West Bengal elections 2021: Manoranjan Byapari, a rickshaw puller, cook to an iconic writer in the fray

Kolkata: In an assembly elections dominated by celebrities from the entertainment industry and political turncoats in West Bengal, Manorajan Byapari stands out like a major exception. The 70-year-old pioneer of Dalit literature in the state is a perfect example of someone who has seen life of the backward class as well as marginal people of the society as an insider - and now wants to do his bit for them as a ‘‘people’s representative.’’

A Trinamool Congress candidate from Balagarh constituency in Hogghly, Byapari has hit the campaign trail with gusto - drawing impressive crowd at his rallies and trying to avoid the political cliches in his speech. ‘‘Well, I couldn’t change the society by winning awards for writing. Let me see if I can do something in this new role for people in the lower strata of the society,’’ said Byapari, whose autobiographical work Itibritte Chandal Jiban (Interrogating my Chandal Life) won the The Hindu Award for Non-Fiction in 2018 while he was honoured by the Bengal Sahitya Academy in 2014 for his contribution to literature.

In a somewhat chequered writing career spanning over nearly four decades, he has authored a dozen novels, several of which have been translated to English, Malayali and a number of other Indian languages, over a hundred short stories apart from essays. Batashe baruder gondho (There’s gunpowder in the air), one of his more famous novels, caught the fancy of Naseeruddin Shah so much that he wanted to make a film out of it where he would play a key character - but the project had to be shelved due to the pandemic.

Yet, Byapari is not quite the archetype of a celebrated writer - far from it. It was sitting in jail for pursuing the Naxal ideology under famous labour activist Shankar Guha Niyogi in his early 20s that he taught himself to read and write. Thereafter, he has worked as rickshawpuller in the southern suburbs of Kolkata for 10 years to make ends meet, then worked as a cook in a government run school for more than two decades - before the West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee ordered a posting for him as a librarian in a public library last year.

For any other politician pulling a rickshaw to the district administration office to file nominations for the election could have been interpreted as an electoral gimmick - but Byapari had no qualms about doing it earlier this week. ‘‘Yes, it’s a reminder to myself and the people about my roots. It’s gesture unlike someone’s claim of selling tea at a railway station (no prizes for guessing, the dig is at Prime Minister Narendra Modi,’’ the plain-speaking Byapari told Gulf News during an exclusive interview.

Fair enough, but what made him opt for the Trinamool offer at an election when the party is fighting tooth and nail to combat the ill-effects of anti-incumbency and charges of corruption? With refreshing candour, he says: ‘‘If you look at my journey, you will realise that Trinamool was not a natural choice for me. The CPI(M)-led Left Front government never came up with any offer even though I worked for years at a government school as a cook. I had asked them repeatedly to put me on a less stressful job so that I could focus on my writing a bit more. I had also a diabetic and undergone knee replacements, hence it was really an ordeal for me to work in the community kitchen in such heat.’’

A bit of relief came when the West Bengal government posted him in a white collar job in a library where he could at least pursue his writing among things he loves the most - books. ‘‘See, Mamata Banerjee may be a Rightist politician but very few can deny that throughout her life, she had looked after the interests of the common people and had been always accesible to them. There had been a slew of development projects over the last few years, but nobody is talking about it,’’ he said.

Well, I now attend events like the Jaipur literary festival and stay at good hotels there courtesy the organisers, but life will never really change for people like me. That is the impossible truth

- Manoranjan Byapari, Dalit writer-turned-politician

It was during his life as a rickshawpuller that Byapari a chance encounter with Mahasweta Devi, the celebrated author and activist, one day. ‘‘She took my rickshaw as a passenger and I had casually asked her about the meaning of a difficult Bengali word which I came across. She enquired about my reading habits and when told about my writing hobbies, she asked me to contribute to her journal Bartika. So, you can say a small essay in her magazine about my vocation was actually my first published work,’’ he recalled with a laugh.

However, hasn’t the quality of his life improved after all the recognition and of course, the royalty from the books? ‘‘Well, I now attend events like the Jaipur literary festival and stay at good hotels there courtesy the organisers, but life will never really change for people like me. That is the impossible truth,’’ said Byapari, referring to his dalit roots.

What is his plan of action should he win the Balagarh seat? ‘‘I am sure of winning given the way people have responded to my rallies. Me and my wife will base ourselves at the constituency to be among its people. My doors will always be open for them,’’ he added.