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Ishan Chandra Mwshahary

Ishan Chandra Mwshahary (2 December 1915 – 1940) was a Bodo Romantic poet and writer. His short story Abari is recognised as the first ever short story in Bodo literature. He composed two collections of poems, titled Sona'ni Mala and Pami, before his untimely death at the age of 25.

Life and Career

Ishan Chandra Mwshahary was born in the village of Thuribari, Gossaigaon Sub-Division of Kokrajhar, Assam, to Raitin Brahma and Gander Brahma. He was their second son. Mwshahary began his early education in Kamalsingh Lower Primary School, which he completed by 1926. In 1937, he completed his Matriculation with first division from Dhubri. Due to his family's financial condition, he lived in the home of one Jagadar Mahesh Gabru, from where he went to Alipur Duar College. He left college the same year, when he got an opportunity to enrol in Allahabad Agricultural University. With financial help from Gaidang Brahma, a rich and well-known headman of their village, Mwshahary managed to go to the University. Furthermore, he received financial help from committees like the Kamalsingh Brahma Sampraday Dharm Siksha Samiti and several other people. Amidst a pause in studies for various reasons, he taught a drama titled Sona'ni Hangma in the village of Siyalmari, near Gurufela. In 1940, while still studying at the University, he married Sarojini Brahma, the daughter of Gaidang Brahma. Two months after his marriage, Mwshahary died of typhoid fever during his final exams. According to members of his family, following his death, a metal trunk box crammed with Mwshahary's books and reams of his own writings was sent from Allahabad Agricultural University. The trunk box was received the same day a telegraph informing of his death had reached. Most of the contents in the trunk box were discarded and burnt, because of the belief amongst Bodos, that a dead person's belongings must not be kept at home.

Literary Works

Woodcutter
Evening has come
    The sun has set
Stop rowing that boat of yours –
    Listen to what's being said.
Oh, what is this village
Where I have arrived unwittingly
I had asked cheerfully
    Over there when, –
With ample water fetched,
A vessel cradling her waist,
    With darkened face
          The lady went.
In overcast darkness
    The sun had waned,
Oh, what is this village
    I longed to remain.

The poem "Woodcutter",
from Pami (1938)

Mwshahary wrote poems, dramas, short stories and more during his time in school and university. The ones that survive are two poetry books, titled Sona'ni Mala and Pami. His short story Abari (1940) first published in the magazine Hathorki-Hala (1916-1992) is recognised as the first ever short story in Bodo literature. Mwshahary's poems have been described as Romantic. Critics have likened Mwshahary to the English poet John Keats, not only because of their similarity in poetic style but also their similarity in age and untimely death. Many of Mwshahary's poems and writings have also been published in Pramod Chandra Brahma's magazine Alongbar (1938).