{{Short description|Indian writer and journalist (1923–2000)}} {{lead too short|date=November 2016}} {{Use Indian English|date=April 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}} {{Infobox writer | name = Gour Kishore Ghosh | image = | birth_date = {{birth-date|20 June 1923}} | death_date = {{dda|15 December 2000|20 June 1923|df=y}} | death_place = [[Calcutta]], [[West Bengal]], India | alma_mater = [[Nabadwip Bakultala High School]] | nationality = Indian | awards = {{ubl|[[Magsaysay Award]] (1981)|[[Bankim Puraskar]] (1982)}} | birth_place = [[Jessore District|Gopalpur]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]]<br />(now in [[Bangladesh]]) | pseudonym = Rupadarshi | occupation = [[Journalism]] }} '''Gour Kishore Ghosh''' (20 June 1923 – 15 December 2000) was an Indian writer and journalist in [[Bengali language|Bengali]]. Associated with ''[[Anandabazar Patrika]]'' for decades, Ghosh was known for his novels ''Desh Mati Manush'' and ''Prem Nei''. He was the first editor of ''[[Aajkaal]]''.
==Early life== Ghosh was born in Hat Gopalpur village in the [[Jessore District|Jessore]] district in undivided [[Bengal]] (presently [[Bangladesh]]), on 20 June 1923.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-06-19|title=গৌরকিশোর : নিরীশ্বরবাদ বনাম ঈশ্বরের পথ (স্মৃতিচারণ)|url=https://banglalive.com/remembering-gourkishore-ghosh-on-his-birth-anniversary/|access-date=2020-07-11|website=BanglaLive|language=en-US|archive-date=11 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200711152704/https://banglalive.com/remembering-gourkishore-ghosh-on-his-birth-anniversary/|url-status=live}}</ref>
Due to poverty, Ghosh could not continue his education further and had to become a professional soon after.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://o3.indiatimes.com/palashbiswas/archive/2007/02/23/3671512.aspx| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110716211223/http://o3.indiatimes.com/palashbiswas/archive/2007/02/23/3671512.aspx| archive-date = 2011-07-16| title = Dipped in Death}}</ref>
He varied his professions between 1941 and 1953. Amongst others, he worked as private tutor, electrician and fitter, sailor, waiter at restaurants, trade union organiser, schoolteacher, [[talent manager|manager]] of a touring dance troupe, land customs clearing clerk, [[proof reader]] and others, until from an interim job as a border customs clerk he joined a new daily newspaper, Satyayuga<ref name="auto1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WKLTvyEyUgAC&q=sagina+mahato+gour+ghosh&pg=PA237|title=Calcutta Conversations|first1=Lina|last1=Fruzzetti|first2=Ákos|last2=Östör|date=24 July 2003|publisher=Orient Blackswan|isbn=9788180280092|via=Google Books|access-date=4 December 2020|archive-date=1 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220701070446/https://books.google.com/books?id=WKLTvyEyUgAC&q=sagina+mahato+gour+ghosh&pg=PA237|url-status=live}}</ref> where his distinctive writing style earned him promotion to editor of two feature sections. Thus, he settled at his chosen profession, that of a reporter / journalist.{{citation needed|date= October 2022}}
==Journalistic and literary career== Ghosh wrote columns in the literary weekly ''[[Desh (magazine)|Desh]]'' and in [[Calcutta]]'s largest vernacular daily, ''[[Anandabazar Patrika]]'', of which he also became [[senior editor]]. He portrayed the agony of [[West Bengal]] during the [[Naxalite]] movement from 1969 to 1971, in sharp satire, in his "News Commentary by Rupadarshi". He often wrote under his pen-name, ''Rupadarshi''.{{citation needed|date= October 2022}}
After the [[The Emergency (India)|emergency]] was imposed upon India in 1975, Ghosh shaved his head and wrote a symbolic letter to his 13-year-old son explaining his act of "bereavement" over the loss of his freedom to write. Published in ''Kolkata'', a [[Bengali literature|Bengali]] monthly, this letter caused his arrest, was widely circulated through the underground and became a classic of protest. He was sent to jail along with another reporter [[Barun Sengupta]].<ref>The crusade and end of Indira raj by Sudhansu Kumar Ghose – 1978 – Page 19</ref> Ghosh smuggled from prison two other letters on abuses of authoritarian rule before, in his cell, he suffered a third heart attack.
