Naren Ray
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Naren Ray | |
---|---|
British India (now in Bangladesh) | |
Died | 2003 (aged 62–63) Kolkata, West Bengal, India |
Nationality | Indian |
Occupation | cartoonist |
Years active | 1955–2003 |
Employer | Freelancer |
Naren Ray (1940[1] – 24 July 2003) better known as Sufi, was an Indian cartoonist with a career spanning nearly five decades, during which time he published political as well as children's cartoons in prominent Bengali magazines and newspapers. His role as a political cartoonist earned him more ire than dividends, while his work as a strip cartoonist was unique.[2] His cartoons were followed by generations of Bengali middle-class people without ever knowing his true identity. He was a regular contributor to Shankar's Weekly, published by political cartoonist K. Shankar Pillai. Even though his works appeared exclusively in Bengali-language print media, his work had uniquely close ties to the leftist movement, rendering his drawings and ideas peerless.[3]
Early life and education
Sufi was born in the district of Comilla, Bangladesh in 1940. His father worked in the police department and after independence relocated his family to Kolkata in 1948. Then a child, Sufi was taken out of school in Brahmanbaria, where he was in class four. He initially thought that they were going for a family trip and would soon return to what was then East Pakistan. Being unable to return to his childhood abode deeply distressed him. He later stated that he had never recovered from that jolt. The family shifted to Shibpur, Howrah in the Indian state of West Bengal. Sufi attended Dinabandhu Institution in class five.[4] Formal studies were never very appealing to him and he taught himself, mainly by voracious reading.[3] The eldest of five siblings, he had to start working in 1956, at age of 16, without graduating.[5] While he offered private tuition to sponsor his reading habits and was also member of local libraries, he mostly borrowed books from acquaintances, finishing up to three a day. Sufi joined an art school in 1958 to pursue drawing and handicrafts. Personal and family problems led him to abandon the course before its completion in 1962, but he had decided to be a cartoonist.[4]
Career
Naren Ray started drawing for magazines early. During his school days he and his mates from a library decided to publish a handwritten magazine, Koishorok. While he produced drawings and sketches for the periodical, fellow
The poverty, pain and suffering around him encouraged him. At this point he started drawing political cartoons for
During the 1960s, a women's magazine named Mohila was run from north Kolkata by Basanta Kumar Chattopadhyay. Sufi was invited to draw for that magazine provided he used a female identity. Sufi signed his cartoons as Pramila Ray, his mother's real name.[7] Similarly, he signed all his works as Sanjay in Basumati and Jugantar during this period. He had the first experience of publishing a complete comic strip in Swadhinata's Sunday edition. Saotal Bidroho, drawn by him and written by Pachugopal Bhaduri was published as a serial in the paper. Sufi was to have a long association with both Jugantar and Basumati, which spanned more than 24 years until both papers expired in 1996.
Sufi
When he started drawing for the Communist party vehicle Ganashakti, he was advised by the editor to take the pen name of Sufi, associating him with asceticism and purity. He was harassed from time to time by his political opponents.[4]
He was also drawing for children in different periodicals. These collective works have been hailed as his more enduring works.
Political ideology
Sufi sympathised with the Communist party. His younger brothers were also involved with the
He worked as a clerk in a district school board in 1962, but he was fired when his sympathies were discovered. Similarly, his pen name Sufi was ridiculed by readers during the
Death
Sufi, along with his siblings and joint family, had moved to Bangur Avenue in 1972. He married Mamata Ray in March 1974. His only son, Nirmalya, was born in 1977. In 1990 he moved to his brother's house down the lane. He was plagued by asthma and was hospitalised repeatedly for breathing troubles. On the morning of Saturday, 26 July 2003 he suffered a massive heart attack and expired. True to his ideological beliefs, he had led an austere life. He dressed only in khaddarer panjabi and dhoti and worked and slept on the same mattress. His friends Shantipriyo Bandopadhyay and Amal Roy described him as a kind, humble and philanthropic person, a true gentleman. The fact was reinforced by the information that he had donated his body and his eyes for research.[3] He is survived by his wife and son.[9]
Legacy
He was never commercially successful in spite of his many publications. Similarly, he received very little recognition or media attention before his death, preferring a low profile. Posthumously he has been favourably reviewed by his surviving peers as well as the media and is widely considered a formidable figure of cartoon and caricature in
References
- ^ a b Sandesh (Bengali children's magazine), author Debasish Sen Sarodiya (September–October)2003 issue
- ^ a b c TTIS, The Daily Telegraph, "Toon magic part 83" by Debasish Deb on 28 April 2008
- ^ a b c d e f g Sharadiya Sandesh, 2010, "Cartoonist Sufi" by Biswadeb Gangopadhyay
- ^ a b c d e f g Interview at Suprabhat on DD Bangla, 11 April 2003
- ^ Sandesh (Bengali children's magazine), author Debasish Sen Sarodiya September–October)2003 issue
- ^ Sambad Protidin "Sufi", 11 July 2010
- ^ a b c d Khaas Kolkata, Tara Tv on 14 May 2003
- ^ "Boi niye saatkahon" by Sufi and Amal Roy, Gronthomela publishers, 5 January 1995
- ^ a b TTIS, The Daily Telegraph, "The Peoples Artist" by Debopratim Ray, 19 May 2008