Sananta Tanty, a well-known Assamese poet, died in the early hours of Thursday morning in New Delhi. He was 69 years old at the time.
The poet died at 3.25 a.m. today at Apollo Hospital in New Delhi, where he was receiving treatment.
Tanty received the Sahitya Akademi award in 2018. He had been suffering from a long-term ailment and was receiving treatment in the nation’s capital.
Tanty is “a chronicler of the times and an advocate for the downtrodden,” according to the website Asymptote, as well as “a poet of change and unbridled optimism.”
Sananta Tanty’s Early life
Sananta Tanty, a prominent Indian Assamese poet, was born on November 4, 1952, and his work is significant in Assamese literature.
Tanty was born on the Kalinagar Tea Estate to an Odia family. Tanty obtained his secondary education in a Bengali-medium school but continued to write in Assamese on the mainland. Tanty has won various awards and accolades, including the 2018 Sahitya Akademi Award for his collection of poems “Kailoir Dinto Amar Hobo” (Tomorrow Will Be Ours).
Tanty began his professional career in Jorhat in 1971 as an employee of the Assam Tea Employees’ Provident Fund Organization. He then worked as a Sub-Divisional Information and Public Relations Officer for the Government of Assam’s Directorate of Information and Public Relations in Guwahati. He subsequently went on to work for the Assam Tea Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation as a Public Relations officer, rising through the ranks to Senior Public Relations Officer until retiring in 2012 as Deputy Provident Fund Commissioner. Tanty’s tenure as an Officer on Special Duties was extended for another year and a half after he retired.
The Assamese poet community, as well as chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, have expressed their sorrow over the death of Sananta Tanty, one of the state’s greatest ‘Nakshatras,’ who inspired many with his poignant words and strong command of poetic diction.
