From The World Of Shades And Frames

"Nirad Chaudhuri is a fiction created by the Indian writer of the same name- a bizarre, outrageous and magical transformation of that stock character of imperialist literature, the Bengali Babu. As a man of culture, he would beat the British at their own game." - David Lelyveld

Nirad Chaudhuri: The Forgotten Visionary Of British India; Image Source: Spectator World

Growing up, he had seen quite a lot of things that he shouldn't have. The horrifying incidents of partition, burning streets of Bengal, vanishing landmarks, division of people and countries- all of which were nothing less than a nightmare. The changing Indian horizon and the coming of Britishers, movements that not only forced the Britishers to move out of the country but also shook the foundational stones of India. For several decades, starting from his childhood days to his manhood days- all were wrapped in opaque pages of politics, freedom, violence, and whatnot.

Describing his country town, Kishoreganj, where he grew up and lived till the age of twelve, he then moves on to Bangram- an ancestral village where nature meets culture. He then catches a bus to his mother's village, Kalikutch, where he encounters a fresh wave of culture and tradition, that puts him in deep trouble. Well, the trouble was whether he should leave for London or stay back in India. But exploring places was his passion and thus, he decided to fly off to London- a place that would give him new experiences.

This was a glimpse from Nirad Chandra Chaudhuri's book called The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian. Trying to explore the different faces of vibrant India, this book has a Midas touch on Calcutta's sufferings, Bengali Renaissance, the tricolour nationalist movement that freed India from the evil clutches of the Britishers, and glimpses from the lives of Englishmen whose so-called civilised manners destroyed India from its very roots. The themes of culture and politics make this book 'more of an exercise in descriptive ethology than autobiography'.

Describing the newly-independent India, he wrote-

To the memory of the British Empire in India,

Which conferred subjecthood upon us,

But withheld citizenship.

To which yet every one of us threw out the challenge:

"Civis Britannicus sum"

Because all that was good and living within us

Was made, shaped, and quickened

By the same British rule.

Born in East Bengal (now Bangladesh), Nirad was the second of eight children of Upendra Narayan Chaudhuri and Sushila Sundarini Chaudhurani. Belonging to a liberal Hindu family where all were ardent supporters of Brahmo Samaj, Nirad too grew up to be liberal. Growing up in Bengal, he experienced the brunt of violence and partition, that somewhere affected him deeply.

Eventually, when Nirad started writing about the horrors of British Raj and Partition, it is said that 'Chaudhuri was hounded out of government service, deprived of his pension, blacklisted as a writer in India and forced to live a life of penury.'

However, he was helped by Edward Shills to immigrate to the United Kingdom, which Nirad himself stated in his article 'Citizen of the World'. Though he retired at the age of fifty-five, he wasn't eligible for pension. It was because the retirement age was not fifty-five and he hadn't provided his services for the required number of years. There was yet another rule that stated that the government employees had to seek permission before publishing anything. Even after all these restrictions, Chaudhuri still published some of his articles in non-governmental magazines where he tried to draw parallels between the British Raj and Verres's Rule.

Finally, at the age of 57, Nirad flew abroad.. Upon his return to his home in Delhi, he wrote a book named A Passage To England where he described his experiences from the five-week stay in England, two-week stay in Paris, and one-week stay in Rome. In Delhi, he visited various historically and culturally important places like museums, galleries, cathedrals, country houses, and also saw plays and concerts. All of these gave him a chance to compare his life that he lived in India that was ruled by the Britishers and his life in India after it got independence.

Even during the last years of his life, Nirad still did not lose the charm of his writing. Living for 102 years, he finally left the world in 1999. His house at 20 Lathbury Road has a blue plaque installed near the gates by the Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board that signifies his importance in the literary circle of both India and England.

In his personal paradiso, Image Source: The Caravan