Sabujpatra

Sabujpatra

Editor	Pramatha Chaudhuri[1]
Founded	1914
Final issue	1927
Country	India
Language	Bengali

Sabujpatra, also known as 'Sabuj Patra' (Bengali: সবুজ পত্র, English: Green Leaf) was a liberal and pro-Tagore Bengali magazine. It was named Sabujpatra as its cover page was illustrated by a green palmleaf drawn by Nandalal Bose (no other colors were ever used). It was edited by Pramatha Chaudhuri and first published on 25th Baishakh 1321 BS (April 1914). He was mentored and inspired by Rabindranath Tagore to publish such a journal.^[2] The magazine shunned advertisements and pictures to uphold about the ideals and standards the editor believed in.^[2] In the first phase it was being published up to 1329 BS (1922). Its second phase started in 1332 BS. The magazine finally folded in 1334 BS (1927).

Though short-lived, Sabujpatra was a major force in remolding Bengali language and literary style for the post-First World War generation. Pramatha Choudhury endeavored to introduce new literary ideals, preferred spoken Bengali to the written and a new style of writing, often called 'Birbali', after his pseudonym 'Birbal'.^[2] From then forward, the colloquial Bengali is dominating the Bengali literary scene. Even Tagore's later prose works and modern Bengali literature vindicates the success of Sabujpatra's motto.^[2]

Sabujpatra initially contained writings from Rabindranath Tagore, Satyendranath Dutta and the editor himself. Some of the intellectuals who gathered around Pramatha Chowdhury became literary luminaries later. Dhurjatiprasad Mukhopadhyay, Atul Chandra Gupta, Barada Charan Gupta, Suniti Kumar Chatterji, Kiran Shankar Roy wrote articles in Sabujpatra; Kanti Chandra Ghosh, Amiya Chakraborty and Suresh Chakraborty contributed poems. In everything it published, Sabujpatra expressed the spirit of freethinking and advocated rationalism, democracy and individual freedom.^[2]

Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi Library, Kolkata has archived a complete set of Sabujpatra.

Sabujpatra made its debut in April, 1914. In the very first issue, the editor clarified the ideals and objectives of the magazine:

Literature shakes man out of his slumber in relation to the world of reality. If our forerunners can appreciate the spirit of Sabuj Patra and join hands with us they will be able to see the mental and moral void in Bengali character and thus render a great service to the nation...There is no denying fact that our contact with Europe has given us ability to shake off our inertia both objective and subjective. The great joy that emanates from this emancipation is the soul force of any creative literature. It does not matter where one picks up the seed of a new idea; what does matter, however, is his ability to cultivate it in his own environment. This is a great lesson Europe has to offer…That we have today turned towards India's hoary past and have set our selves to glean rich resources from it is unquestionably the outcome of the new educative influence of Europe...The modern European literature may not be akin to the ancient Indian in character but there is, I feel, an affinity of spirit. The new generation is fortunate that it can gather fruits from both indigenous and foreign sources. To me, the literature that reflects this new age is worth its name, the rest can be rejected as junk. Novelty is not our aim at all. Ours is a mission to mirror meticulously a momentous moment in modern Bengal. Within its limited space and power, Sabuj Patra will help writers to express their thoughts concisely but cogently because we believe that literature is not the product of forced regulations but of self-restraint. And the more one is aware of his area, the more disciplined is his writing. Sabuj Patra will attempt to earmark that area. (Sabuj Patrer Istahar, Manifesto of Sabuj Patra, 1914)

Of the name of the journal, Chaudhuri asserted:

The new leaf is green, a wonderful amalgam of aesthetic and spiritual beauty. It is encircled by blue on its right, yellow on its left, violet and red within its eastern and western ends. The green dynamic mind works a wonderful synthesis between the finite and the infinite, the east and the west, reminiscences and reckoning … we have look forward to the day when this green ripen to red, the buoyant vibrancy to a full-blooded vigour. This, however, can only occur if we discover our own selves and dedicate them to sublimation. Worshipping the alabaster image of the Goddess of Learning, be it of East of West, is not our cult. Instead we are solemnly placing an earthen pitcher in our temple and planting a budding green leaf in it. Unlike traditional temples, dark and dingy, ours will be a tall and stately structure, allowing profuse air and light to enter from all corners of the globe. Thus the green will flower into its fullness. Above all, people, irrespective of caste, creed and colour, will have easy access to our temple. But there will be no corner for dry leaves. (Sabuj Patra, April, 1914)

Rabindranath Tagore was a regular contributor to Sabuj Patra. Many of his early 20th century works including the Balaka poems, two of his novels, Ghare Baire and Chaturanga, a play titled Phalguni and a considerable lot of short stories and essays were published in this journal.

In Sabuj Patra, Tagore expressed his revolutionary view on society and political situations of contemporary times through his fiction and prose. Haimanti and Streer Patra caused a frown of contemporary Bengali society as well as his essays Bastab and Lokohito were severely attacked in conservative journals like Sahitya and Narayan.

Among the contributors other than Chaudhuri himself and Tagore, there were Atul Chandra Gupta, Kiran Shankar Roy, Satish Chandra Ghatak, Satyendra Nath Bose, Barada Charan Gupta, Suniti Kumar Chatterjee, Suresh Chandra Banerjee, Suresh Chandra Chakravarti, Dhurjati Prasad Mukherjee, Biswapati Chaudhuri, Harik Krishna Dev and Indira Devi Chaudhurani. "A close scrutiny of these writers would reveal that they stood firmly for a rational intellect free of inhibitions or emotions," ^[3]