Bengal has produced many luminaries, Social Reformers, Scientists, Freedom Fighters, Novelists, Poets et al. Many are now lost in hoary annals of history. Some amongst them are real oddities. They stand out for their rather unusual dispensation. Henry Louis Vivian Derozio (18 April 1809 – 26 December 1831), Poet and Assistant Headmaster of Hindu College, Kolkata was unique in many ways. Although, not many remember him, barring some in Bengal, History Students of Modern India, Civil Service Aspirants etc. But those who have read about him, his writings or researched him, seem to be mesmerized. At a time when the British determinedly started ruling India, authorities were inclined more towards conformity of prevailing forbearance. Religion was used as a tool of governance. It suited the British leaders to divide the laity on traditional Hindu – Muslim fault lines. Christianity started taking fresh roots, proselytization became the norm. Christianity was seen to be liberating and without the shackles of dogmatic Hinduism & Islam. It sought to apparently break away from the constraints of Casteism, which had long plagued Indian society. All in all, religion still seemed to still play a dominant role, in most of social discourse including governance. In such a milieu, Derozio appeared, seemingly out of almost nowhere, as a dazzling meteor! An exceptional persona who held sway over the then youth of Bengal. Seldom has Bengal, since seen, such overriding sensitivity. Especially when he was so much against religious dogmatism. Most Bengalis would either love him or hate him with equal gusto.
He was born on 18 April 1809 at Entally-Padmapukur in Kolkata. His parents were Francis Derozio, a Christian Indo-Portuguese office worker and Sophia Johnson Derozio, an Anglo-Indian woman. At early age, Derozio attended David Drummond, Dharmatala , Academy School, Calcutta( now Kolkata). He had been impressed with his early schooling for its liberal approach to education, particularly its choice to teach Indian, Eurasian, and European children from different social classes together. He was later impressed by David Drummond, who was known as a freethinker. Derozio was a successful student. The India Gazette and the Calcutta Journal noted his academic excellence, including many academic prizes and successful performances in student plays. While a student, he used to read poetry of his contemporaries, John Keats, Percy Shelley, and Lord Byron.
At the young age of 14, Derozio left school. He initially joined his father’s office in Kolkata, then shifted to his uncle’s Indigo factory in Bhagalpur. Inspired by the scenic beauty of river Ganges, he started writing poetry and was published in the India Gazette and many newspapers and periodicals. In 1827, the editor John Grant took notice of his poetry, offering to publish a book of his works. He soon became an assistant editor for Grant as well as published in several other periodicals. He also founded his own newspaper – the Calcutta Gazette. In May 1826, at age 17, he was appointed teacher in English literature and history at the new Hindu College. Derozio’s intense zeal for teaching and his interactions with students created a sensation at Hindu College. He organized debates where ideas and social norms were freely debated. In 1828, he motivated students to form a literary and debating club called the Academic Association. These were times when Hindu society in Bengal was undergoing significant upheaval. In 1828, Raja Ram Mohan Roy established the Brahmo Samaj, which kept Hindu ideals but denied Idolatry. This resulted in a backlash within orthodox Hindu society. Derozio, helped discuss the ideas for social change already in the air. Despite his youth, he was considered a great scholar and a thinker. Within a short period, he drew around him a group of intelligent boys in college. He constantly encouraged them to think freely, to question, and not to accept anything blindly. His teachings inspired the development of the spirit of liberty, equality, and freedom. They also tried to remove social evils, improve the condition of women and peasants, and promote liberty through freedom of the press, trial by jury, and so on. His activities brought about an intellectual revolution in Bengal. This was called the Young Bengal Movement and his students, also known as Derozians, were fiery patriots. However, there was a backlash from conservative parents who disliked his wide-ranging and open discussion of religious issues. Thus, Derozio was dismissed from his post in April 1831, shortly before his death. Derozio died of cholera at the age of 22, on 26 December 1831 in Calcutta. His body was buried in South Park Street Cemetery. In 1838, after his death, members of the Young Bengal movement, established a second society, called the Society for the Acquisition of General Knowledge. Its main objective was to acquire and disseminate knowledge about the condition of the country.
Derozio’s ideas had a profound influence on the social movement that came to be known as the Bengal Renaissance in early 19th century Bengal, despite being viewed as something of an iconoclast by Alexander Duff and other (largely evangelical) Christian Missionaries. In Duff’s Assembly’s Institution, Derozio’s ideas on the acceptance of the rational spirit were accepted, as long as they were not in conflict with basic tenets of Christianity and as long as they critiqued orthodox Hinduism. Derozio is generally believed to be partly responsible for the conversion of Hindus like Krishna Mohan Banerjee and Lal Behari Dey to Christianity. But it’s also said that only three Hindu pupils among his first group of students became Christians and he had no role to play in their change of faith. He points out that Derozio’s dismissal from teaching was sought not only by Hindus like Ramkamal Sen, but also by Christians such as H. H. Wilson. Many other students like Tarachand Chakraborti became leaders in the Brahmo Samaj. Derozio’s political activities have also been seen as crucially important to the development of a public sphere in Calcutta (now Kolkata) during British rule. The movement in Bengal however died down and today only a few remember this firebrand Poet, Teacher and Social commentator. Only on rare occasions, School/College Examination Papers in Bengal may require examinees to comment on – ‘Derozio aar totkalin hindu somaj’; (Meaning : Comment on Derozio and the then Hindu Samaj). A commemorative postage stamp of Derozio was issued on 15 December 2009.The rebel headmaster who galvanized Bengal….….. By Sidhartha Mukherjee
