On his 141st birth anniversary, a half-bust statue of Bengal’s rural poet Kumudranjan Mullick was unveiled at his ancestral home in East Burdwan today. Writer and poet Kumudranjan, a contemporary of Rabindranath Tagore, was born at Kogram village, just by the Ajoy river in Katwa of East Burdwan on 1 March, 1883.
He was known as the mentor and coach of Bengal’s rebel poet Kazi Nazrul Islam. Kumudranjan was awarded Padmashree by the Government of India, later. After graduating from Scottish Church College of Calcutta University with a Gold Medal in 1905, he started his teaching career at Nabinchandra Vidyayatan at Mathrun village ~ close to his native place. Kazi Nazrul, then a boy was a student of that school and was attracted to Kumudranjan’s lyrical portrayal of rural Bengal in his poems.
Mahasweta Banerjee, the great granddaughter of the poet joined Kumud Sahitya Mela organised by some local youths in the memory of the poet where the statue was unveiled.