Although reinstated as a senior editor of Ananda Bazar Patrika after the emergency ended and he had recovered from his illness, Ghosh started ''[[Aajkaal]]'' (This Time), in collaboration with a few associates in early 1980s.{{citation needed|date= October 2022}}
After a short stint with ''Aajkal'', he wrote for ''Anandabazar Patrika'' until the end.{{citation needed|date= October 2022}}
His weekly satirical column was famous, as also a series of humorous stories. His mature work chose the rather neglected field of interaction between Hindu and Muslim societies.<ref name="auto1"/>
Among his lighter works, [[Brojoda]], although not as popular as [[Feluda]], [[GhanaDa]] and [[Tenida]], has left his distinct mark in the so-called ''dada-literature'' of Bengal.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/OPEN-LETTERbrRemembering-dadas-of-yore/articleshow/1128983839.cms|title=OPEN LETTERRemembering dadas of yore | Kolkata News - Times of India|website=The Times of India|date=October 2001 |access-date=24 July 2019|archive-date=8 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190808095915/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/OPEN-LETTERbrRemembering-dadas-of-yore/articleshow/1128983839.cms|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Awards== Ghosh's awards include:
# [[Ananda Purashkar]] for Literature (1970){{citation needed|date= October 2022}} # Ko Joy Uk Memorial award (1976), from the South Korean Government.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thesundayindian.com/sorry.html|title=Sorry!!|website=www.thesundayindian.com|access-date=24 July 2019|archive-date=14 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181014082605/http://www.thesundayindian.com/sorry.html|url-status=live}}</ref> # [[List of Magsaysay awardees#Journalism, Literature, and the Creative Communication Arts|Ramon Magsaysay Award]] (1981) for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.rmaf.org.ph/Awardees/Citation/CitationGhoshGou.htm| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040622142204/http://rmaf.org.ph/Awardees/Citation/CitationGhoshGou.htm| archive-date = 2004-06-22| title = 1981 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Journalism, Literature, and the Creative Communication Arts - Gour Kishore Ghosh}}</ref> # [[Maharashtra]] Government Award (1981).{{citation needed|date= October 2022}} # [[Bankim Puraskar]] (1982).{{citation needed|date= October 2022}} # Hardayal Harmony Award (1993).{{citation needed|date= October 2022}} # [[Maulana Abul Kalam Azad]] Award (1993).<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |url=http://www.pucl.org/reports/WestBengal/2001/ghosh.htm |title=Obituary: Gour kishore Ghosh,. A civil Liberties activist |access-date=28 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160716233017/http://pucl.org/reports/WestBengal/2001/ghosh.htm |archive-date=16 July 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==List of major works== Short story collections: # ''Ei Kolkatay'' (1952) # ''Mon Maney Na'' (1955) # ''Sagina Mahato'' (1969) # ''Poschimbongo Ek Promod Toroni, Ha ha!'' (1969) # ''Aamra Jekhaney'' (June 1970) # ''Prem ney'' # ''Jol Porey Pata Norey'' # ''Brojodar Goolpo Samagra''
''Sagina Mahato'', a story written by him in remembrance of a colleague of his in his political activist past, was successfully adopted into movies in Hindi ([[Sagina (film)|Sagina]])<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072109/|title=Sagina|via=www.imdb.com|access-date=30 June 2009|archive-date=12 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090512163602/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072109/|url-status=live}}</ref> and Bengali ([[Sagina Mahato]])<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0316525/|title=Sagina Mahato|via=www.imdb.com|access-date=30 June 2009|archive-date=28 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120528173711/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0316525/|url-status=live}}</ref> by [[Tapan Sinha]], with the famous thespian [[Dilip Kumar]] playing the part of the protagonist Sagina Mahato in both instances.
==Personal life==
He died on 15 December 2000.<ref name="auto"/> In 2011, [[Gour Kishore Ghosh metro station]], a [[Kolkata Metro]] station was named after him.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.deccanherald.com/content/135697/content/212251/india-blend-good-bad-dutch.html| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170807193248/http://www.deccanherald.com/content/135697/content/212251/india-blend-good-bad-dutch.html| archive-date = 2017-08-07| title = Two Kolkata Metro stations to be named after journalists}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
{{RMA winners of India}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghosh, Gour Kishore}} [[Category:Indian political writers]] [[Category:1923 births]] [[Category:2000 deaths]] [[Category:Bengali Hindus]] [[Category:20th-century Bengali people]] [[Category:Bengali-language writers]] [[Category:Indian columnists]] [[Category:Indian editors]] [[Category:Indian newspaper editors]] [[Category:Indian newspaper founders]] [[Category:Ramon Magsaysay Award winners]] [[Category:Writers from Kolkata]] [[Category:Journalists from Kolkata]] [[Category:Indian people imprisoned during the Emergency (India)]] [[Category:20th-century Indian journalists]] [[Category:People from Jessore District]] [[Category:Indian male short story writers]] [[Category:20th-century Indian short story writers]] [[Category:Indian writers]] [[Category:20th-century Indian essayists]] [[Category:Indian male essayists]] [[Category:Indian newspaper journalists]] [[Category:Indian novelists]] [[Category:Indian male novelists]] [[Category:20th-century Indian novelists]] [[Category:Indian political journalists]] [[Category:20th-century Indian male journalists]] [[Category:Recipients of the Ananda Puraskar]]