Nilkamal Brahma: His Life and Literary Works

Nilkamal Brahma, known by the emperor of Bodo short stories, was an Indian well-known Bodo short story writer, poet, film script writer, grammarian and teacher by profession. He is best known for his short story book ‘Silingkhar’, which was published in 1972 and awarded Rangsar Literary Award in 1998 by Bodo Sahitya Sabha.

He was born on 27th August 1944 at Chatta Adabari village of Kokrajhar district, Assam to Bodo speaking family Mahendra Chandra Brahma and Maneswari Brahma. He breathed his last on 28th November 1998 by suicide.

Nilkamal started his early education from his village. He passed his higher secondary in 1965 from Kokrajhar Government H. S. School. And then he joined for his higher study in Kokrajhar Government College, Kokrajhar and passed Bachelor of Arts with Political Science honours in 1968.

In 1971, He completed his master’s degree in Political Science from Gauhati University, Guwahati. He started his jobs as a teacher from Kokrajhar Government H.S. School, and then he served as a principal till his death.

Nilkamal Brahma started his journey in literature by focusing on the world around him. He always paid attention to how villagers lived, ran their families, how they behaved each other, and how their attitudes were changing.

At first, he wrote short stories for mouthpieces and souvenirs. His short stories often depicted villagers households and their behaviors. These short stories became quite popular and were later published as books. Literary critics recognized him as a skilled and mature short story writer.

Brahma was a most influential Bodo short story writer. He has written six books of short stories, they are including – Hagra Guduni Mwi (1972), Silingkhar (1972), Sirinai Mandar (1985), Sakhondra (1987) and Mem Daodwi was published in 1995.

He was a teacher, so he always noticed the absence of Bodo books for Bodo medium students. He also wrote some of the grammar books that Bodo students needed in school. The grammar books for Bodo medium school he wrote Ronsai Bithun, Boro Raokhanti etc.

He was also a novelist. He wrote a couple of novels based on the half history of the Bodos and legends. His most popular novel books are Maoriya (1980) and Sandw Baodiya.

As a translator, he translated few books. His translation books are-Swnabni Solo, Adwi Thomni Dera.

His only single poetry book ‘Ang Dabw Adom: Eveni Roje’ was published in 1994 by the pen name of Bikram. He made a name for himself as a greatest poet through this poetry. Many critics have praised his work, calling it a noble creation.

His jointly compilation dictionary book with Heramba Narzary Anglo Bodo Dictionary was published in 1986.

He was also edited some books and magazines, some of these books are including – Abir, Aronai, Phungka and Danali etc.

He worked for the Bodo film and culture just as much as he did for the literature. He was also a thinker in the early days of Bodo cinema. He talked with his friends about what films should be like, even though he wasn’t acting in or directing any of them.

He has written screenplay for the Bodo language films like Alayaron (1986), the first Bodo feature film in the history of Bodo cinema, Dahal and Songalee (2002).

The romantic and horror film Songalee (The Spy) directed by Khanin Bodosa, and featured by Swapan Narzary, Umesh Brahma and Ringkumoni Narzary.

Nilkamal Brahma was a noted short story writer, poet and novelist. He wrote several short stories of high quality that have been compared by literary critics to other English-language stories. His short story creations have brought glory and great contribution to the field of Bodo literature. He has been named the ‘Emperor of Bodo Short Story’ for creating such high-quality short stories.