The Crackerjack Of Literature

After being bored of the life of bureaucracy, J.P. Das turned to writing and established himself as one of the finest Odia writers. His literary oeuvre is the envy of many of his contemporaries.

Jagannath Prasad Das; Source: Wikipedia

“If contemporary Odia poetry has acquired a new dimension and sophistication in terms of vision, technical integrity and innovative use of the creative medium, it was because of J.P. Das’s contribution.” - KAVYA BHARTI

Born on 26 April 1936, in the Puri District of Odisha, Jagannath Prasad Das was a man with innumerable talents. His father, Sridhar Das was an eminent litterateur and a teacher at Banpur High School. Das started his schooling career in a local vernacular school. Once he completed his matriculation exam from the Christ Collegiate School in 1951, went on to get his Bachelor’s degree from the infamous Ravenshaw College in Cuttack in 1955. He had always been this top-notch student who scored extremely well in all his exams. Life happened when he went on to complete his Master’s degree in Political Science from Allahabad in 1957, where he topped in the list.

But he was equally passionate about writing from a very young age. His first poem was published in the then famous Odia Literary Journal named Kumkum, when he was just 13 years old. He was a regular writer in many Odia Literary Journals and was also quite famous among the then literary circles. In 1951, he also introduced one of his famous collection of poems called Stabaka. Though he started writing when he was quite young, all his poems still hold a lot of importance in Odia literature.

Not only did Das play with the poetic devices in his life, he was also an IAS Officer. He joined the Indian Administrative Service in the year 1958 and was first posted as Subdivisional Officer at Rourkela. Thereafter, he worked in many Governmental Departments including the Secretary of Department of Works and Transport, Industries and Finance. Jagannath then went on to work with Central Government in 1973 in Commerce and Finance Ministries.

The crackerjack was also awarded with many prestigious fellowships like Homi Bhabha Fellow for his Pata Paintings of Odisha in 1979, Emeritus Fellow of the Ministry of Culture by GOI in 1994 and K.K. Birla Foundation Fellowship in Comparative Literature in 1996.

When we say that J.P. Das was a man with ten hands, it would be unbelievable. But his achievements prove that even with two hands, he was someone who had the talent of more than ten people combined together.

“All that I want to say, let me say in poetry.”, says J.P. Das. For Das, poetry is his Mashooqa. Several poem collections including Stabaka and Prathama Purusha have received a lot of popularity not only in India, but worldwide.

Das wrote his first short story in the year 1980, and it immediately grabbed the attraction of the readers, owing to his beautiful writing style and artistic language. He was also honoured with the prestigious Sarala Award for his short story collection. Some of his short stories have also been adapted as television films.

After trying his hands in poetry and short stories, Das also wrote some famous plays including Suryasta Purbaru. One of the famous actor, Om Puri played the role of Deepankar in the Hindi Version of this play. Since then, this play gained huge popularity among the masses and has been translated into many languages. Another play, Saba Sesha Loka is also a very famous play and some of the eminent actors such as Ravi Baswani, Thespian Pankaj Kapoor. Jagannath has contributed immensely in the development of drama in the country, which indeed makes him the 'Indian Shakespeare'.

Jagannath has written only one novel named Desha Kala Patra, which was chosen for translation in all Indian Languages by National Book Trust.

Das has won the heart of adults all over India and worldwide, but the kids were also no resistant to his charms. He wrote some famous children’s verses in 1991 which includes Alimalika, Alukuchi – Malukuchi, Anabana and Aanamaana.

“Not only pens but also paintbrushes.” He held his first exhibition in the year 1971 at Bhubaneswar, wherein sixteen of his paintings were on display. Though he did not receive any formal training in art, the freshness and uniqueness of his aesthetics stole the hearts of the audience.

Das's life is so phenomenal that an entire book would fall short. And this is just a sneak peek of his life. A man who was not only a writer or an author but a person who bloomed with time and gave Odisha many memorable literary works to remember for ages to come.