Dr. Bhabendra Nath Saikia

Bhabendra Nath Saikia was a very highly acclaimed and highly recognized litterateur. A very much practical ‘artist of words’ of Assamese literature Bhabendra Nath Saikia always depicted a very clean landscape of Assamese village life and social life. It seems, as his stories are magnificent and colorful drawings of a very well experienced artist. A very well known film maker Bhabendra Nath Saikia was recognised worldwide for his classic Assamese films like Sandhyarag, Anirban and so on. He is also known as one of the pioneer of the Assamese drama literature. Though he has not much of contributions as a drama writer, but his drama ‘Putala Naach’ impacted very much the Assamese mind. Born on February 20, 1932 inNagaon town in central Assam Dr. Bhabendra Nath Saikia passed his matriculation examinations in 1948 securing star marks. He secured his B.Sc. Degree with honours in Physics from Cotton College in 1952, and M.Sc. in Physics from the Presidency College of Calcutta University in 1955–1956. He obtained a Ph.D. Degree in Nuclear Physics in 1961 from the London University. He also obtained a Diploma of Imperial College of Science & Technology (DIC), London in 1961. Dr. Saikia started his career as a physics teacher at the Sivasagar College at Sivasagar and then at the Gauhati University. He did some splendid work in the publication of college level Assamese medium textbooks when he was the Secretary of the Co-ordination Committee for production of textbooks in regional languages. Dr. Saikia was a household name in Assam because of his literature, his all round capability in Cinema and his magnificent and unparalleled contributions towards the social ethics and the society as a whole. He was the author of twenty nine books as of January 2001 which also included his autobiography Jivan Britta that he completed in 2000.
He broke new grounds in the field of journalism in the state while serving as the Editor of the children’s magazine Sofura and the Chief Editor of the prestigious fortnightly Assamese Magazine Prantik. As an editor of Sofura, Dr. Saikia was intensely invloved with cultural growth and development of children. Also we can say that he was very much able to establish a new concept & to give a new dimension to the Assamese magazines through Prantik. Prantik was a household name when he was the editor. Dr. Saikia is regarded as an icon in the field of Assamese Cinema. His valuable contributions carried Assamese Films forward into the global arena. His seven Assamese feature films that Dr. Saikia directed were all awarded the prestigious Rajat Kamal award as the best regional films in India. Besides that, he himself won the national award for the best screenplay for his film Agnisnaan. Dr. Saikia directed a Hindi film Kaalsandhya also. His films have been included in the Indian Panorama section of the Indian Film Festival and have been screened at many international film festivals such as Cannes, Montreal, Toronto, Karlovy Vary, and Nantes. He was adjudged as one of the “Twenty-one Great Assamese Persons of the twentieth century”.

He was very much involved in the conception and development of the Sri Sankardeva Kalakhsetra, Assam and served as its Vice Chairman until August, 2003.
He was a Member of the Sangeet Natak Akademi; Executive and General Council of Sahitya Akademi; Indian National Council for Co-operation with UNESCO; Academic Council, Gauhati University, Advisory Body, All India Radio, Guwahati; Governing Body, North East Zone Cultural Centre, Dimapur; Governing Body, East Zone Cultural Centre, Kolkata; Court of the Gauhati University, Assam; Society of the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune; Board of Trustees, National Book Trust of India.
He also served as the Chairman of the Railway Service Commission, North East Frontier Railways; President of Jyoti Chitraban (Film Studio) Society, Guwahati; Chairman of the Assam State Film (Finance and Development) Corporation Ltd.

He was very much instrumental in the establishment of the Dr. Bhabendra Nath Saikia Children Welfare Trust (Aarohan) at Guwahati. Saikia died on August 13, 2003 in Guwahati and is survived by his wife Preeti Saikia, and daughters Dr. Sangeeta Saikia and Rashmi Saikia and brother Dr. Nagen Saikia.

Here is a list of some of his literary creations-
Aatongkor Seshot : novel (1952),
Prahari : story (1963),
Gohbor : story
Brindabon : story (1965),
Sendur : story (1971),
Sringkhal : story (1975),
Bhabendranath Saikiar Srestha Golpo-1stpart : story (1976),
Taranga : story (1979),
Ontorip : novel (1986),
Aei Bondoror Aabeli : story (1988),
Aakash : story (1988),
Ramyabhumi : novel (1991),
Moromor Deuta :children novel (1991),
Santasista Hristapusta Mahadusta :children novel (1996),

Upakantha : story (1992),
Sandhya Bhraman : story (1998),
Sesh Pristha: 1st part : prose (1997),
Sesh Pristha: 2nd part : prose (1998),
Sesh Pristha: 3rd part : prose (2003)
Sesh Pristha: 4th part : prose (2005)
Tomalokar Bhal Haok : (1998)
Putala Naach : one act play

Birth: 20th February 1932
Death:13th August 2003

Award/Honour:
Sahitya Academy Award for Srinkhal in 1976
The Publication Board, Assam, Award in 1973 (Inaugural Year)
Sahityik Haranath Ghosh Medal, 1981-Bangiya Sahitya Parishad, Calcutta
Assam Valley Literary Award, 1990 - Magor Education Trust
Surendranath Paul Award 1999 “Cha Cha Cha” Tea Festival-Calcutta
Srimanta Sankardeva Award 1998- Government of Assam
Kamal Kumari National Award for the year 2000

He was awarded Rajat Kamal Award of the Government of India for his Assamese feature film-
Sandhyarag in 1978,
Anirban in 1981,
Agnisnan in 1985,
Kolahal in 1988,
Sarothi in 1992,
Abartan in 1994
Itihaas in 1996.
He was awarded Padma Shri by the Government of India in the year 2001.
Degree of D.Litt, honoris Causa In 2001- Dibrugarh University conferred on Dr. Saikia in recognition of his outstanding contribution in the fields of cinema and literature