সুনীল গঙ্গোপাধ্যায়ের অর্ধেক জীবন

Sunil Gangopadhyay’s establishment as one of the foremost writers of modern Bengali literature is unquestionable. His contributions across various branches of literature are immense. When this eminent creator began writing about his own life, it stirred curiosity and excitement among readers. While publishing the series in a magazine, he wrote, "Why have I felt compelled to write my life story? What is there to write at all? Autobiographies aren't only written by great men or poets; even retired soldiers or bedbugs write them."

The interest generated among the broader Bengali readership when Ardhek Jibon (Half a Life) was released was, in a word, unprecedented. Many thought the author would depict his life across a vast expanse of time. But that didn’t happen. Ardhek Jibon cannot be fully classified as an autobiography, nor is it an exhaustive history of his deeply personal life. Instead, it sits between these two, a remarkable narrative of life.

The author, who had scattered fragments of his own life throughout his extensive poems, stories, and novels, now sought to capture his age, from childhood to the 1960s, within a predetermined, structured framework. Born in an obscure village in East Bengal, the author returned and revisited independent Bangladesh many years later. His life seemed to form a circle, and this circular journey is the central theme of Ardhek Jibon.

In the author’s own words: "Through the dangerous, tumultuous times of the 1940s, 50s, and 60s, we had to struggle just to survive. Everything was uncertain—amidst this uncertainty, there were various hopes, desires, love, and many dreams. I wanted to write about that period of my life."

Spanning three decades, the author’s hopes, dreams, love, memories, forgetfulness, the history of the not-so-distant past, and contemporary events elevate this work to another level. Altogether, Ardhek Jibon is a thrilling, struggle-filled, glorious, and deeply moving life story, rich with both joy and sorrow.