DELHI UNIVERSITY- ENGLISH

AMALKANTI BY NIRENDRANATH CHAKRABARTI

The presented poetry “Amalkanti” has been composed by Nirendranath Chakrabarti. Originally the poem was written in Bengali but now available to all non-Bengali languages. Actully the poem is about the school going students expectations and aims.

The poem has drawn the authentic picture of the result of planned career or aim of an individual during schooling. It reveals the fact that the person without aim is just like a sheep without rudder.
In fact in the modern era success is mesured by the amount of money you earn or the popularity you gain. But literally service of mankind is always superior. The poem can be summarized in following ways: -

Attitude of Amalkanti: - Amalkanti was the friend and classmate of the poet, Nirendranath Chakrabarti. He was weak and careless student. Often he would go to school late and never bothered to complete school works.

The poet has revealed the fact that Amalkanti could not till three forms of verb. Whenever the teacher asked him, he started to look out of the window. He looked confused and speechless.

Ambition and ideal: The poet makes the fact clear that classmates of their class were ambitious and alert. They had their goals to be teachers, doctors or lawyers etc. But Amalkanti was different. He did not have any aim or career plan but he always wanted be sunlight so that he might enlighten even in the fading the evening.

Failurity: Years passed, most of the students settled down. Some of them became doctors, some teachers and some lawyers etc.

Nirendranath Chakrabarti said that Amalkanti failed to achieve his goal. He couldn’t become sunlight, the person to bring hope and light in anybody’s life. Misfortunately he had to work in a semi-dark room as press worker. He was unable to enlighten even his own life.

Conclusion: At last the poet compared Amalkanti and other classmates. He described the fact that Amalkanti’s friend achieved their goals but he failed. Everybody was satisfied except Amalkanti whose dream was shattered according to the poet.

Conventionally Amalkanti was not successful but literally he was the great success as he had been working to spread the light of knowledge through books, working inside dark room for low pay.

Amalkanti means "pure radiance" in Hindi as well as in Bangla. The meaning affects the understanding of the poem.

Irony is a literary device through which writer or speaker expresses the opposite meaning. In the poem Amalkanti dreamt to be sunlight and intended to brighten up others lives. But he had to work in a semi-dark room in a press.

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