Poet Arun Chakraborty, who penned the timeless Bengali folk song Lal Paharir Deshe Ja, died of a heart attack on Friday night at his residence in Chinsurah, sources close to the family have said. He was 80 years old.

Chakraborty, an alumnus of Shibpur Engineering College, worked at Hindustan Motors while pursuing his passion for writing. He is survived by his widow, two sons, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren. His body will be placed in Rabindra Sadan, Chinsurah for fans to pay their tributes, following which he will be cremated at Sambabu Burning Ghat.

In the 1970s, while passing by the Serampore Railways Station, he saw a mahua tree, the sight of which seemed odd to him. A tree like mahua doesn’t belong in the land of paddy and potato but belongs to the red-soil landscape, he thought, thus penning the poem Lal Paharir Deshe Ja. It earned him widespread acclaim after being adapted into a song.

Composed and performed by Jhumur artist Subhas Chakraborty, Lal Paharir Deshe Ja became an anthem of Bengali folk culture. Arun Chakraborty’s death comes just a year after the demise of Subhas Chakraborty, who passed away in February, 2023.

In the 1990s, Bengali band Bhoomi popularised the song further with their rendition.

“Here was a poet who was truly without enemies. Whenever we met him, he would brighten everyone’s day by offering small toffees. For forty years, he had been spreading joy with those toffees. I always felt they were tokens of love, not meant to be eaten but preserved as keepsakes. I believe he must have been the person who bought the most toffees in the world. Not once did I hear him utter a harsh word about anyone,” poet Subodh Sarkar wrote on social media, paying homage to Chakraborty.

“In the world of Bengali poetry, where people praise each other in public but criticise behind closed doors, he stood apart as the only poet who never spoke ill of anyone. I don’t call him a Baul; I call him a Rishi—a sage,” Sarkar added.