Bhagalpur, Sept. 15: Bhasa Kristir Milon Mela, a cultural organisation, observed the 134th birth anniversary of famous Bengali writer Saratchandra Chattopadhyay today. However, the present generation has few takers for his works.

Today, district magistrate Narmadeshwar Lal flagged off a Sarat Rath (chariot with Sarat’s statue) from the Ganguli family residence in Manik Sarkar locality, where the writer had spent his childhood.

The organisers also paid tributes to the author at Durga Charan primary school where he used to study. “Very few know a boy, Nera, took admission at Durga Charan Balak Vidyalay in 1884 (now Durga Charan primary school). Later, the boy grew up to be one of the greatest writers ever in Bengali literature. His novels have been translated into 17 languages,” said Tapas Kumar Ghosh, a member of Bhasa Kristir Milon Mela. “Such programmes need to be organised so that the new generation comes to know about the cultural grandeur of the city,” he added.

“The present generation has no opportunity to learn Bengali or about Saratchandra. Bengali has become irrelevant for them because the language has no scope in Bihar,” said Subir Karmakar, a former student of the school.