Balai Chand Mukhopadhyay


Balai Chand Mukhopadhyay was an Indian Bengali-language novelist, short story writer, playwright, poet, and physician who wrote under the pen name of Banaphul. He was a recipient of the civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan.

Life

Mukhopadhyay was born in Manihari village of Purnia district, Bihar on 19 July 1899. His father, Satyacharan Mukhopadhyay, was a doctor, and his mother was Mrinalini Devi. He originally took the pen name Banaphul to hide his literary activities from a disapproving teacher. He attended Hazaribag College and was later admitted in the Calcutta Medical College. He was assigned to Patna Medical College and Hospital after completing his medical degree, and later practised at Azimganj Hospital and worked as a pathologist at Bhagalpur. He moved to Lake Town, Calcutta, in 1968, and died there on 9 February 1979.

Literary works

He is most noted for his short vignettes, often just half-page long, but his body of work spanned sixty-five years and included "thousands of poems, 586 short stories, 60 novels, 5 dramas, a number of one-act plays, an autobiography called Paschatpat, and numerous essays."

Novels

On the 100th anniversary of his birth, the Government of India issued a postage stamp featuring his image.