Sumana Roy’s Plant Thinkers of Twentieth-Century Bengal delves into the various ways 20th century Bengali writers and poets engaged with and derived creativity for numerous stories, songs, art and films. This book is an amalgamation of life stories and the deep connection that personalities like Jagadish Chandra Bose, Rabindranath Tagore, Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay, Jibanananda Das, Shakti Chattopadhyay and Satyajit Ray had with plants. It is not just a history lesson packed in a book; it’s a literary and cultural analysis of how plant life shaped the world today. The book introduces new insights and propositions which will be entirely new to the reader. It’s a book full of thought-provoking ideas which will leave the reader pondering about it repeatedly.
It talks about how Jagadish Chandra Bose, a pivotal scientific figure who revolutionised our understanding of plants today, invented the Crescograph which proved plants sentience and response to external stimuli, and that plants contain nerve impulses.
The book shows Rabindranath Tagore’s deep concern towards the environment and how human activities deteriorate it. It depicts his remarkable idea of India originating from a forest and the Western world originating from a Garden. He understands cultures through its elements. For example, he believes that Europe acquires its values and believes from the sea. Tagore then makes a crucial statement that conveys classical writers and poets whose works are based on forests as a whole, were doing so at a time where forests were already a thing of the past. This idea is quite revolutionary.
Then, Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay shows his profound relationship with plants through his book Aranyak. He expresses his concern that human life and plant history are growing farther and farther away as the time goes on. He proves this by stating that we memorise plant names but we are not even aware of their history, life and life cycles.
Jibananada Das, through his Rupashi Bangla, describes Bengali plants, trees, rivers and birds very vividly. His poems are full with detailed imagery of common plants, trees, and landscapes.
Shakti Chattopadhyay talks about his melancholic companionship with plants. His poems explored complex human thoughts and emotions, explained through plants. Satyajit Ray, being a filmmaker, used plants and landscapes to depict moods of characters, appropriate atmosphere and could symbolise various feelings and emotions in the movie.
The writing style and vocabulary of the author is admirable. Although a bit hard to grasp, once you re-read the text, you will come to love how she has provided a vivid and expressive description of things and would want to read more.
All in all, if you are interested in Bengali culture, philosophy, the environment or just plants in general, this book is the perfect collection of stories for you.