Calcutta, May 10: Every story is born an orphan. It needs a storyteller for a name, nurture and recognition. The story of Srimanta Sankardeva was born within Bimal Phukan from the time he moved out of Assam to study engineering in Calcutta and was nurtured since for the recognition it got today at the Calcutta launch of its book Srimanta Sankaradeva — Vaishnava Saint of Assam at Oxford Bookstore.

A little before the launch, Phukan spoke of how an engineering scholar turned into a storyteller.

“Sankaradev was as socially or religiously significant in the 15th century during the Bhakti movement as Nanak, Chaitanya or Kabir but unfortunately very few people outside Assam know about him. Even in Assam Sankaradev is now an alien to the younger generation,” he said.

An incident which influenced him was when Satyajit Ray was conferred the Xankaradeva award in 1975 he was unaware of even the saint’s existence. “When a man of Ray’s erudition is unaware of such a colossal social figure from a neighbouring state you realise there is something seriously wrong. Even Khushwant Singh who wrote a very positive review for my book admitted that before reading the book he hardly knew of Sankardev,” Phukan said.

The fault, however, he feels is with the people who know his story but have not conveyed it in a language that can cross the barriers of culture and age.

“This is in a way the first English book on the saint’s life. Before this there have been books written in Assamese or scholarly books which the common reader finds difficult to associate with. I hope this book can even get the NRI Assamese child interested in the guru whose picture he saw at his grandparents’ house,” he said.

The book since its Assam launch in 2010 has been quite a success. A copy of the book can be found in reputed libraries in India and abroad. The British library, British Museum library, American library of Congress, London School of Eastern Studies and the Indian National library are some among the noteworthy ones.

“I was so apprehensive of response from scholars that I would hardly ask them about the book. But I was surprised by the overwhelming appreciation,” he said.

The book launch here was attended by poet and novelist Sunil Gangopadhyay and chairman of the World Poetry Festival, Ashis Sanyal. Sanyal stressed on the importance of translation to enable people across the country to read literatures of the country.