INTRODUCTION

Considered by many to be the most innovative writer of the Assamese short story, Saurav Kumar Chaliha (1930- ) is credited with having ushered the genre into modernity with his “Ashanta Electron” written around 1950. His stories are tempered by a cosmopolitanism that blends the complexities of the social order with a characteristic fascination for formalistic experimentation.


He won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1974 for his short story collection, Golam. In the year 1995, he was also honored with the ‘Assam Valley Literary Award’. But, the reclusive Chaliha has never cared for any formal recognition. In one of his award acceptance speeches, he went even further went he said, ‘I feel like an interloper.’ Writing under a pseudonym, he has never directly come into public limelight and continues to remain an enigma for his countless admirers to this day.


The bulk of his stories are contained in a few anthologies –

	Ashanta Electron (1962)
	Duporiya (1963)
	Ehat Daba (1972)
	Golam (1974)
	Golpo Nohoi (1988)
	Aji Sukrobar (1992)
	Abarudha Sahar (1994)
	Bhal Khobor (1998)
	Kabi (1999)
	Ekoish Sotika Dhemali Nohoi (2004)
	Janmadin (2005)
	Jonbiri (2006)
	Dron aru Goethe (2007)
	Nabajanma (2008)
	Marudyan (2009)
	and a few other recompilations like,
	Swa-Nirbasito Xonkolon (1994)
	Rachana Samagra (1999)
	Soi Dasakar Golpo (2001)
	Saurav Kumar Chaliha Rasanawali (2008) Many of these stories first appeared in Assamese magazines and literary journals like Banhi, Ramdhenu, Awahan, Sadin, Dainik Asom, Asom Bani etc....  and many have been translated into English, Bengali, Hindi, Telegu and Malayalam etc. and published in various Indian magazines and collections.