Poet Jatindramohon Bagchi’s house at Bagchi-Jamsherpur. Picture by Saurabh Bhattacharya

Krishnagar, Jan. 6: A little magazine for children published from Karimpur in Nadia has accused the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education of altering words of the Bengali poem Kajla Didi by Jatindramohon Bagchi.

The poem was published in a textbook for Classes IX and X.

“The little magazine, Sabujer Kabita, that has demanded correction of the mistake claims that the board has replaced the original words with their own, changing the essence of Kajla Didi. It has also alleged that the mistakes appeared in board-approved Bengali textbooks of Classes VI and VIII.

Bagchi (1878-1948) wrote about rural Bengal in a way that bore Tagore’s influence.

Kajla Didi, his most well-known poem, is about a young child missing a mother figure called Kajla Didi, who used to sing to her and who died an untimely death.

It is believed that there was such a person among the poet’s attendants.

The poem became popular as a song sung by Pratima Bandyopadhyay and set to tune by Sudhin Dasgupta.

“The second and third lines of the fifth stanza of Kajla Didi on page 15 of the 2011 edition of Sahayak Path (rapid reader) for Classes IX and X read: Berar dharey pukur parey, jhinji dakey jhope jharey/ Nebur gandhey ghum ashey na, tai to jege roi. The original lines were: “Berar dharey pukur parey, dakchey jhinji jhope jharey/nai se pasey ghum ki ashey/tai to jege roi.”

On page 309 of the second volume of Jatindramohon Rachonaboli, a collection of the poet’s works edited by Jyotirmoy Ghosh, no words like “nebur gandhey” were found.

The board has omitted the line “nai se pashey ghum ki ashey” and altered the order of the words in the line “jhinjhi dakey jhope jharey” from the original “dakchhey jhinji jhopey jharey”.

Perhaps the words “nebur gandhey” were inserted to add flavour, a source said.

Sabujer Kabita editor Ashoke Kumar Saha, in a letter to the board secretary, has said the poet’s background in the Sahayak Path for Classes IX and X contains wrong details (page-198 of the 2011 edition).

It mentions Balagarh in Hooghly as his birthplace instead of Bagchi-Jamsherpur near Karimpur in Nadia. Bagchi’s majestic ancestral home in Bagchi-Jamsherpur is in a deplorable state.

The poet’s granddaughter, Chandralekha Ghosh, is planning to sue the board.

Bagchi’s grandson Alokendumohon has termed the mistakes “humiliating to the poet and shocking”. He said: “I have the original script. I did not find such words there.”

Board secretary Santiprasad Sinha said he was unaware of the allegations. “We will check the original works and rectify any error,” he said.

Sabujer Kabita editor Saha said: “Attempt to change the poet’s original work is a crime. But it appears that the board is hardly concerned and has no power to monitor textbooks.”

“The board’s error has encouraged publishers of Bengali textbooks of Class VIII to alter many of the words. We have found no reference to Balagarh as the poet’s birthplace in these books. We have sought a reference from the board in support of Balagarh,” he said.