| Sananta Tanty | |
| Birth Date: | 4 November 1952 |
| Birth Place: | Kalinagar Tea Estate, Karimganj, Assam, India |
| Death Place: | New Delhi, India |
| Occupation: | Poet |
| Nationality: | Indian |
| Notableworks: | Kailoir Dinto Amar Hobo |
| Spouse: | Minati Tanty (m. 1986) |
| Children: | 2 |
| Awards: | Sahitya Akademi Award (2018) Assam Valley Literary Award (2017) |
| Alma Mater: | St. Anthony's College, Shillong Jorhat College, Jorhat Dibru College, Dibrugarh |
Sananta Tanty (4 November 1952 – 25 November 2021) was an Indian poet of Assamese literature. Tanty was born to an Odia family in Kalinagar Tea Estate. Tanty completed his secondary education at a Bengali-medium school but continued his literary works in the mainland Assamese language.[1] Tanty received numerous awards and distinctions, including the 2018 Sahitya Akademi Award for "Kailoir Dinto Amar Hobo" (Tomorrow Will be Ours), a collection of his poems.[2] [3] [4]
According to the website Asymptote, Tanty is "a chronicler of the times and an advocate for the downtrodden" and "a poet of change and of unbridled optimism".[5] [6]
Sananta Tanty was born on 4 November 1952 to Loke Nath Tanty and Baitarani Tanty in Kalinagar Tea Estate in the district of Karimganj of Assam, near the India-Bangladesh border.[7] He started his education at a primary school in Kalinagar Tea Estate and finished his secondary education in the science stream at Ram Krishna Vidyapeeth Senior Secondary School, Ram Krishna Nagar located 2km (01miles) away from his home in 1969. Sananta Tanty then went to Shillong to study at St. Anthony's College but had to discontinue his studies because his parents were unable to afford his education. He then went to work in Jorhat, where he attended night classes at Jorhat Amalgamated College, finally graduating from Dibru College (under Dibrugarh University) as a private candidate in 1975.
Tanty started his professional career as an employee of Assam Tea Employees' Provident Fund Organisation in Jorhat in 1971. Subsequently, he joined office of the Directorate of Information and Public Relations, Government of Assam, as a Sub-Divisional Information and Public Relations Officer in Guwahati. He then joined the Assam Tea Employees' Provident Fund Organisation as an officer in the Public Relations department and became Senior Public Relations Officer, finally retiring from service in 2012 as Deputy Provident Fund Commissioner. Tanty was given an extension for another one and a half years after his retirement as an Officer on Special Duties.
Sananta Tanty married Smt. Minati Tanty (formerly Minati Kakati) from North Lakhimpur on 18 February 1986. They had two sons; Swagat (born 1988) and Tathagat (born 1994). Tanty died on 25 November 2021 at the age of 69 in a private hospital in New Delhi. He suffered from cancer and was under treatment for a long time prior to his death.[8]
Positions Tanty held:
Works include:
His works have been translated into many languages in the country and abroad.
While growing up, Sananta Tanty read a lot of Bengali literature at home.[14] He portrays the emotions of a downtrodden people in elegant words and weaves verses of beautiful human poetry. Hope plays a big part in the poetry of Tanty as he conjures contrasting planes of thought into his works. The plight of the tea gardeners, their lives, a deep sense of longing along with a determined choice to elicit changes in their lives is prominent in verses of Tanty's poetry.[15] His left-wing radicalism and sensitivity made him a voice to be reckoned with.
During his time in Jorhat, Sananta Tanty came in contact with many prominent litterateurs of the state, which gave an urge to learn the Assamese language. He began writing for a magazine, then edited by Dr. Nagen Saikia and his penchant for words started gaining him notice. He is also credited with revolutionising the field of modern Assamese poetry and has emerged as an important voice within it. It is his indulgence in life of the ordinary people, prominence of society and politics upon which lies no pretense gives him legitimacy and stokes a romanticism for the working class and culture. He is one of the stalwarts in the state today in the field of literature.