Mani Sankar Mukherjee (commonly known as Sankar in both Bengali and English-language literature) is an Indian writer in the Bengali language, who also served as the Sheriff of Kolkata. He grew up in Hindmotor of West Bengal.

Personal life

Sankar is the son of Avaya Mukherjee known as Gouri Mukherjee. Sankar's father died while he was still a teenager, as a result of which Sankar became a clerk to the last British barrister of the Calcutta High Court, Noel Frederick Barwell. At the same time he entered in Surendranath College (formerly Ripon College, Calcutta) for study. He worked in various field as typewriter cleaner, private tutor, Hawker for his living.

Literary career

After Noel Barwell's sudden death, Sankar, the professional version of his name adopted for the law courts, sought to honor Barwell. "First, I wanted to build a statue. It was not possible. I then wanted to name a road. Even that was not feasible. And then I decided to write a book about him," according to Sankar. That impetus led to his first novel, about Barwell, that according to some critics is perhaps the most stimulating -- Kato Ajanare (So Much Unknown). Around the same time in 1962, Sankar conceived Chowringhee on a rainy day at the waterlogged crossing of Central Avenue and Dalhousie - a busy business district in the heart of Kolkata. The novel, set in the opulent hotel he called Shahjahan, was made into a cult movie in 1968. It is wrongly said that Sankar marketed his literary work to Bengali households with the marketing slogan A bagful of Sankar (Ek Bag Sankar) and collections of his books were sold in blue packets through this marketing effort. He has been rewarded with Sahitya Akademi Award on 18 March 2021 for his outstanding autobiographical work of Eka Eka Ekashi.

Works

Works in translation

Screen adaptations

Awards

Citations

Sources