Parul Prakashani, one of the biggest publishing houses in Eastern India, held a book launch and felicitation ceremony at B C Roy Auditorium to commemorate the 75th birthday of its founder, Gourdas Saha. Aparajito, a compilation of many essays chronicling Parul Prakashani’s quick ascent under Saha’s direction, was unveiled as part of the book launch event.

Swami Suparnanandaji Maharaj of the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Golpark, released the book. Renowned singer Siddartha Sarnkar Ray,  known as Sidhu, was present in this programme as a special guest.

The book, which was edited by Chanchal Kumar Ghosh, details how Parul Prakashani, which was founded in Agartala in 1981, was successful not only in promoting Bengali literature but also in publishing text and reference books. Another significant event was the publication of an acclaimed edition of the English Gitanjali. Another game-changer is Parul Prakashani’s acclaimed Muhurtakatha series, which includes timeless short stories by well-known writers like Sunil Gonpadhyay, Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, Buddhadeb Guha, Mahasweta Devi, Atin Bandyopadhyay, and Bani Basu.

Eleven notable individuals received the Brain of Bengal Award at the same event in recognition of their noteworthy contributions to social service, science, literature, culture, and the arts. They were Sri Puranjan Prasad Chakraborty (Literature & Social Science), Prof. Asit Kumar Mondal (History & Social Studies), Dr. Subhas Chandra Ray (Education & Applied Psychology), Prof. Imankalyan Lahiri (Political & Social Science), Dr. Sandip Roy (Biological Science & Environmental Studies), Sri Tapas Kumar Purkait (Mathematics & Statistics), Prof.Chittaranjan Sinha (Chemistry & Environmental Studies), Prof. Madan Mohan Bhattacharya (Biological Science & Environmental Studies), Prof. Baridbaran Ghosh (Literature & Social Science), Prof. Santosh Kumar Ghorai (Physics & Environmental Studies), and Prof. Sampat Mukherjee (Economics & Social Science).

Prominent figures from the literary, academic, and cultural communities attended the event, which was a magnificent homage to Gourdas Saha’s legacy and his contribution to the publishing industry.

Priyanka Dutta