This Akademi of letters which recognized the Nepali language for this honor way back on December 3, 1974 has been encouraging Indian Nepali authors every year with this coveted award.
Till date, the Akademi has awarded more than 30 Nepali litterateurs of the country in which the Nepali litterateurs from Assam are encouraging.
The Akademi has nominated Sri Tarapati Upadhyaya, 78, of Udalguri in Assam for the 2010 Akademi award to be presented in August 2011, for his translation of the masterpiece “Ananda Math,” a revolutionary novel in Bengali written in 1882 which depicts the open revolt of the monks and saints of the subcontinent against the aggression of the Mughal regime.
Apparently, the novel was banned by the British regime in India as the patriotic line “Bande Mataram!”, a hallmark of the novel, was persistently used by the revolutionaries for propaganda against the division of Bengal.
However, it is an irony that the very novel which was banned in India caught the fancy of the Europeans which led to its translation into numerous European languages.
The novel exposes the patriotic zeal of the saints and monks who later fuelled the Indians to go against the exploitation of the British regime.
Born to the late Nandalal Upadhyaya and the late Tulasha Devi on April 6 in 1934 at Batule Bil (a river island on the mighty Brahmaputra river which is now extinct) in the then undivided Darrang district of Assam, Tarapati lost his father at the tender age of seven.
He received his primary education in Bengali medium on the island itself.
Thereafter, he joined the Tezpur Boys’ Academy and completed his Matriculation.
He graduated from the Darjeeling Government College and then came to Udalguri to join the Udalguri Higher Secondary School as an assistant teacher in 1960.
Overcoming the hardships of his family and service life, his educational zeal led him to successfully complete BT (Bachelor in Teaching) under the Dibrugarh University in 1971 and thereafter Masters’ Degree in Political Science from the Gauhati University in 1973.
He then retired from service as the principal of the school in October 1992.
However, the zeal to spread the light of education led him to establish a B Ed College in the educationally backward Udalguri district in 1999, and till date, he is rendering yeoman’s services as its honorary principal.
Influenced by his mother’s oral rendering of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the young boy Tarapati started literary activities.
When he got a positive platform of Nepali literary arena in Darjeeling, he was influenced by a good number of Nepali authors there. And indeed this was a beginning of his journey in the realm of Nepali literature.
Since then, the pen of Guruji, as he is popularly known in Assam and other parts of Nepali speaking regions of India, never stopped and he contributed a lot to the granary of Indian Nepali literature.
While coming to Udalguri, Upadhayaya, apart from his usual service as an ideal teacher, got engaged in creating literary flavora.
He has written 12 books till date in Nepali and Asomiya languages, besides numerous periodical write-ups in Nepali, Asomiya, Hindi and English to various journals and newspapers published from Assam and other parts of India.
His first book in Asomiya was “Navami,” a compilation of nine Nepali folk tales which he published in cooperation with Drona Poudyal, now vice principal of Bhadrapur Bahumukhi Campus in Chandragarhi, Jhapa, Nepal.
Then Upadhyaya Guruji authored “Bhasha Pradip,” a book on Nepali language, its origin and development, in 2001 which is now included as a reference book in the newly introduced MA course in Nepali at Gauhati University. Thereafter, the same year, he authored “Das Maharathi” a biographical book on 10 world renowned personalities.
In 2002, he authored “Nivanda Guchchha,” a book of essays as well as “Sadharan Nepali Samajik Jeevan,”a brief but analytical book giving glimpses on the diverse aspects of the socio-cultural and religious life of the Nepalis. “Anubadko Bhumika Paddhhati Ra Sthithi,” authored in 2003, is a brief study on the art of translation.
Another book in Asomiya language entitled “Asom Tatha Bharatar Nepali Jati – Ek Alokpat (Assam Tatha Bharatko Nepali Jati – Ek Avalokan) was published in 2005.
It is a detailed study of the Nepali community and its activities in India, with special reference to Assam. Another book in Nepali co-authored with Dr. Drona Kumar Upadhyaya in 2005 is a volume on Nepali grammar and phonetics which is very useful to college and university students.
Guruji Upadhyaya then translated the much-talked-about Bengali novel “Ananda Math” by Bankim Chandra Bandopadhyaya in 2008, followed by “Kehi Nibandha – Kehi Jiwani,”a compilation of selected essays and biographies in the same year.
“Ram Ek, Ramayan Anek,” written in Assamese, was published in 2009, followed by “Swadeshi Chintan, Sahitya Manthan,” a translated version of numerous patriotic and literary essays.
Besides these works, he edited “Mustidan” in 1959, “Chyakeyn,” a periodical Nepali literary magazine in 1974, and oversaw the successful publication of “Paketha,” a periodical Nepali literary magazine in 1990.
An inspiration to the Nepali authors of Assam, Upadhyaya contributed a lot for the cause of Nepali language in the Eight Schedule of the Indian Constitution.
He was the president of the first conference of the Akhil Bharatiya Nepali Bhasha Samiti held in 1974-75 in Udalguri town in Assam which ignited thousands Nepali hearts to fight for the recognition of Nepali language in the prestigious 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution, and due to this endless struggle, the Nepali language was recognized on August 20 in 1992.
He served as the president of Akhil Bharatiya Nepali Bhasha Samiti, Assam State Committee, from 1986 to 1992.
Besides, he has been associated with the Udalguri unit of Assam Sahitya Sabha and has served as its president and working president from 1972 to 1979 respectively.
He was also the advisor to the Assam Nepali Sahitya Sabha since the beginning, and finally served it as the president of Udalguri district committee unit.
He has been awarded as the Bhasha Senani as a recognition for his lifelong contributions to the language movement in India by the Sikkim Sahitya Parishad, Gangtok, in 1993.
In 2005, he was honored with a literary pension by the Government of Assam.
He was also felicitated by the Assam Sahitya Sabha at its Sipajhar conference in Assam while the Udalguri district administration also felicitated Guruji as a distinguished citizen on the occasion of the Republic Day of India in 2007.
Guruji Upadhyaya is a happy person in his personal life.
He is blessed with wife Kiranbala, publisher of all his books, three married daughters and two sons besides two grandchildren at home and a good number of grandchildren from his daughters.
Reacting to the message of the Sahitya Akademi award to be presented to him, Guruji said, “It is indeed an inspiration to me at such an old age to keep the tempo of writing for the society and an encouragement to the upcoming new generation of writers of Assam to go on their literary pursuits.”
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