Balai Chand Mukhopadhyay (19 July 1899 – 9 February 1979) was a Bengali novelist, short story writer, playwright, poet, and physician who wrote under the pen name of Banaphul (meaning "the wild flower" in Bengali). He was a recipient of the civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan. He is most noted for his short vignettes, often just half-page long, but his body of work spanned sixty five years and included "thousands of poems, 586 short stories, 60 novels, 5 dramas, a number of one-act plays, an autobiography called Paschatpat (Background), and numerous essays."