Celebrated author and researcher Panna Lal Roy’s memoir, a treasure trove of Tripura’s past
Panna Lal Roy
March 10, 2026
The celebrated British Victorian novelist George Meredith (1828-1909) had pithily defined personal memoirs as ‘backstairs of history’. History is never really buried in oblivion , it revisits us and is always in motion in our present lives in changed events and experiences with the kernel of content remaining the same. This perceptive definition sharply focuses on historical value of personal memoirs, provided they are true to facts and not an exercise in post-facto rationalization of events that confronted one in life. While reflecting on memoirs, reviewers are constantly reminded of late intellectual stalwart Nirad C. Chowdhury’s famed memoir ‘The Autography of an Unknown Indian’ or nobel-laureate Rabindra Nath Tagore’s ‘Jibon Smriti’ (Life Memory’) or French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau’s celebrated ‘La Confession’, published posthumously in 1782.
This long-winded prefacing may appear to be irrelevant to the uninitiated, but Tripura’s prolific author and researcher Panna Lal Roy’s 264-page autobiography titled ‘Na Bola Anek Katha’ (many untold stories) provides to the reader a lucid account of his lived experiences in life in Tripura . Can the people among us who swear by virtue and adherence to truth in life also have many unspoken and unrecorded truths hidden in the inmost cells of their hearts-a large portion of it, truly unspeakable but still there are truths and experiences that are relatable at a Roy who has authored at least fifteen authentically researched books on Tripura’s history, culture , politics and multiple facets of life and society in Northeastern region has captured in his autobiography the major historical events in this state seen through the prism of a dispassionate observer in his life. His school days were passed in Kailasahar, now the headquarter of Unakoti district, where he had a ringside view of quiet, uneventful life and society stirred by the tragedy of police firing on a politically organized mob agitating for adequate food supply in 1967 as well as his experiences as a school student.
The author’s family also had a home in Jaynagar area of Agartala when he was in teens and the experience of his shuttling between Agartala and Kailasahar interspersed by family visits to his place of origin in Bangladesh may ignite a bout of nostalgia in the minds of many in Tripura. Having completed his college education Roy came in contact with many stalwarts of state politics including chief ministers as an employee and then officer of the Information department , He has given a eye-witness account of his intimate experiences of individuals, institutions and events in the political landscape of the state over the past half a century. Roy’s work of love leaves a reader with an avid nostalgia over the past in Tripura and his tales of travels in different parts of peninsular India . By now a happy grandfather leading a life of retirement from government service, Panna Lal Roy remains alive and kicking in his chosen arena of specialization-recreating authentic accounts of the past by dint of his creative mind and pen or , for that matter, the computer. Many crucial events in the socio-political arena of the state as it gradually transitioned from being a union territory to a full-fledged state come alive from author Panna Lal Roy’s creative rendition in print.
In the ultimate analysis the success of any creative venture depends on its acceptability to the targeted audience or readership. The author and researcher Panna Lal Roy’s ‘Na Bola Anek Katha’ (many untold stories) has already hit the stands and is expected to find favour with readers inquisitive to learn about post-merger Tripura and how the state has evolved into its present stage through a process of socio-economic and political changes and a chain of crucial events. Published and printed on glossy paper by Kamana Deb of ‘Gharana Publication’, Roy’s autography shall remain an important contribution to the literary genre it belongs to.
(Tripurainfo)
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