A noted poet, film director and playwright, Parvati Parsad Barua is considered as the cultural icon of Assam. He was a multi-talented person and was one of the pioneers of Assamese film industry. Popularly known as Geetikobi, which means lyrical poet, he was well-known for his lyrical poetry, which was mainly based on nature and portrays the rural life of Assam. He was born on 19th August 1904 in Sibasagar to Radhika Prasad Barua and Himala Devi, who were literatures.
Born to a family of tea planters, Parvati Parsad Barua had a luxurious childhood. He was the great-grand child of Jaduram Deka Barua, who wrote the first bilingual Assamese dictionary in the year 1839. Since a very tender age, Barua was engaged in various cultural activities as well as in fulfilling his literary quest. He started his initial education from Phuleswari School in Sibsagar and in the year 1921, he passed his matriculation exam from Government High School, Sibsagar. Later, he went to Guwahati to pursue higher education and enrolled in Cotton College. He passed Intermediate in Science (I.Sc.) and went to Kolkata for higher education. There he took admission in Scottish Church College and graduated from there. During his stay at Kolkata, he spent most of his time in watching dance dramas, plays and musical events based on the works of Rabindranath Tagore. These experiences played a major role in sharpening his skills, which later made him a famous lyricist of Assam.
At age of 10 years, Geetkobi, Parvati Prasad Barua played the role of Joimoti in a stage play, which fetched him a lot of accolades. In the year 1921, he started a hand written magazine named ‘Jhupitora’ and during the same time, together with his elder brother Bhagavati Prasad Baruva, who was known as the “Shelley of Assamese Poetry", established a literary organization named 'Bimalalaya'. This organization was established to promote Assamese literature and encourage the upcoming literatures and they held literary discussions on a regular basis. The organization started another hand written magazine by the name of ‘Ghar Jeuti’. During this time, Barua started composing lyrical poems and set them to the tune of different folk music of the state. In the year 1934, he tied the nuptial knot with Padma Kumari of Mongaldoi.
Since he belonged to the family of tea planters, it was easy for him to start his own tea garden and hence, in the year 1939, he started his own tea garden named Raidang Tea Estate and in the year 1947 bought Sonarie Tea Estate, which was owned by the British. Although, he got busy with the tea garden business, he did not leave his passion for literature, drama and music. During this time, he composed two dance dramas, named ‘Sonar Soleng' and ‘Lakhimi’. He mainly gained popularity as a cultural icon of Assam among the people after he directed, acted and produced the 4th Assamese film named Rupohi in the year 1940. He not just directed, acted and produced the film; he also composed the music of it. He was the one to give the name “bol sobi” to cinema and helped in bringing about a revolution in theatre of Assam. He also choreographed modern dances that were influenced by traditional Assamese dance forms, which proves that Parvati Prasad Barua was a versatile genius.
During the time of Chinese invasion in the year 1962, Barua together with Dr. Bhupen Hazarika travelled all over Guwahati to motivate the youth with patriotic songs. He wrote two collection of poetry named 'Khel Bhonga Khel’ and 'Bhonga Tukarir Sur'. During his lifetime, he wrote three books of lyrical poems, namely 'Sukula Dawor Oi Kohuwa Phul', 'Gungunani’ and 'Luiti'. This multifaceted artist passed away on 7th June 1964 after he suffered from five major strokes and remained bedridden from 1953 to 1964.
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