary to Sarat Chandra Bose, a famous political leader during the freedom movement in India. As a result he was able to interact with the then renowned political leadership of India -- Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and the more famous brother of Sarat Chandra Bose - Subhas Chandra Bose, the future Netaji. This resulting familiarity with the workings of the inner circle of Indian politics led him to be skeptical about its eventual progress, and he became progressively disillusioned about the ability of Indian political leadership to chart a new course for India's future. Sarat Chandra Bose (Septem, 1889 - February 20, 1950) was a barrister and Indian freedom fighter. ... Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Gujarati: , Hindi: , IAST: mohandās karamcand gāndhī, IPA: ) (October 2, 1869 – January 30, 1948), was a major political and spiritual leader of India and the Indian independence movement. ... Jawaharlal Nehru (Hindi: , IPA: , from Persian Javâher-e Laal, meaning Red Jewel) (November 14, 1889 – May 27, 1964) was a political leader of the Indian National Congress, a pivotal figure in the Indian independence movement and the first Prime Minister of Independent India. ... Subhas Chandra Bose, (Bengali: , (January 23, 1897 – presumably August 18, 1945 [although this is disputed]note), generally known as Netaji (lit. ...

He married Amiya Dhar in 1932 and had three sons. Amiya Chaudhuri was also a well known writer in her own right.

Apart from his career as a secretary, he continued to contribute articles in Bengali and English to newspapers and magazines. He was also appointed as a political commentator on the Calcutta branch of the All India Radio. In 1941, he started working for the Delhi Branch of the All India Radio. He moved to Delhi, and did not return to Calcutta again, except for two short visits. For the electronica band, see All India Radio (band). ...

Throughout his life, he followed the dicta of the great English Neoclassical poet, Alexander Pope: This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

He was a productive and prolific writer till the very end; publishing his last work at the age of 99. Casting a dyspeptic eye on Indian Independence in 1947, he wrote his autobiography, which spanned the height of the British Raj in India to its eventual dissolution. His wife Amiya Chaudhuri died in 1994 in Oxford. He died in Oxford, England two months short of his 102nd birthday in 1999. The History of India begins with the Indus Valley Civilization, which flourished in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent from 3300 to 1700 BC. This Bronze Age civilization was followed by the Iron Age Vedic period, which witnessed the rise of major kingdoms known as the Mahajanapadas. ... Cover of the first English edition of 1793 of Benjamin Franklins autobiography. ... The flag of British India British India, circa 1860 The British Raj (Raj in Hindi meaning Rule; from Sanskrit Rajya) was the British rule between 1858 and 1947 of the Indian Subcontinent, which included the present-day India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Burma (Myanmar), whereby these lands were under the colonial... Oxford is a city and local government district in Oxfordshire, England, with a population of 134,248 (2001 census). ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ...

To his last day, he remained the quintessential Victorian English country gentleman, if not by birth, then by knowledge, habit, refinement and taste. He lived by the genteel standards of a Victorian squire until he breathed his last. Queen Victoria (shown here on the morning of her accession to the Throne, 20 June 1837) gave her name to the historic era The Victorian era of the United Kingdom marked the height of the British Industrial Revolution and the apex of the British Empire. ...

His major works

His masterpiece, The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian (ISBN 0-201-15576-1), published in 1951, put him on the short list of great Indian English writers. He courted controversy in the newly independent India in the dedication of the book itself which ran thus: The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian is an autobiographical work of one of the most controversial writers of India -- Nirad C. Chaudhuri, the last imperialist. ...

The dedication, which was actually a mock-imperial rhetoric, infuriated many Indians, particularly the political and bureaucratic establishment. "The wogs took the bait and having read only dedication sent up howls of protest", commented Chaudhuri's friend, the editor, historian and novelist Khushwant Singh. Chaudhuri was hounded out of government service, deprived of his pension, blacklisted as a writer in India and forced to live a life of penury. Khushwant Singh , born on 2 February 1915 in Punjab (Hadali, now a part of Pakistan) is one of the most prominent novelists and journalists of India. ...

Chaudhuri comented later that he had been misunderstood. "The dedication was really a condemnation of the British rulers for not treating us as equals", he wrote in the Granta article. Typically, to demonstrate what exactly he had been trying to say, he drew on a parallel with ancient Rome. The book's dedication, he said "was an imitation of what Cicero said about the conduct of Verres, a Roman proconsul of Sicily who oppressed Sicilian Roman citizens, although in their desperation they cried out: "Civis Romanus Sum". This article is about the literary magazine and publisher. ... Cicero at about age 60, from an ancient marble bust Marcus Tullius Cicero (IPA:Classical Latin pronunciation: , usually pronounced in American English or in British English; January 3, 106 BC – December 7, 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, political theorist, philosopher, widely considered one of Romes greatest orators... Gaius Verres (c. ...

