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Sandesh , Sandesh , a four-generation children's magazine, has become synonymous with the family of Satyajit Ray. It was the first successful periodical for young people in Bengal, launched by Ray's |
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grandfather Upendrakishore in 1913, the year Rabindranath Tagore, the greatest Indian poet, received the Nobel Prize for his collection of lyric poems, Gitanjali . Sandesh has the rare distinction of being in publication, though not without breaks, for close on a hundred years. In the process, it has become a household name not only in Bengal but wherever else there is a sizeable settlement of Bengali-speaking people as well. |
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‘Sandesh', 1913, cover
designed by Ray's grandfather, Upendrakishore |
Sandesh is a popular sweet of Bengal. Upendrakishore chose the name avowedly because he wanted the magazine to be as delectable to young minds as Sandesh is. But the intervention |
‘Sandesh' cover
by Ray's father, Sukumar Ray |
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of fate did not allow him to edit the magazine more than a couple of years. Sukumar, his son who is known as the pioneer of the nonsense verse in India, took to editing Sandesh following his father's death, and went on writing and doing illustrations for the magazine in between bouts of illness till his passing in 1923. The publication of Sandesh was suspended for some time following the death of Sukumar Ray. His brother Subinay revived the magazine and edited it till 1935. Sandesh received a new lease of life in 1961 when Satyajit Ray took up the paper's editorship jointly with his friend Subhas Mukherjee, a well-known poet. |
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Satyajit revived Sandesh the second time partly in deference to his mother's wishes and partly from his own desire to re-launch what he perceived as a precious family heirloom. While planning the revival, he decided to lay aside Rs.1000 every month to meet the expenses for the magazine. Nalini Das, his cousin, and Lila Majumdar, Upendrakishore's niece, joined hands with him as co-editors after Subhas Mukherjee had relinquished editorial responsibilities. The magazine appeared under the editorship of Lila Majumdar and Bijoya Ray for some time after the passing of Satyajit Ray. Sandip Ray, Satyajit's son, succeeded them as editor of Sandesh.
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Since its appearance , Sandesh has been a veritable storehouse of children's literature produced in Bengal. Tagore wrote for the magazine, as did all the major Bengali authors who loved to use their pens for children. The bulk of the writings of Upendrakishore and Sukumar were published in Sandesh along with their own illustrations. It also published a good part of Satyajit's literary output and contained numerous examples of his skills as an outstanding illustrator. The masthead he designed for Sandesh bears testomony to his brilliant gift for calligraphy. Sandesh also nursed many young literary talents. To this day Sandesh keeps up the high standards set for it by Upendrakishore, Sukumar and Satyajit.
‘Sandesh', covers by Satyajit Ray |
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