Pioneer of Bengali science fiction Adrish Bardhan no more

Kolkata: Adrish Bardhan, science fiction writer, translator and editor died at the age of 87 at the Nilratana Sarkar Medical College and Hospital on Monday night.

He was suffering from age-related problems and admitted to the hospital where he breathed his last on Monday night. Bardhan was born in Kolkata and graduated in science from Calcutta University. He started his career as a purchase manager. He resigned from his job and started writing detective stories and science fictions.

His creation of detective Indranath Rudra and women detective Narayani and Professor Nut Boltu Chakra got huge popularity among the readers. Bardhan translated many English fictions and detective stories. In 1963, he edited Ascharya, the first science fiction magazine in India. Later, he was the Editor of Fantastic, another science fiction magazine.

Because of his inimitable style of writing Bardhan became a popular science fiction writer. He drew the attention of Bengali readers particularly the youngsters who fell in love with his detective stories.

He was one of the pioneers in the field of science fiction writing in vernacular in India. He will be remembered for many years because of his lucid language. He was associated with many science clubs.

He was awarded Kishore Gyan Bigyan Puroskar and Sudhindranath Raha puroskar for his contribution in Bengali science fiction.