Although his autobiography was a brilliant attempt at a subaltern view of Indian history, the free and forthright views of Chaudhuri were not appreciated by the political establishment. Soon after publishing that book, he had to give up his job as a political commentator in All India Radio as the Government of India promulgated a law that prohibited employees from publishing memoirs. The term subaltern is used in postcolonial theory to refer to marginalized groups and the lower classes; this sense of the word was coined by Antonio Gramsci. ... For the electronica band, see All India Radio (band). ... The Government of India (Hindi: भारत सरकार [1]Bhārat Sarkār), officially referred to as the Union Government, and commonly as Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of a federal union of 28 states and 7 union territories, collectively called the Republic of...

In 1955 the British Council and the BBC jointly made arrangements to take him to England for eight weeks. He was asked to contribute lectures to the BBC. He contributed eight lectures on British life. Later these lectures are collected in the Passage to England modified and edited. E.M Forster reviewed it in The Times Literary Supplement. It is his largest selling book to date.

His 1965 masterpiece The Continent of Circe earned him the Duff Cooper Memorial Award, which was a rare honour for an Indian writer as he was the first, and still the only Indian, to be selected for the prize. In the board V.S Naipal was there to appreciate Chaudhuri's work for its insightness.In the prize giving ceremony he opined that a writer only can play the role of a Ganesha. The Continent of Circe was a 1965 book of essays written by Indian author Nirad C. Chaudhuri. ...

In 1972, he was the subject of a Merchant Ivory documentary, Adventures of a Brown Man in Search of Civilization. James Ivory (left) and Ismail Merchant (right) in New York City in 1974. ... Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to document reality. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

In 1992, he was honoured by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom with the title of Commander of Order of the British Empire (CBE). Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor; born 21 April 1926) is Queen of sixteen sovereign states, holding each crown and title equally. ... The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions; in decreasing order of seniority, these are Knight Grand Cross or Dame Grand Cross (GBE) Knight Commander...

He published a sequel to his autobiography, entitled Thy Hand, Great Anarch!, in 1988. Thy Hand, Great Anarch! is a 1987 autobiographical sequel to Indian essayist Nirad C. Chaudhuris The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian. ...

His idiosyncrasy and discernment

• He was a connoisseur of wines
• He liked Gregorian chants and listened to it regularly.In his last rites also it was played upon his will
• He was well versed in the different languages like Sanskrit,Hindi,Bengali;Greek,Latin,English French,German.Thus he was able to taste Meditations of Marcus Aurelius and the The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri, in the original Latin and Italian and sought solace from them when faced with the ravages of modern life.
• The English language used by him was prolix, prosaic, Victorian, riddled with French, Latin, Italian and German phrases without any translations. His work was intended for a highly sophisticated and culturally literate readership familiar with the stylistic nuances of those languages..
• He used a very highly Sanskritized and stylistic version of Bengali language or the Shadhubhasha (সাধুভাষা) for his prose works in that language. He had little respect for the proletarian language {Choltibhasha (চলতিভাষা ) or Cholitobhasha (চলিতভাষা)} which he regarded as being plebeian in taste and scope. His language was largely free from Arabic, Urdu and Persian words and expressions.
• Although he was highly critical of the post-independence Congress party establishment, he was more sympathetic to the right wing Hindu nationalist movement in India. He refused to criticise the destruction of Babri structure - "I say the Muslims do not have the slightest right to complain the desecration of one mosque. From 1000 AD every Hindu temple from Kathiawar to Bihar, from the Himalayas to Vindhyas had been sacked and defiled."
• His views on Hindutva, like those of other scholars like V.S. Naipaul and Koenraad Elst although widely disseminated in the Indian media were not widely appreciated. To this day he remains a controversial figure.
• He was also deeply distressed by what he saw as the deep hypocrisy in Bengali social life and in particular those that resulted from class and caste distinctions. His historical research revealed to him that rigid Victorian style morality of middle class Bengali women was a socially enforced construct, that had less to do with religion, choice and judgment, but more to do with upbringing, social acceptance and intergenerational transference of values. Being a scholar in the comparative-historical mode, he could see very clearly that the excessive suppression of sexuality in modern India was actually counterproductive and counterintuitive. In this, it could be argued that he was a student of sociology and was following the footsteps of Max Weber, and to a certain extent, the psychology of Sigmund Freud. Yet in another way, he was also a feminist although he rejected dogmatic feminism quite early in his scholarly career.
• His second son Kirti Narayan Chaudhuri is an acclaimed historian at the University of London.

