Bengali writer Ramapada Chowdhury passes away

Acclaimed Bengali writer Ramapada Chowdhury (95), whose story ‘Abhimanyu’ was made into a Hindi movie ‘Ek doctor ki maut’, has passed away in Kolkata, West Bengal on July 29, 2018. ‘Abhimanyu’ was based on the life and work of Dr Subhas Mukhopadhyay who created India’s first and the world’s second test-tube baby in 1978. Director Tapan Sinha turned the story into a award winning Hindi film ‘Ek doctor ki maut’ in 1990. Mrinal Sen’s Hindi film ‘Ek din achanak’ (1989) was also based on Chowdhury’s story ‘Beej’. Chowdhury had penned famous literary works such as ‘Pratham Prahar’ (1954), ‘Banpalashir padabali’ (1960), ‘Ekhoni’ (1969), ‘Kharij’, ‘Bari badle jay’ (1988), ‘Abhimanyu’ (1982). His last book ‘Harano Khata’ was published in 2015. He was conferred the Sahitya Academy award for ‘Bari badle jay’ in 1988 and was also the recipient of Rabindra Puraskar, Ananda Puraskar and Rabindranath Tagore Memorial International Prize.