Bihar has an 'August' visitor

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">PATNA: This February, ‘English, August’ - Upamanyu Chatterjee - has come home to his birthplace: Patna. Not to research the plot of his next novel though, for he is here on call of duty. You all know that the internationally celebrated writer is also an IAS officer. Batch: 1983. Cadre: Maharashtra.<br /><br />He is presently camping in Bhojpur as an Election Commission observer.The writer-civil servant has done his homework on the historical background of Bhojpur, particularly the Naxalite movement. He has studied the interiors of Sahar, Sandesh, Piro and Jagdishpur in Bhojpur district.<br /><br />Upamanyu was born in Patna in 1959, in a bylane of Bhattacharya Road. His father Sudhir Ranjan Chatterjee had served in All India Radio (AIR) as a programme executive during the 50s. After a few years, he was transferred to Ranchi.<br /><br />Upamanyu, his larger entity going incognito, was spotted moving in the remote areas of Sandesh assembly constituency during the first phase of poll on February 3.<br /><br />Only recently, he has received the prestigious Sahitya Academy award in English for his novel <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Memories of the Welfare State</span>. He is presently posted as commissioner, Employees'' Provident Fund, in Mumbai.<br /><br />Forty-six-year-old Upamanyu has written a handful of short stories and his first novel <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">English, August</span> was widely acclaimed. Dev Benegal even made a film in English on his novel.<br /><br />Upamanyu''s second novel <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">The Last Burden</span> published in 1993 also created waves in the literary circles across the world in which he has given a fascinating portrait of Indian middle class family at the end of the 20th century.<br /><br />"Jamun", the central character of his second novel, is a young man, unmarried, adrift. He stays away from his large joint family. Jamun returns to the family when his mother is hospitalised. In this book he presented a vivid portrait of the awesome burden of family ties.<br /><br />Right now he has no plans to write a book on the changing socio-economic scenario in the plains of Bihar. But who knows? Bhojpur may just give him his next story.<br /><br />Incidentally, Patna is dotted not only with the footprints of Upamanyu but also of celebrities like Roshan Seth, E M Forster. Why, even <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Suitable Boy</span> Vikram Seth has a Patna connection with his father having served the Bata here. Eminent theatre personality Roshan Seth spent his early childhood at Bank Road while eminent author E M Forster stayed at the Dak Bungalow (now Loknayak Bhavan) and Bankipore Club.</div> </div>