- Novanita Sharma
“Forests are akin to the mother and protector of humanity. The benevolent forests have forgiven our countless mistakes and assaults, and have nurtured us like a mother. I strongly believe that sooner or later, humanity will experience the sense of gratitude towards forests.”
– Soumyadeep Datta ( Utbhashito Mayaban)
The art of literature connects our minds with the sublime aspects of this world, it carries us to new horizons of thoughts and realizations, and tempts our mental abilities to push beyond the known boundaries of our world. Among all the creative pursuits of human minds, the literary works of repute had the most profound impact on the intellectual and cognitive evolution of our civilizations, philosophies, and our cultures since ages. Many literary geniuses, writers, and thinkers have enriched this world of literature. Some of these literary works continues to serve as the cultural and intellectual milestones in our world. Utbhashito Mayaban, written by Soumyadeep Datta occupies a similar place in contemporary prakriti sahitya of Indian literature. This unputdownable forest-based travelogue is undeniably a literary milestone in Assamese literature and a trend setter in the genre of nature writing literature of the world.
Soumyadeep Datta has been awarded with the prestigious Dhrubajyoti Bora Sahitya Puraskar 2024, for ‘Utbhashito Mayaban’, his seminal work of prakriti sahitya. This was the fourth consecutive year of this literary award conferred by Northeast Foundation, a Trust dedicated to intellectual growth of Assam. Dr. Dhrubajyoti Bora, the critically acclaimed writer, and novelist of Assam, whose name adorns this prestigious award shares his words of appreciation for Soumyadeep Datta’s literary works in his inaugural speech during the ceremonial event of the Dhrubajyoti Bora Sahitya Puraskar 2024, held at the Kanaklal Baruah Auditorium of Assam State Museum at Guwahati, on 25th May 2025, he said “In honour of his contributions to the nature conservation movement, for his steadfast dedication to the cause and his devotion to literature, Northeast Foundation has selected him for this year’s award as a mark of appreciation and respect towards his work. Soumyadeep Datta and everyone in Nature’s Beckon owe gratitude from the people of Assam; whether it is regarding the Dihing Patkai National Park or the Chakrashila Wildlife Sanctuary, the firm footings of Soumyadeep Datta and Nature’s Beckon are clearly visible to all of us. And most importantly, along with all the activities like trainings and nature camps by the organisation, his narratives, and his literature has very effectively carried forward the knowledge, and awareness of wildlife conservation and environment protection amongst our younger generations. This is significant because the literature campaign gives permanence to the work. I believe, his book ‘Utbhashito Mayabon’ is an exceptional work of forest lore…..Soumyadeep Datta has penned numerous books related to forest, wildlife, and nature conservation; this year ‘Utbhashito Mayabon’ is been selected for the award because of the significant and exclusive contribution of this book in enriching the forest based writings in Assamese literature, and at the same time this book is been selected as a mark of appreciation for all the books penned by Soumyadeep Datta in this genre. We are delighted to find this opportunity to honour Utbhashito Mayabon with the award this year”.
‘Utbhashito Mayaban’ was published by Creative Design, Dibrugarh & Ganapati Prakashan in 2021. This forest-based travelogue by Soumyadeep Datta stands out in all aspects of literary essence. This exceptional book introduces the readers to the brilliance of Soumyadeep Datta’s deeply observant, sensitive, and respectful depiction of the beauty, and elegance of wilderness which often remains discounted in the anthropogenic viewpoint regarding forests and wildlife.
