Plaque unveiled in memory of Toru, Aru Dutt

Kolkata: On Monday, a stone plaque in memory of Aru and

Toru Dutt

at Maniktala Christian Cemetery, whose appalling condition was highlighted by TOI recently, was unveiled by chairman of the KMC Board of Administrators

Firhad Hakim

.

Present on the occasion were West Bengal

Heritage

Commission

Suvaprasanna

, heritage architect Partha Ranjan Das, members of Dutt’s family, theatre worker Soumitra Mitra, members of

WBHC

including Sujata Sen and members of Facebook’s

Purono Kolkatar Golpo

group that chronicles Kolkata of yore.

Firhad Hakim and Suvaprasanna at the Maniktala Christian Cemetery on Monday
To mark the occasion, Suvaprasanna designed a laminated poster about the Dutt sisters that was distributed among those present on the occasion.“Toru Dutt, who is regarded as India’s Keats and died prematurely at the age of 21, was the first Indian to have translated works of 65 great poets from French to English. The Dutt sisters were immensely gifted and I am glad that the plaque has been unveiled,” Suvaprasanna said.

Talking about Toru’s exceptional brilliance as an author, author Chinmay Guha, said, “Toru was five years elder to Tagore, 18 years younger to Bankimchandra and 22 years elder to Sarojini Naidu. She, along with Aru, had opened new horizons.” He also recalled how, on a visit to Paris two years ago, a young professor was immediately able to connect to Toru Dutt when he had mentioned about a young

poet

from Kolkata.

Firhad Hakim paid a visit to the enclosure where the Dutts lie buriedOnce the plaque was unveiled, Hakim paid a visit to the enclosure where the Dutts lie buried. The cemetery is currently a picture of neglect, littered with overgrown bushes. The premise was partly cleared for the occasion though a lot more needs to be done. Regular maintenance is a key issue. “After Pujas, I will get the cemetery cleaned,” Hakim told TOI.


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