Banalata Sen (book)

Banalata Sen () is a collection of poems by Jibanananda Das. During Das's lifetime, it was published twice: first time in Poush 1349 Bengali calendar (December 1942 AD) with a cover by Sambhu Shaha including 12 poems, and second time in Srabon 1359 Bengali calendar (1952 AD) an enlarged version with a cover by Satyajit Ray including 30 poems. Das named the volume after the poem: "Banalata Sen", one of Das's finest poems, certainly his most popular. The enlarged edition published by Signet Press was awarded in 1953 at the Nikhil Banga Rabindra Sahitya Sammelan (All Bengal Rabindra Literature Convention). The recurring themes in the poems of this volume are love, nature, time, temporariness of life and love, etc. Above all, a historical sense pervades everything. The names that frequent in many poems are Suchetana, Suranjana, Sudarshana and Syamali and these women are deemed above or beyond women in general. In these poems, the love Das talks about crosses the boundaries of time and place and sometimes seems impersonal too.