Not long ago, and for ages, books on Shyama Prasad Mukherjee gathered dust on College Street’s rows and shelves. But now, as Bengal adjusts to a new political reality, readers are turning to its past for context.
Booksellers across College Street told My Kolkata that more than seven decades after his death, enquiries about Mukherjee have risen, with titles on the former educationist, politician and Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder finding new readers.
“We barely sold these books a decade ago. Now people specifically come asking for them,” said Mainak Saha of Allied Books Distributors on College Street.
According to Saha, following the oath ceremony of the new government in Bengal, many readers have shown renewed interest in understanding the life and ideas of the man.
“Earlier, these books barely sold. We might sell one copy in a year or even a year and a half. Now people want to learn about him, and sales have picked up. We sell at least 15 copies a day,” he added.
Echoing similar sentiments, book seller Subhas Chandra Dey, Dey’s Publishing, said demand for books on Mukherjee has increased at his store, prompting him to place more orders.
“Since the new government came to power, sales of books on Mukherjee have risen,” he said.
He also pointed to a growing demand from schools, where books on Mukherjee are being distributed as prizes to students.
Not only booksellers, but buyers too are noticing the growing interest in books on Mukherjee, describing the revival of interest as a “need of the hour.”
Highlighting Mukherjee’s contribution to the cultural and academic landscape of Bengal, Amitabh Bandyopadhyay of Ramsaday College, pointed to his role in bringing Rabindranath Tagore to deliver a convocation speech at the University of Calcutta.
“One of the biggest contributions of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee was ensuring that Rabindranath Tagore delivered his famous convocation speech in Bengali at the University of Calcutta. It was a landmark moment in the university’s history.”
Bandyopadhyay added that to truly understand Mukherjee’s legacy, readers must revisit books that have remained out of circulation for nearly five decades.
“Mukherjee is not well known today, particularly among the youth. Beyond politics, he remains a Bengal icon whose contributions must reach society,” he added.
Amit Goswami, a businessman with a keen interest in books and history, said, “West Bengal might not have remained a part of India if it were not for him.”
Goswami argued that despite Mukherjee’s contribution to Bengal’s history, many people remain unfamiliar with his life and work.
“We were never taught much about him, so how were we supposed to know?”
“Aajke janar din esche, manush januk (The time has come to learn about him. People should know),” he asserted.
Pradip Dutta, another bookseller at College Street, pointed to a growing interest in older and out-of-print works on Mukherjee. One such title is Shyama Prasader Nirbachita Rachana, which was once published by Bengal Publishers.
“We were not aware of the book at first. It was only after a reader enquired about it that we discovered it had been published by Bengal Publishers. If any publisher decides to reprint it, we would certainly like to stock it,” he said.
Joydeep Chakraborty, a professor at Nagar College in Murshidabad, has spent 25 years teaching physics and statistics.
His interest in history, he said, prompted him to read about Mukherjee, a towering figure whose legacy, he believes, has remained underexplored.
“The new government has said that we should observe Shyama Prasad Mukherjee’s birth and death anniversaries. But the problem is that I do not know enough about him.”
As secretary of his college’s cultural committee, Chakraborty said he felt the need to better understand Mukherjee before speaking about him at institutional events.
“I bought this book to understand him better and learn about aspects of his life that I am unaware of,” he added.
According to seller Deb Kumar Bhattacharya of Mitra & Ghosh Publishers, two books on Shyama Prasad Mukherjee — Bharat Keshari Yugpurush Shyamaprasad by Tathagata Roy and Shyamaprasad er Diary O Mrityu Prasanga by Umaprasad Mukhopadhyay — have steady sales throughout the year.
However, since the formation of the new government in West Bengal, demand for both titles has risen.
In the state budget, the West Bengal government announced that July 6, the birth anniversary of Mukherjee, will be observed as a state holiday.