His lucid portrayals of myriad emotions, and emotional bonds from the unseen world of forest, discerned through his insightful understanding regarding the social structures of the denizens brings out a completely different reality to those who have distanced themselves from the living worlds of the forest. He wittily connects the readers with the inherent presence of love, respect, affection, pride, grief, enmity, brotherhoods, sisterhoods, family ties, allies, and even the sense of sacrifice, and empathy prevalent among the living beings residing in the primitive living spaces of our planet, whom we like to call as ‘wild animals’ with the unflinching conviction of human supremacy. This book elucidated a rarely sensed aspect of the pulsating living world that thrives within the forests, among the living beings who continued the primitive way of life, whose existence sustained the vibrant life force of this planet and supported the flourishing of our own race. The biological defensive mechanism within us, which constitute mainly the thoughts, perceptions, and psychological barriers in human beings have always driven us to consider the other species of this planet as our competitors, predators, and threats to our existence; this inbuilt psychological war against all other species finds clear reflection in our narratives regarding other species, other animals, and wildlife since a long time. After all literature represents the mental state of human beings, it conveys the unspoken evidence of our mental inclinations. ‘Utbhashito Mayaban’ is one landmark narrative in this regard.
This compelling narrative breaks many barriers, and sets the trend for not only a new perspective of prakriti sahitya, and literature, but also takes the lead in breaking the age-old psychological barrier of human beings against all other species of this planet. It challenges this psychological barrier propounded by our civilizations, and tends to liberate humanity from the bondage of these thought processes. Soumyadeep Datta deftly connects everyone with his deep sense of respect, compassion, gratitude, and reverence towards forests, and everything, every living being that makes a part of forests, which he relates as the most sacred ‘temples’ on Earth. He gave a refreshingly new perspective, an evolved and nuanced approach to connect with the natural world through this book; it presented a new mental window for human minds to overcome the fearful distance from everything which is perceived ‘wild’ by our civilizations, and move ahead progressively to lovingly, caringly connect with the immense beauty, humour, philosophy, and spirituality found within the forests. Soumyadeep Datta truly recreated the temples of forests with this narrative.
Utbhashito Mayaban connects the world with the literary genius of Soumyadeep Datta, who unravels the poet, the artist, and the deeply thoughtful naturalist in him through his unique style of writing, narration, and deliverance of ideals through this masterpiece of prakriti sahitya. This book epitomises the progressive growth of prakriti sahitya in Assamese literature, and sets a benchmark for purposeful work of literature by the creative world. It is in fact a great contribution to the repertoire of global nature writing literature, which may find a new direction in this genre with the newly found philosophical ideals of this book. This work of Soumyadeep Datta leaves no room of doubt that purposeful literature like prakriti sahitya can be a source of inner happiness, and pleasure apart from being an insightful, and thought-provoking literature that delves to activate actions among people for nature conservation.
Utbhashito Mayaban is a spellbinding narrative about the magical cosmos of forest and wilderness found amidst the thickets of Pakke Wildlife Sanctuary, Arunachal Pradesh. This book is an absolute page turner for the nature lovers, it elucidates the amazing observations skills of the author, and his mastery in the nature writing literature which has been elevated to a different level of craftsmanship with this book. The captivating poetic expression of the author put together with the objectivity of a lifelong wildlife conservationist has been beautifully captured in this book. It is difficult to find a second to this work in any other Indian languages, till date. This is a true masterpiece of prakriti sahitya which brings out the beauty, allure, and the spiritual depths of forest-based writings in prakriti sahitya.
Soumyadeep Datta has enriched our minds, our thoughts, our literary world with his illustrious work and the prowess of his literature, but most importantly he taught us to love forests and fight for the cause of our beloved forests. He inspired many like me to take up writing, and keep trying with our feeble and humble efforts to strengthen this movement to make people fall in love with the forests again, and again. The team of Nature’s Beckon, and ‘The Seed’, and I believe many forest lovers like us have found great motivation from the Northeast Foundation, Assam, for conferring the prestigious Dhrubajyoti Bora Sahitya Puraskar 2024 to Soumyadeep Datta for Utbhashito Mayaban. The people of Assam will remain indebted to intellectuals like Dr. Dhrubajyoti Bora and the Northeast Foundation for paving the way ahead for a purposeful literary journey of Assamese literature. Let this spirit of collective action to drive progressive prakriti sahitya and love for forests ignite the ocean of humanity across the world.