He preserves what others have written

Literature is an expression of emotion and little magazine is a forum for experimental and alternative literature in the vernacular where young and budding talent unremittingly express their emotions in different forms of art. Not many have ventured to preserve them. But, 60-year-old Sandip Dutta is a different man and he has been assiduously catalo­guing and preserving these emotions with care for more than three decades.

Prompted by the feeling that little magazines are treasures of Bengali literature and as a protest against the negligence of the government to protect and preserve these invaluable treasures of art, Sandip Dutta started his Little Magazine Library O Gabeshana Kendra (Little Magazine Library and Research Centre) in 1978 in his ancestral house 18M Tamer Lane, off College Street in North Kolkata.

The library comprises two claustrophobic rooms that once used as the dining room and the main entrance of his ancestral house. Now, the entire room walls are now lined with racks chock-a-block with these magazines. Dutta has an enviable collection of nearly 60,000 independent and experimental periodicals (little magazines). Many of these periodicals are rare on various issues, including politics, cinema, arts, sociology, philosophy and religion.

Every evening from 6 pm to 9 pm (that is time the library remains open), studen­ts, researchers and even budding writers come to the library to flip through the pages of history which might not find a place in the governmental monumental storage and preservation system.

Dutta, a retired school teacher, has not only been painstakingly collecting these valuable treasures from the piles of old books but also publishing little magazines and is himself an author of 20 books, three on little magazines. When asked why little magazine, Dutta told Deccan Herald: “Little magazines are a forum for experimental and alternative literature in the vernacular that may or may not have much commercial value. Such is the power of little magazines that now, in spite of declining readership and the dearth of good writers, some of the best writing in Bengali finds place in these publications.” 

“Little magazines gave birth to some of the best writers of Bengal – a state which is proud of its poets and novelists. Eminent novelist like Samaresh Basu, Minaik Bandopadhyay and prolific poets like Shakti Chattopadhyay, Sunil Gangopadhyay, Joy Goswami to name a few, were discovered from little magazines,” Dutta said.

Once he had even submitted a proposal to University of Calcutta to do the PhD on little magazines and it was not seriously taken. But he has been called there many times to give lectures on the subject.

On several occasions, Dutta has come to rescue of many authors who were unable to find their own published works. 

“Mahasweta Devi once asked me if I had some of her old writings as she had lost them and I provided them to her. Likewise many authors like Sunil Gangopadhyay, Arun Mitra and Joy Goswami came to me with this kind of request and in most cases I was able to give them copies of their old writings,” Dutta said.

“Apart from research scholars like Clinton B Csily, who worked extensively on Bengali poet Jibananda Das, and William Ravichchert, eminent scholars from all over the country come to my library. This makes me feel that my effort has not been wasted,” Dutta said.Asked how difficult it was in the beginning, Dutta said: “In national library these little magazines were tied and left unattended because there was no space for them in the library. Initially, I was shocked with the pathetic upkeep of the valuable periodicals and as a sign of protest I even organised an exhibition of 750 magazines but I knew that was not enough”.

“I knew something constructive need to be done and so I made a piggybank and named it ‘Three Penny Opera’ and set aside a part of  my earnings during my college days. From that  money, I started collecting little magazines,” Dutta recalled.“It was a painstaking process as I had to sit beside a roadside stall and go through a huge lot of books dumped on a jute mat. On many occasions it happened that after searching for over two hours I didn’t get a single periodical which I can keep in my library. It was my daily routine after my classes were over,” Dutta said.

Now it has over 175 members, 68 life members and at least a dozen daily visitors. In 1993, he held “All India Little Magazine Conference” and has been regularly holding exhibitions across the country to spread awareness about the little magazines and the need for such a library.

Of late, Dutta has received a grant of Rs 5 lakh from Indian Foundation for Art, Bangalore, to digitise his collection and 1,407 periodicals, including some historic magazines like Sabuj Patra, Bangadarshan, Chaturanga, Prama, Ekshan and Parichay, have been digitised.

When asked whether he has received any grant from the government, Dutta said: “So far I have not asked for it. But now I feel that I need more space and some better facility so that I can preserve these periodicals. I need a space of 1,200 to 1,400 sq ft and I have requested the government to provide me the space. The government has promised to help me but they have some procedures and will take some time,” Dutta said.

Nearly 40 years ago, Dutta in his diary had written that he wanted to do something useful for little magazines and a look at his library leaves no one in doubt that his endeavour has surpassed all odds and stands as testimony to his love for preservation of these invaluable treasure of Bengali literature.