Devdas Chhotray and his Literary World
Devdas Chhotray and his Literary World: Devdas Chhotray, an Author, academician, and administrator. He is known to all. The living literary legend Devdas Chhotray is known for his famous poems, short stories, lyrics, and screenplays.
The author, poet, academician is from the land of Barabati and we have read that, he is a die-hard Cuttack resident.While searching about the legend on google, we found an interesting fact worth sharing. This is how the journey of Devdas Chhotray as a lyricist began. In an interview, he has said, Ja Re Basanti Sandhya Bajai Sankha Mahuri of Akshaya Mohanty cured his typhoid. It was he who virtually instigated him to write songs. He used to write and hide them from his sister. Eventually, his family found out and his mother asked him, “Why are you even writing all this? Do you really think Akshaya Mohanty is going to sing them?” Eventually, Akshaya Mohanty sang all his lyrics.
On why many of his writings were not women-oriented, he said, “There has been inequality between men and women since ages. Everyone wants the protagonist to be a male. The context always leans towards the male perspective. Audience and readers demand passivity.”
He was the Vice-Chancellor of Ravenshaw University. His book ‘Chumbaka’ is dedicated to the sundial placed in the quadrangle lawn of Ravenshaw. He has served as the secretary of the Department of Official Languages under the Ministry of Home Affairs, where he helped create the language archive and initiated large-scale language digitization in India. As the first vice-chancellor of Ravenshaw University, Odisha, he founded the Akshaya Mohanty Centre for Contemporary Music, the state’s first serious academic exercise in the study of popular culture.
Devdas Chhotray is widely known for his popular lyrics. His contribution to the cultural sphere is not restricted to songwriting. He is a filmmaker, poet, storyteller, and theatre and radio play artiste as well.
Devdas Chhotray, an Author, academician, and administrator –
When film lyricists are concerned, Devdas Chhotray has written all kinds of situational songs. So, when Akshaya Mohanty started pursuing ghazals seriously, Chhotray was the obvious collaborator. The two laid the foundation for the ghazal genre in Odia.
The four decades of the poetry of Chhotray and lyrics have been translated into Indian and foreign languages, and his writings have been published in Bengali.
While the above information is like a glass of water from the ocean, we will soon update some more important information about the Legendary Devdas Chhotray in our future posts.
Also Read: Odia Adaptation of Tomake Chai by Namrata Mohanty
