Kallol Bandopadhyay writes at his home. Picture by Gopal Senapati

Poet Joy Goswami has included his verses in one of his edited volumes Goshaibagan. In his introduction to that volume, Goswami says, “the poet’s works contain no sarcasm, anger or hatred. It doesn’t have any stunning rhythm. But that does not take away anything from the verses. To me Kallol Bandopadhyay is one such poet whose writings have made me feel sadness, happiness, love and separation ... His poetry has a peacefulness that is found rarely in this earth.”

Kallol Bandopadhyay, who quietly writes his verses in his home in Domjur, finds inspiration from these written words. “I feel that I am on the right track when people tell me that I am writing well. I don’t know how much I have learnt to write, but I have definitely learnt to read poetry,” was Bandopadhyay’s candid comment.

Bandopadhyay had a keen interest in poetry since his childhood. He owes a lot of it to his family. “My father, Kamal Bandopadhyay, was a poet himself. He was also the editor of a poetry magazine of the 70s called Ekhon Nidag. The leading poets of the time, Shakti Chattopadhyay, Sankha Ghosh, Sunil Gangopadhyay and others wrote for the magazine. At that time I would see poetry all around me and I grew into the habit of writing myself,” said Bandopadhyay. His father discouraged Kallol from writing poetry, feeling that he was wasting his time. “I still wrote secretly and kept them in my room. My father had many friends in the publishing industry who often came home. Deb Kumar Basu was one of them. When I showed him my poems, he encouraged me and said that he would publish my poems in his magazine, Samay Anuk,” said Kallol. His first poem was published in 1977 and after that his poems started appearing in many little magazines and newspapers.

Bandopadhyay’s works started appearing in Desh from 1996 till 2000. “I became irregular so I did not send my writings to the magazine regularly. But I continued to send my poetry to the little magazines across Howrah and other districts,” said Bandopadhyay. Some of the little magazines have even done special editions on Bandopadhyay’s works. Harit Baron, a little magazine published from Deulpur in Howrah, did a special issue with my works some years back,” said Bandopadhyay. He has also published poetry collections like Du Haate Nishedmudra, Khari Makha Hath, Achiracharit Dhalupath and two collections on nature and environment, Ekhono Je Tuku Bangla and Jonakir Math.

While he primarily wrote on love during his youth, with age, he has shifted to environment. “The growing concrete jungles on filled-up ponds and waterbodies pain me. I protest through my poetry,” said Bandopadhyay.

Working full time in a bank takes up a lot of Kallol’s time. “I often sit up till late night writing,” said Kallol. He had also started a popular little magazine, Arhan where poets like Joy Goswami, Mridul Dasgupta, Pinaki Thakur contributed. It has become irregular now.

More about kallol

• DoB: June 2, 1957
• Born in: Howrah
• Education: B Com
• Family: Wife and two daughters
• Loves: Nature, music
• Hates: Lack of traditional values