Kolkata: Renowned Bengali author Mani Sankar Mukherji popularly known as Sankar has been conferred D Litt (Honoris Causa) by Bankura University on Thursday for his contribution to Bengali literature.
The honour was handed over to Sankar by the University Vice-Chancellor Prof Deb Narayan Bandyopadhyay. He was reminiscing his early days as a writer and said: "I feel so happy that you have thought it worthwhile at the fag-end of my life to bestow this honour on me which my mother did not live long enough to see."
Sankar has written over 80 novels, short stories, travelogues, biographies and historical pieces. Oscar winning film director Satyajit Ray made two films based on Mukherji's novels — Seemabaddha and Jana Aranya. Mukherji's first book based on the last days of the last British Barrister in Calcutta was serialised in a weekly magazine from 1954 and created a literary sensation across India. This was followed by 'Chowringhee', a novel on the city's hotel life, which has found a worldwide readership and admiration through translations.
The translations of his novels and biographies have appeared in many languages across India, as also in other nations like Britain, France, Italy, Spain and China. It may be mentioned Sankar was also awarded an honorary D Litt by the University of North Bengal.