Saurabh Kumar Chaliha
Indian writer
Saurabh Kumar Chaliha (1930 – 25 June 2011) was the pen name of Assamese short story writer Surendra Nath Medhi. His short story collection Ghulam won the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award in 1974. Chaliha did not go to receive the award himself and it was later sent to him by the Akademi.
Biography
Chaliha was born in 1930 in the town of Mangaldoi in the Darrang District of Assam, India to Kaliram Medhi and Swarnalata Medhi. His father, Kaliram Medhi, was a prominent man of letters and had presided over the 1919 session of the Asam Sahitya Sabha. Noted Mathematician, Emeritus Professor of statistics at Gauhati University and Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology Jyotiprasad Medhi was his nephew as Medhi, though older to him, was the son of his elder half sister Kadambari Medhi (daughter of Kaliram Medhi) and her husband Binandi Chandra Medhi.
Chaliha started his school life in 1939 at Saint Mary's Convent School, Guwahati and later shifted to Cotton Collegiate School, from where he passed the Matriculation Examination. In 1946 Chaliha joined Cotton College for studying ISc. He was a brilliant science student and passed the exam with flying colors standing 5th in the state in 1948. Chaliha then opted for a Bachelor of Science (BSc) course in physics at Cotton College itself.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7427513. VIAF identifies the subject as 55920719. The Library of Congress control number is n97930658. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1930, 2011, 1974 and 1919.
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