Three colleagues in a software company discover a common bond with Bengali little magazines. What do they do? Build a website to preserve Bengali little magazines, of course.
Srishtisandhan (www.srishtisandhan.com) started as a small project by software professionals Gopal Krishna Ghosh, Bhaskar Mukherjee and Purbasa Dutta, in 2003. "Each of us was related to the world of little magazines in some way, so we thought of doing something that would add value to little magazines. And since we were working with software, the idea of a website came first," said Ghosh. Sometime later, another enthusiast, Supreo Phani, came on board.
Websites devoted to Bengali literature are few and far between, and almost none when it comes to little magazines. "Works of more well-known authors still get some attention, but those published in little magazines are difficult to access," Ghosh offered.
From a handful, the collection has now grown to around 350 magazines, selections from which and their contact details are provided on the site. Little magazine book fairs and scholars working on the subject form Srishtisandhan’s sources.
"I am not aware of this site but any such effort at promoting and preserving little magazine deserves kudos. It was through little magazines that we got authors like Utpal Kumar Basu and Sandipan Chattopadhyay," said poet Joy Goswami.
Nabarun Bhattacharya’s Herbert, the film version of which recently kicked up a controversy, was also first published in a little magazine.
"Through a website, little magazines can reach any part of the world and it is heartening to see sites like this come up," offered Sandip Dutta who has been running the Little Magazine Library since 1978.
The response to the website has been "very encouraging" with hits not only from countries like US and UK, but also from Papua New Guinea, Japan, Israel, New Zealand and Saudi Arabia. "The country count has grown to 32 and the number of clicks are increasing every month," Ghosh said.
After little magazines, the site has branched out into photography, art and music. "We have collected around 800 photographs and have been holding a photo exhibition at the Calcutta Book Fair," Ghosh said.
The idea is to "ultimately have a common platform where the website acts a resource for those wanting to know more in these areas".
Almost Rs 2.5 lakh has so far been spent on the project in setting up equipment and preserving the material. But more than funds, finding time is a tougher task for the website managers, who are all married and hold day jobs.
"Some people suggested that we form advisory groups, but we want to do this by ourselves since it’s a matter of the heart," signed off Ghosh.
