Desh (magazine)

History

The first editor of Desh was Satyendranath Majumdar (1891–1954), followed by Bankimchandra Sen. Sagarmoy Ghosh joined the magazine in 1939 and became its editor in 1976. Under his leadership, Desh emerged as India’s foremost literary magazine in a regional language. His first major achievement was securing a poem and short story—Sheth Katha (The Last Story)—from Rabindranath Tagore.

Ghosh made Desh a hub for Bengal’s top writers while also making room for new talents. He stood firm against political pressure, notably when Bangladesh temporarily banned the magazine after Nirad C. Chaudhuri referred to it as "so-called Bangladesh" in an article. In 1997, he stepped down as editor due to health issues related to old age. Journalist and Ramon Magsaysay award winner Amitabha Chowdhury took over for a year. During this period*,* Desh transitioned from a purely literary magazine to one that also featured non-fiction essays on current affairs, history, and culture. In 1998, Harsha Dutta succeeded him. The magazine is currently edited by Suman Sengupta.

Sister-publication

Desh also publishes Boier Desh, a quarterly supplement launched in 2003. It features book reviews in Bengali and English by renowned critics and includes interviews with prominent literary figures from Bengal and beyond.

Publication

Desh is published by the media conglomerate ABP Group on the 2nd and 17th of each month from 6 Prafulla Sarkar Street, Kolkata 700001. Its official website, www.desh.co.in, was launched on April 25, 2015. As of 2024, it's been moved to a subfolder under the Aaro Ananda application.

Legacy

Desh is widely regarded as the leading literary magazine among Bengali-speaking intellectuals. Dubbed as "The New Yorker of Bengal," it has featured works by nearly every major figure in Bengali literature. Its annual Puja issue remains a major literary event. Desh celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2023.

In popular culture

In Jhumpa Lahiri’s 2003 novel The Namesake, Ashima Ganguli, newly immigrated from Kolkata to Cambridge, rereads a worn-out copy of Desh she has read many times before. She can't bring herself to throw it away because its Bengali print gives her "perpetual comfort."

Controversies

Desh has faced multiple controversies. In 1994, its Durga Puja issue featured a cover by Arpita Singh depicting the goddess Durga in a white saree, brandishing a revolver over a prostrate politician. The image provoked immediate outrage among local politicians, who demanded the magazine be withdrawn and all copies destroyed.

Notable contributors

• Rabindranath Tagore
• Satyajit Ray
• Jibanananda Das
• Adwaita Mallabarman
• Syed Mujtaba Ali
• Jasimuddin
• Sunil Gangopadhyay
• Dinesh Das
• Alokeranjan Dasgupta
• Joy Goswami
• Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay
• Sankarlal Bhattacharya
• Sanjib Chattopadhyay
• Shakti Chattopadhyay
• Subhash Mukhopadhyay (poet)
• Shankha Ghosh
• Nabaneeta Dev Sen
• Harsha Dutta
• Samaresh Majumdar
• Anil Ghorai
• Anita Agnihotri
• Bani Basu
• Dibyendu Palit

Notes

References

References

1. Oxford English Dictionary, “desh (n.),” September 2024, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/1488446373
2. (1971). "Annual Report of the Registrar of Newspapers for India". Office of the Registrar of Newspapers.
3. Chakrabarty, Dipesh. (2004). "Romantic Archives: Literature and the Politics of Identity in Bengal". Critical Inquiry.
4. Sivasankari. "Knit India Through Literature Volume II - The East - Bengali". Pustaka Digital Media Pvt. Ltd..
5. Dutta, Chaitali. (2008). "Information Literacy Competency and Readership Study of Five Specific Localities in Urban, Industrial and Semi-Urban Areas of Kolkata Metropolitan City". The University of Arizona.
6. Basu, Shrabani. (1999-03-18). "Sagarmoy Ghosh obituary". The Guardian.
7. Mohaiemen, Naeem. (April 1, 2013). "We wish to inform you: A history of censorship in Bangladesh (1972-2012)". South Asia Citizens Web.
8. Joseph, Amal. (2006). "Whose news?: the media and women's issues". Sage Publications.
9. "Boier desh — Desh".
10. Bhattacharya, Snigdhendu. (2021-07-31). "With Atideb Sarkar, ABP group gives India her youngest media baron".
11. "আমাদের সম্বন্ধে".
12. "Tradition takes tech leap". [[The Telegraph India]].
13. Nasrin, Taslima. (2018). "Split: A Life". [[Penguin Random House India]].
14. Chakrabarty, Dipesh. (2004). "Romantic Archives: Literature and the Politics of Identity in Bengal". Critical Inquiry.
15. (2016-02-06). "Swati Daftuar on how 'little' magazines make a big difference to the world of literature". The Hindu.
16. "BANGLA LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE – AND ROLE OF DESH PATRIKA IN ITS NINETY YEARS OF EXISTENCE".
17. Lahiri, Jhumpa. (2011). "The namesake". Fourth Estate.
18. Karmakar, Indrani. (2022). "Maternal fictions: writing the mother in Indian women's fiction". Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.
19. (2008). "The constant and changing faces of the goddess: goddess traditions of Asia". Cambridge Scholars Pub.