Syed Abdul Malik

Syed Abdul Malik (1919) has been highly influenced by the techniques of Anton Chekhov and Guy de Maupassant. He uses a great variety of characters and brings them together neatly. He has been inspired by the techniques of Chekhov. His other collections include Parasmani, Ajani natun suwali, Rangagara and Moraha papari. His stories can be classified into two categories: romantic stories that connect him with the traditions of Bina Barua and Roma Das and socially conscious stories. His sympathy and compassion for the socially dispossessed is instinctive. He is an arch-romanticist and his socially conscious stories like Siu maril, Aghantar diary, Rangagara are tinged with a basic romantic attitude. Malik`s realism is invariably projected through romantic prisms. In Siu maril, the conflict with social environment is brought out; in Kathphula the women characters have been portrayed beautifully.

His stories are rich technically. He is a keen story-teller and an inspiring creator of character. His plots have a suspense motif. Pran haruar pisat is a successful story. Barakharar barasun depicts economic distress conflicting with self-respect. Whenever Malik writes of social discord or economic distress it is done with impassioned fervour. In Bibhatsa bedana lies a socially conscious though it was a controversial one due to its sexual overtones. Malik is the first author who introduced the "Chekhovian atmosphere"- slice of life technique type stories into Assamese language.

He passed away on December 20, 2000 at the age of 81. He has written sixty novels, eleven plays, five collections of poems, five books for children, three travelogues and thousand short stories. His popular novels are Adharshila; Doctor Arunabhor Asampurna Jivani; Kavitar Naam Labha, Aghari Atmar Kahini, Pran Samudra, Trisul, Dukhan Nadi aru Ekhon Marubhumi, Rup Tirhar Yatri and Dhanya Nara Tanu Bhaal. Some of his short story collections are Sikhare Sikhare, Ranga Gorah, Parashmani, Ejani Natun Sowali, Maraha Papori and so on.

One of his well known non fictitious work is Asamiya Zikir Aru Jari which is a monumental research work of Abdul Malik based on the life of the renowned Muslim saint Ajan Fakir who had visited Assam in the 17th century. Many of his works have been translated into major Indian languages. He was one of the members of Asom Sahitya Sabha, the oldest and most prominent literary society in North-east India, established in 1917. He has received the Padma Shri (1984) and Padma Bhushan (1992), and the prestigious state award Srimanta Sankaradeva Award (1999). He was also awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel, Aghari Atmar Kahini. He is the leading among the fiction writers of the pre as well as post World War period.