Syed Abdul Malik

21^st July 2011

Syed Abdul Malik was born in 1919 at Nahoroni in Golaghat district of Assam. His father  was Sayed Rahman Ali and mother Sayeda Lutfunnisha. He started his education from Nahoroni. He studied at Dergaon and Jorhat in ME and high school phases. In 1941 he passed B.A in English honours from Cotton college. In the year 1942 he joined government service due to economic reason. In the year 1943, he joined as a civilian censor in the army. In the year 1946, he joined as parsi lecturer in Jorhat college. In 1948 he became programme assistant in Guwahati-Shillong Radio Centre. After that he worked for a few months in Dhekial High School in 1950 and Kuralguri high school in 1950-1951. In 1951 he joined as a teacher in J.B College, Jorhat.

He was one of the most widely known and popular writers in Assamese literature. Beginning his literary career in the early forties, he enriched Assamese literature with short stories, novels, poetry and other writings spanning over five decades. Syed Abdul Malik (1919) has been highly influenced by the techniques of Anton Chekhov and Guy de Maupassant. He uses a great variety of characters and brings them together neatly. He has been inspired by the techniques of Chekhov. Malik is the first author who introduced the "Chekhovian atmosphere" type stories into Assamese language. He is a keen storyteller and an inspiring creator of character. His plots have a suspense motif. His stories are rich technically. Pran haruar pisat is a successful story.

His first novel appeared in installments in the pages of the monthly magazine Banhi in 1945-46. It was titled La Sa Gu. His other collections include Parasmani, Ajani natun suwali, Rangagara and Moraha papari. In Abdul Malik’s fictional works, one gets the raw smell of the soil and water of his motherland, Assam, for these have influenced him greatly. Especially Naharani, his place of birth, as well as the Dhansiri river that flows nearby, have greatly influenced Malik’s creative works. In this context, his widely praised novel Surujmukhir Swapna (Dream of Sunflower) where the characters are molded on the ideals of the Surujmukhi flower -whose nature it is to look upward, needs special mention.

His stories can be classified into two categories: romantic stories that connect him with the traditions of Bina Barua and Roma Das and socially conscious stories. His sympathy

and compassion for the socially dispossessed is instinctive. He is an arch-romanticist and his socially conscious stories like Siu maril, Aghantar diary, Rangagara are tinged with a  basic romantic attitude. Malik`s realism is invariably projected through romantic prisms. In Siu maril, the conflict with social environment is brought out; in Kathphula the women characters have been portrayed beautifully. Barakharar barasun depicts economic distress conflicting with self-respect. Whenever Malik writes of social discord or economic distress, it is done with impassioned fervour. In Bibhatsa bedana lies a socially conscious though it was a controversial one due to its sexual overtones. His short story "Vibhatsa Vedana" is considered the best short story ever written in any Indian language on the trauma that the partition had left on the common man. His novels Rathar Chakari Ghure (Wheels of the Chariot Roll); Kanthahar (Necklace) and a few others have a common theme -- the pain and suffering of the neglected lot in the society.

He has written sixty novels, eleven plays, five collections of poems, five books for children, three travelogues and thousand short stories. Malik’s short stories also saw the light of the day through the pages of Assamese literary journals like Banhi, Jayanti, Awahan and Ramdhenu. Some of his short story collections are Sikhare Sikhare, Ranga Gorah, Parashmani, Ejani Natun Sowali, Maraha Papori and so on. One of his well known non fictitious work is Asamiya Zikir Aru Jari which is a monumental research work of Abdul Malik based on the life of the renowned Muslim saint Ajan Fakir who had visited Assam in the 17th century.

His popular novels including the prestigious Sahitya Akademi award winner novel Aghari Atmar Kahini (Tale of Nomadic Souls) are : Adharxila (Foundation Stone); Doctor Arunabhor Asampurna Jivani (Dr Arunabh’s unfinished biography); Kavitar Naam Labha (Lava is the name of the poem), Pran Samudra (Ocean of Life); Trisul (Trident), Dukhan Nadi aru Ekhon Marubhumi (Two Rivers and a Desert) and others, Syed Abdul Malik enriched the Assamese biographical novel. His two novels Rup Tirhar Yatri (1963-65) and Dhanya Nara Tanu Bhal (1987) are based on the lives of Rupkonwar Jyoti Prasad Agarwalla and Mahapurush Sankardeva respectively. Many of his works have been translated into major Indian languages.  

He was associated with Asom Sahitya Sabha, in 1969 as general secretary and as a president in 1977 Abhayapuri session. He was a member of Sahitya academy council (1976-1982) and received Academy Fellowship in 1999. He received ‘Sahityacharya’ title from Asom Sahitya Sabha in 1997.

In the last part of  his service life he became member of upper house of parliament (1976-1982). He received Padmashri in 1984 and Padmabhusan in 1992.

He received many awards including Soviet Desh Neheru Bata in 1965, Sahitya academy award in 1972 for his novel, Aghari Atmar Kahini, Purna Bharat Sahitya Sanskriti Bata in 1981, Assam Upatyaka Bata in 1994, Ajan Fakir Bata in 1995 and Sankardev award in 1999.

He passed away on December 20, 2000 at the age of 81.