Gunter Grass and his Relation with Kolkata

Abstract

One item in The Statesman newspaper read: "Nobel For A Part Calcuttan" after Günter Grass received the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature. All three of the writer's visits to the city a brief excursion in 1975, a stay of over five months in 1986–1987, and a return in 2005 were characterized by the headline. It was 1975 when Günter Grass first set foot in India. His stay in India was brief because he was invited to give a speech in New Delhi by the Indian government. The talk, titled "According to Rough Estimates," shamelessly attacked the government's failure to address poverty.

It's not a simple connection to put into words, because being in each other's presence has brought about equal parts joy and rebellion. Calcutta, or Kolkata as it is now known, had mixed feelings for Grass, who passed away on April 13th in Germany at the age of 87. In an interview with film producer Mrinal Sen that took place in 1975, Grass allegedly referred to Calcutta as "God's excrements." In his book "My Broken Love: Günter Grass Through India and Bangladesh," Martin Kampchen describes this episode in detail. The 1984 interview with Subhoranjan Dasgupta, a journalist, revealed that Calcutta "changed me radically" according to Grass.