Na Hanyate

Naw Hanyate, or It Does Not Die, is a novel written in 1974 by Maitreyi Devi, an Indian poet and novelist who was the protegée of the great Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore.[1][2] The writer received Sahitya Akademi Award for this novel in 1976.[3] She wrote the novel in response to Romanian philosopher Mircea Eliade's book La Nuit Bengali (titled Bengal Nights in English), which related a fictionalized account of their romance during Eliade's visit to India.[2]

Mircea Eliade came to study under Maitreyi Devi's father in Kolkata in 1930. She was 16 then. Her father was very proud of his daughter's intelligence and provided her with a liberal education unthinkable of during that time in India. He even encouraged Mircea and Maitreyi to study together. Devi later wrote "We were two good exhibits in his museum". During this time Mircea and Maitreyi became close to each other. On discovering their secret romance her father ordered Mircea to leave their house.[2]

Based on their relationship Mircea's novel in Romanian Maitreyi was published in 1933.[4] Shortly after it was translated into French and published with the title La Nuit Bengali, it became a huge success.[5] Maitreyi Devi's father came to know about the book during his 1938-39 Europe tour and passed the information to his daughter after returning home. In 1953, during her own Europe tour, Devi came across several Romanians who recognized her name, and told they have read a book written about her. But she was still unaware of its content. In 1972 when Sergui al-Georghe, a close friend of Mircea, who came to Kolkata told Maitreyi about the details of the book, she came to know the book described a sexual relationship between them. She asked a friend to translate the novel from French and was shocked to find how it depicted their relationship.[4] Through Na Hanyate Maitreyi Devi have penned his response and have countered Mircea's fantasies.[2]

In 1973 Maitreyi Devi was invited by Chicago University to give lectures on Rabindranath Tagore. She went to Mircea Eliade's, who was a professor in the same university, office unannounced. During the next two months of her stay they met several times, which was condensed to a single one at the end of her book. She confronted him about the lies he wrote in his book and as a result Mircea promised the book would not be published in English in her lifetime.[4] Four years after her death in 1990, the University of Chicago Press published it in English titled Bengal Nights.[5]

Although La Nuit Bengali was published in 1933, it was several years before Devi discovered it. Though the two books relate a common event, they differ in many aspects of their plots and perspectives. Taken together, the New York Times describes the two novels as "an unusually touching story of young love unable to prevail against an opposition whose strength was tragically buttressed by the uncertainties of a cultural divide." In 1994, the University of Chicago Press published the two works in English as companion volumes.

The 1999 Bollywood film Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, directed by Sanjay Leela Bansali, takes its inspiration from Devi's novel, although the film does not give credit to it. The film was a huge hit because of its melodramatic picturization.

References

  1. ↑ Devi, Maitreyi (October 1974). Na Hanyate. 89, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Kolkata - 700007: Prima Publications.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "It Does Not Die". The University of Chicago Press Books. The University of Chicago. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  3. ↑ "AKADEMI AWARDS (1955-2016)". Sahitya Akademi. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 Kamani, Ginu. "A Terrible Hurt: The Untold Story behind the Publishing of Maitreyi Devi". Toronto Review. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  5. 1 2 "Bengal Nights". The University of Chicago Press Books. The University of Chicago. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
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