Medini Choudhury

Guwahati, Feb. 13: Medini Mohan Choudhury, one of Assam’s acclaimed literary figures, lost his two-month-long battle with ailments at his Chandmari residence here at 10.20 am today.

He was 75.

Conferred the Sahitya Akademi award in 1999 for his novel Bipanna Samay, a treatise on the emergence of a middle class in Assam between the 19th and the 20th centuries, Choudhury was ill for quite some time. He was admitted to a hospital here on December 12 for treatment of old-age ailments, including prostrate gland problems, for which he had been operated upon in 1998.

Choudhury was taken to Chennai for advanced treatment when his condition worsened, but brought back at the end of last month.

The litterateur was cremated this evening at the Nabagraha crematorium in the presence of a host of fellow writers, admirers and relatives. He leaves behind his wife, four sons and three daughters.

Born in 1927 at Ramcha village near Goreswar in Kamrup district, Choudhury authored 30 books, including two in English. His well-known books include Ferengadao, Mahapurush Madhavdev, Jadugharar Kirtimukh, Taat Nadi Nasil, Luit, Barak Aru Islam and Yangjoo Nadir Paar. He wrote many short stories and critical and analytical essays, too.

A retired Assam Civil Service officer, Choudhury caught the imagination of readers with the unique style of his first book Ananya Prantor, published in 1970. Ferengadao, based on the life and times of Kalaguru Bishnu Rabha, was published six years later and remains the best work on the cultural icon.

Apart from being an accomplished writer of novels, Choudhury was a journalist and respected critic and columnist of his time.

After graduating from Cotton College in 1949, and a brief stint at the Assam secretariat in Shillong thereafter, Choudhury ventured into the “adventurous world of journalism”. He joined Asomiya, a weekly, and later worked for the Dainik Santidoot. During this period, he contributed articles and short stories to several literary magazines.

Choudhury also edited the magazine Samakaal and was editor of Sutradhar, another magazine, for some time.

Mourning the loss of a great writer and thinker, a long-time associate of Choudhury said, “His was a great act, difficult to match. There are lessons to be learnt from his life.”

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