Swapan Kumar Banerjee was born and educated in Calcutta (now Kolkata),* a centre of learning and culture in India. After completing his B.A. in English, he earned an M.A. (English) from Calcutta University. He studied French at Alliance Francaise de Calcutta and secured the first place. Since 1986 he has been teaching English language and literature at Narasinha Dutt College, Howrah, under Calcutta University. During his teaching career he has carried on research under an Oxford scholar. He submitted his thesis on The Role of the New Woman in the plays of Shaw, Granville Barker and Galsworthy which was awarded the PH.D by Jadavpur University in 1999. He is a Senior Lecturer and on his way to Reader's Grade. His hobbies include chess, music and creative writing. His thesis has been renamed The Evolution of the Feminist Heroine in Modern Drama (1892-1914) after a revision for general readers. He lives in Calcutta with his wife Kakoli and their only son who is studying for his B.Sc. in Anthropolgy at Calcutta University. Web page: http://swapanindia50.trip od.com * Calcutta/kolkata: Calcutta was the capital of British India. After independence in 1947 the new Indian Government shifted the capital to New Delhi. But Calcutta coninued its anglicized name until the recent change. It took our city administrator 53 year to shake off the colonnial hangover. To the world outside it is still known as Calcutta. Job Charnock, an agent of the English East India Company, is supposed to have introduced the name CALCUTTA in 1690. Even the name INDIA is the creation of the British. We call it Bharatbarsha. |
If Memory Were A Floppy Life would have been happy. If memory were a floppy, I would retain all the files with pleasant memories of happy birthdays celebrated. And the glorious prize days. I would keep the tender thrill of first love or success that came at last after hard toil and long tedious waiting. I'd delete with a click the unhappy files of family mishaps, defeats and betrayals; the withering of love, and estrangement of dear ones. The loneliness and ennui would cease. I'd click 'yes' to the query: "Are you sure you want to delete these files?" and never visit the psychiatrist, or the temples and churches in quest of peace that would have been my skin (or breath) in a world not torn apart. I 'd replace the files of trauma and bruises caused by riots and war. If memory were a hard disk, I 'd cram it with facts and images and sweet thoughts like Wordsworth and relive the best and delete the rest. As the hard disk has its virus, our memory has Alzheimer's. To be really alive with zeal, we need to switch off and on at will. c2001 Swapan Banarjee |
Swapan Kumar Banerjee |
Swapan Kumar Banerjee was born and educated in Calcutta (now Kolkata),* a centre of learning and culture in India. After completing his B.A. in English, he earned an M.A. (English) from Calcutta University. He studied French at Alliance Francaise de Calcutta and secured the first place. Since 1986 he has been teaching English language and literature at Narasinha Dutt College, Howrah, under Calcutta University. During his teaching career he has carried on research under an Oxford scholar. He submitted his thesis on The Role of the New Woman in the plays of Shaw, Granville Barker and Galsworthy which was awarded the PH.D by Jadavpur University in 1999. He is a Senior Lecturer and on his way to Reader's Grade. His hobbies include chess, music and creative writing. His thesis has been renamed The Evolution of the Feminist Heroine in Modern Drama (1892-1914) after a revision for general readers. He lives in Calcutta with his wife Kakoli and their only son who is studying for his B.Sc. in Anthropolgy at Calcutta University. Web page: http://swapanindia50.trip od.com * Calcutta/kolkata: Calcutta was the capital of British India. After independence in 1947 the new Indian Government shifted the capital to New Delhi. But Calcutta coninued its anglicized name until the recent change. It took our city administrator 53 year to shake off the colonnial hangover. To the world outside it is still known as Calcutta. Job Charnock, an agent of the English East India Company, is supposed to have introduced the name CALCUTTA in 1690. Even the name INDIA is the creation of the British. We call it Bharatbarsha. |