A glass of red wine This article is about the alcoholic beverage. ... Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song of the Roman Catholic Church. ... Marcus Aurelius wrote Meditations in Greek while positioned at Aquincum on campaign in Pannonia in modern-day Hungary This article is about the writings by Marcus Aurelius. ... Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus (April 26, 121[1] – March 17, 180) was Roman Emperor from 161 to his death. ... The Divine Comedy (Italian: , later christened Divina by Giovanni Boccaccio), written by Dante Alighieri between 1308 and his death in 1321, is widely considered the central epic poem of Italian literature, and is seen as one of the greatest works of world literature. ... Dante in a fresco series of famous men by Andrea del Castagno, ca. ... Nuance is a dance music group fronted by vocalist Vikki Love. ... The Sanskrit language ( , for short ) is a classical language of India, a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism, and one of the 23 official languages of India. ... Bengali or Bangla (IPA: ) is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit, Pāli and Sanskrit languages. ... The proletariat (from Latin proles, offspring) is a term used to identify a lower social class; a member of such a class is called a proletarian. ... In Ancient Rome, the plebs was the general body of Roman citizens, distinct from the privileged class of the patricians. ... Arabic can mean: From or related to Arabia From or related to the Arabs The Arabic language; see also Arabic grammar The Arabic alphabet, used for expressing the languages of Arabic, Persian, Malay ( Jawi), Kurdish, Panjabi, Pashto, Sindhi and Urdu, among others. ... Urdu ( , , trans. ... “Farsi” redirects here. ... For Veer Savarkars book Hindutva, see Hindutva. ... Sir V.S. Naipaul Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul (born August 17, 1932), better known as V. S. Naipaul, is a British novelist of Hindu heritage and East Indian ethnicity from Chaguanas, Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, which was then a British colony. ... Koenraad Elst is a Belgian orientalist, writer and researcher[1]. He has authored fifteen books on topics related to Hinduism, Indian history, and Indian politics. ... Social class refers to the hierarchical distinctions between individuals or groups in societies or cultures. ... Caste systems are traditional, hereditary systems of social restriction and social stratification, enforced by law or common practice, based on endogamy, occupation, economic status, race, ethnicity, etc. ... Choice consists of the mental process of thinking involved with the process of judging the merits of multiple options and selecting one of them for action. ... A judgment or judgement (see spelling note below), in a legal context, is synonymous with the formal decision made by a court following a lawsuit. ... The comparative method (in linguistics) is a method used to detect genetic relationships between languages and to establish a consistent relationship hypothesis by reconstructing: the common ancestor of the languages in question, a plausible sequence of regular changes by which the historically known languages can be derived from that common... This article is about human sexual perceptions. ... Sociology (from Latin: socius, companion; and the suffix -ology, the study of, from Greek λόγος, lógos, knowledge) is an academic and applied discipline that studies society and human social interaction. ... For the politician, see Max Weber (politician). ... Sigmund Freud (IPA: ), born Sigismund Schlomo Freud (May 6, 1856 – September 23, 1939), was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist who founded the psychoanalytic school of psychology. ... Feminists redirects here. ... A historian is an individual who studies history and who writes on history. ... The University of London is a university based primarily in London. ...

Books

He wrote the following books in English:

• The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian (1951)
• A Passage to England (1959)
• The Continent of Circe (1965)
• The Intellectual in India (1967)
• To Live or Not to Live (1971)
• Scholar Extraordinary, The Life of Professor the Right Honourable Friedrich Max Muller, P.C. (1974)
• Culture in the Vanity Bag (1976)
• Clive of India (1975)
• Hinduism: A Religion to Live by (1979)
• Thy Hand, Great Anarch! (1987)
• Three Horsemen of the New Apocalypse (1997)
• The East is East and West is West (Collection of pre-published essays)
• From the Archives of a Centenarian (Collection of pre-published essays)
• Why I Mourn for England(Collection of pre-published essays)

He wrote the following valuable books in Bengali also

• Bangali Jibane Ramani (Role of Woman in Bengali Life)
• Atmaghati Bangali (Suicidal Bengalee)
• Atmaghati Rabindranath (Suicidal Rabindranath)
• Amar Debottar Sampatti (My Bequeathed Property)
• Nirbachita Prabandha (Selected Essays)
• Aji Hote Satabarsha Age (Before a Hundred Years) (A Hundred years ago)

External links

• Naras page
• Pictures at age 93
• From Banglapedia
• Merchant Ivory documentary