My Days with Ramkinkar Baij

About the Book

My Days with Ramkinkar Baij, an English translation of the original Bengali Shilpi Ramkinkar Alaapchari (In Conversation with Artist Ramkinkar) is the result of the author's long and close association with Ramkinkar Baij, one of modern India's finest sculptors. This was an association that brings forth many cherished memories of the days in Santiniketan, when Ramkinkar was at his prolific and creative best.

As Dr Bandyopadhyay puts it, 'The very meaning of Ramkinkar is a huge amount of enterprise and a tumult of joy. Those who came slightly closer to him occasionally got to see another avatar-a serious, sombre, Ramkinkar, self-imprisoned within an introspective castle.'

This book gives the reader a chance to delve into the mind of this great man and share some special moments of his life.

About the Author

Dr Somendranath Bandyopadhyay taught in Visva-Bharati's Bengali Language and Literature department (1957-1991). The subject of his teaching was primarily Rabindranath Tagore. He has published books on Bengali poetry, art, philosophy and literature.

He has been invited to deliver talks on Tagore's art and literature at various Indian universities and organisations. In 1976, he was nominated by the Government of India, at an invitation from the British Council, to lecture on Tagore's an at London's Commonwealth Institute and England's Darrington Hall. In 1986, at the invitation of Canada's Tagore Lectureship Foundation, Dr Bandyopadhyay participated in a seminar organised by the Toronto University. He also spoke on Tagore's literature, educational vision and art at universities in Japan and achieved Award of Highest Honour, Soka University, Tokyo, Japan, 2006. In the 2011 Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkara has honoured him by giving D. Litt. (Honoris Causa)