Raj Nandan Lal Das (1934-2021): A Profile

Shri Raj Nandan Lal Das (1934-2021) was known for his significant contribution to the advancement of Maithili literature and language. People knew him as the editor of the Maithili quarterly magazine, Karnamrit, but I knew him as my grandfather. A pen in hand, pages strewn about his desk, his silhouette against the warm desk lamp—reading, editing, reviewing—is how I remember him. It is difficult to condense his entire life into a single essay.

My grandfather knew grief before he knew himself. Losing his mother at the tender age of five, his childhood was spent in his village of Ganoun in the Darbhanga district of Bihar. Finishing his matriculation from a school in Pandaul, Darbhanga, he went to Kolkata in 1949 to pursue higher education. He graduated from Calcutta University with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics. He taught younger kids to help finance his own education. After finishing his Master’s degree in Political Science in 1960 and after getting a diploma in sales management and market research, he joined a private company as a marketing manager.

His interest in the arts and literature was evident in his involvement as a secretary in various Maithili organisations, including Akhil Bhartiya Mithila Sangha (1962) and Mithila Sangram Samiti (1967). With an unflinching work ethic and little time on his side, he co-published a Maithili journal in 1967 named Aakhar, which ran for a year. Aakhar is the Maithili word for akshar, meaning letter.

A card-holding member of the Communist Party of India until 1967, his politics leaned to the left. In this context, he wrote the Maithili play Santo in the year 1968. Santo is centred on the titular naïve schoolboy, Santo, who comes to question the politics of language and identity. The play premiered on the occasion of Vidyapati-Smriti Parva on December 15, 1968, at the Calcutta University Institute, staged by the All India Maithili Sangh.

Raj Nandan Lal Das (1934-2021). Image Courtesy: Author

Santo (1968). Courtesy: Author

He, along with his associates Shri Arjun Lal Karn, Shri Nirshan Labha, and Shri Narayana Prasad Karn, started the Maithili quarterly journal, Karnamrit, in 1981. Covering Maithili literature, grammar, book reviews, play reviews and information on any and every literary activity, Karnamrit has been in publication for the last 40 years. Inviting works of poetry, prose and essay in Maithili from all over, the journal has made a significant contribution in giving a platform to a myriad of Maithili writers.

Pick up any issue of Karnamrit, and you find yourself perusing a journal that has been put together deliberately and diligently. Filled with poems, essays, discourse and Madhubani paintings, you are drawn into a world where the language, if you are from Bihar, reminds you of home or at the very least, of something familiar. You did not have to be widely known to be immortalised into the pages of the journal; original and passionate writing were the only requirements for the works that were published. His 9-to-5 took him across the country, and along with him would come the latest edition of Karnamrit in his attempt to distribute and publicise the journal as much as possible. Some other published works of his include character studies of the famed novelist Munshi Raghunandan Lal Das (1983) and Shree Bholaram Das, reverently referred to as Mithila Dadhichi (1970).

Original Madhubani art featured in the magazine. Courtesy: Author

Karnamrit 50th Independence Day Edition (1997). Courtesy: Author

Karnamrit Special Women’s Edition (2011). Courtesy: Author

His work was not limited to literature; those who knew him personally would tell you how he had his share of struggles and challenges, personal and professional. Losing his wife in 2015, he lost a partner and friend of over 60 years. He would jokingly say, or at least we thought he was joking, that he would also leave the world once he was done with the five years of barkhi (annual death anniversary rituals) for my grandmother. A man of his word, he passed away on 4 July, 2021, surrounded by his family. He died as he lived—with quiet resolve, leaving behind a legacy that I am still discovering new facets of every day.

About the Author

An aspiring writer currently based in Delhi, Anjali Bharti is interested in anything and everything related to Bihar, food, gender, history and culture.

The professional aspect of a man’s life can hardly ever be separated from the personal. What he did on the public stage is evocative of how he was in his private life as well—resilient, kind and driven. He got married to Shreemati Rajeshwari Das nëe Mallik, my grandmother, in 1953. Together they raised five daughters. Growing up, his daughters used the term ‘chacha’ (uncle) to refer to him instead of the usual ‘Papa’. When I ask his daughters for the reason behind it, they tell me that every time someone with even a sliver of connection to his ancestral village would turn up in Kolkata, my grandfather would do everything he could to make sure they had a place to live. The people he helped settle down would lovingly call him chacha, leading to his daughters concluding what he should be called. My grandfather would not have been the man that he was if my grandmother was not the woman that she was. The works that he published, the magazine that he kept in business, the people he took in into his home in Kolkata—none of that would have been conceivable without his wife holding the fort down at home, feeding everyone who came in, known or unknown.

Continuing his tryst with Maithili literature, in 2003, he went on to write Chitra-Vichitra, a collection of essays and reflections on language, politics and identity. The work is critical as well as exalting of the world we live in today. His works and contributions have been recognised by various organisations, including Mithila Sanskritik Parishad (2004), Chitragupta Sabha Patna (2004) and Vidyapati Smarak Manch Kolkata (2008).

Chitra Vichitra (2003). Courtesy: Author

SHARE THIS POST

Get in Touch

Contact

info@biharvisualarchive.in

© 2026 Bihar Visual Archive & Lab. All rights reserved

Follow us

Send a Message

Join our Mailing List