Poet, short story writer and novelist, Biman Saha was born in a poor middle class family in Kolkata in 1951. His ancestral house was at Mirpur, Dhaka, in an undivided Bengal, now in Bangladesh. Displaced from their motherland just before independence, the entire Saha family settled in Calcutta. Mr Saha’s parents struggled hard to set up their family at a new place leaving behind everything they possessed.

Biman was brought up in poverty, scarcity and a perpetual struggle for survival. However, he was a bright scholar. He received a B.Com degree from the University of Calcutta in 1972. He also attended the Law College to attain an LLB degree subsequently.

In his early childhood, Biman never wanted to go to school. He still remembers his first day at school: he burst into tears and wanted to get out of the place immediately. This antipathy to formal education and institutions remained with him till his last day at college.

After graduation Biman got a government job as a trainee Development Officer at Jhargram, West Bengal. He was responsible for educating the adult, cleaning of the local hospital, and community market, teaching of young boys and girls, etc. He enjoyed his work. After a year he joined the Indian Railways. During his tenure there he cleared both the All India Railway Audit Service and Intermediate ICWA.

During his days in the Railways, Biman found his true calling. He started doing some creative work, which had been his lifelong desire. He started writing poems and short stories, performing in amateur theatre productions, publishing a little magazine and participating in every literary and cultural event carried out by the cultural wing of the Railways. It was at this time that Biman, along with some friends began publishing a little magazine titled Rabindranath. Soon Bhasha Binyas, a publishing house, was founded by them to promote progressive and experimental literature.

This period is significant because it allowed Biman to introspect and meditate. All he was looking for was the ultimate truth of human life. Along with some friends, he started studying about the philosophy of life. They discussed the major works of some great thinkers, writers and artists including Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore, Einstein and Charlie Chaplin to comprehend the nature of their idiosyncratic ways of arriving at the truth. Soon Biman’s love for and devotion to the immortal works of Rabindranath Tagore overshadowed his admiration of all other titans.

He was with the Indian Railways for more than ten years since 1978. In 1988 he joined a Public Sector Undertaking under the Ministry of Railways and continued therein till his retirement. During his service in the PSU he had been posted in Bangladesh for six and half years (1989-1995). His upcoming novel is about Bangladesh. There he has tried to portray the country’s beautiful nature, the simple poor people, their hospitality and the impact of socio economic conditions on their daily life.

Mr. Saha is attached with Bhalopahar, an NGO, at Purulia Bandwan, West Bengal. He is also one of the executive body members of the prestigious New Town Book Fair at New Town. This is the second largest book fair in West Bengal after the renowned Kolkata International Book Fair.

Alone on the Aisle first published by RIK PRAKASHANI in Calcutta, is his fourth title. He has already added two collections of short stories and a book of poems (Praner Opare, Beyond Life published by RIK PRAKASHANI in 2019) in his kitty.

At present, he is a practising lawyer at Calcutta High Court.