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Mahasweta Devi

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Mahasweta Devi (14 January 1926 – 28 July 2016)<ref name=ram>Detailed Biography Template:Webarchive Ramon Magsaysay Award.</ref><ref name="Hawley2001">Template:Cite book</ref> was an Indian Bengali language writer and activist.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Her notable literary works include Hajar Churashir Maa, Rudali, and Aranyer Adhikar.<ref name=HinduCurtain>Template:Cite news</ref> She was a leftist who worked for the rights and empowerment of the tribal people (Lodha and Shabar) of West Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh states of India.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She was honoured with various literary awards such as the Sahitya Akademi Award (in Bengali), Jnanpith Award and Ramon Magsaysay Award along with India's civilian awards Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan.<ref name="hindu">Template:Cite news</ref>

Early life and educationEdit

Mahasweta Devi was born in a Brahmin family<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> on 14 January 1926 in Dacca, British India (now Dhaka, Bangladesh). Her father, Manish Ghatak, was a poet and novelist<ref name="Panth 2016">Template:Cite news</ref> of the Kallol movement, who used the pseudonym Jubanashwa (Template:Langx).<ref name="Sethi2012">Template:Cite book</ref> Ghatak's brother was filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak.<ref name="Hindu28Jul16">Template:Cite news</ref> Devi's mother, Dharitri Devi, was also a writer and a social worker<ref name="Panth 2016" /> whose brothers include sculptor Sankha Chaudhury and the founder-editor of Economic and Political Weekly of India, Sachin Chaudhury.

Devi's first schooling was in Dhaka,<ref name="Panth 2016" /> Eden Montessori School (1930). After that, she moved to West Bengal (now in India).<ref name="Panth 2016" /> Then she studied in Mission Girls' High School, Midnapore (1935). After that she was admitted to Santiniketan (1936 to 1938). After that, she studied at Beltala Girls' School (1939-1941) where she finished her matriculation. Then in 1944 she got I.A. from Asutosh College. She attended Rabindranath Tagore-founded Visva-Bharati University and completed a B.A. (Hons) in English, and then finished an M.A. in English at Calcutta University.<ref name="Panth 2016" />Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

CareerEdit

Literary worksEdit

Devi wrote over 100 novels and over 20 collections of short stories<ref name="Chatterjee 2020">Template:Cite news</ref> primarily written in Bengali but often translated to other languages.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Her first novel, titled Jhansir Rani, based on a biography of the Rani of Jhansi was published in 1956.<ref name="Panth 2016" /> She had toured the Jhansi region to record information and folk songs from the local people for the novel.<ref name=HinduCurtain/>

Mahasweta Devi's specialisation lay in the studies of Adivasi, Dalit and Marginalized citizens with a focus on their women. They were associated as protestor in the face of British colonialism, the Mahajanas and upper class corruption and injustice. She lived in the Adivasi villages in West Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh years after years, befriending them and learning from them. She has embodied their struggles and sacrifices in her words and characters.<ref name="Panth 2016" /> She had claimed that her stories aren't her creation, they are the stories of the people of her country. Such an example is her work "Chotti Mundi Ebong Tar Tir".

In 1964, she began teaching<ref name="Panth 2016" /> at Vijaygarh Jyotish Ray College (an affiliated college of the University of Calcutta system). In those days Vijaygarh Jyotish Ray College was an institution for working-class women students. During that period she also worked—as a journalist<ref name="Panth 2016" /> and as a creative writer. She studied the Lodhas and Shabars, the tribal communities of West Bengal, women and dalits. In her elaborate Bengali fiction, she often depicted the brutal oppression on the tribal people and untouchables by the powerful authoritarian upper-caste landlords, money-lenders, and venal government officials.Template:Sfn She wrote of the source of her inspiration:

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I have always believed that the real history is made by ordinary people. I constantly come across the reappearance, in various forms, of folklore, ballads, myths and legends, carried by ordinary people across generations. ... The reason and inspiration for my writing are those people who are exploited and used, and yet do not accept defeat. For me, the endless source of ingredients for writing is in these amazingly noble, suffering human beings. Why should I look for my raw material elsewhere, once I have started knowing them? Sometimes it seems to me that my writing is really their doing.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>{{#if:|{{#if:|}}

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Postcolonial scholar Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak has translated Devi's short stories into English and published three books Imaginary Maps (1995, Routledge), Old Woman (1997, Seagull), The Breast Stories (1997, Seagull).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Social activityEdit

Mahasweta Devi raised her voice several times against the discrimination suffered by tribal people in India.<ref name=HinduCurtain/> Devi's 1977 novel Aranyer Adhikar (Right to the Forest) was about the life of Birsa Munda.<ref name=HinduCurtain/> And in June 2016, consequent to Devi's activism, the Jharkhand State Government finally saw to the removal of the manacles from the figure of Munda, which had been part of the commemorative sculpture of the notable young tribal leader due to its having been based on a photograph dating from the era of British rule.

Devi spearheaded the movement against the industrial policy of the earlier Communist Party of India (Marxist) government of West Bengal. Specifically, she stridently criticised confiscation from farmers of large tracts of fertile agricultural land by the government which then ceded it to industrial houses at throwaway prices. She supported the candidature of Mamata Banarjee in the 2011 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election which resulted in the end of the 34-year long rule of CPI(M).<ref name="IE29Jul16">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Panth 2016" /> She had connected the policy to the commercialisation of Santiniketan of Rabindranath Tagore, where she spent her formative years. Her lead in the Nandigram agitation resulted in a number of intellectuals, artists, writers and theatre workers joining in protest of the controversial policy and particularly its implementation in Singur and Nandigram.<ref name=HinduCurtain/>

She is known to have helped the noted writer Manoranjan Bypari to come into prominence as his initial writings were published in her journal and as prompted by her.

At the Frankfurt Book Fair 2006, when India was the first country to be the Fair's second time guest nation, she made an impassioned inaugural speech wherein she moved the audience to tears with her lines taken from the famous film song "Mera Joota Hai Japani" by Raj Kapoor.Template:Sfn

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This is truly the age where the Joota (shoe) is Japani (Japanese), Patloon (pants) is Englistani (British), the Topi (hat) is Roosi (Russian), But the Dil... Dil (heart) is always Hindustani (Indian)... My country, Torn, Tattered, Proud, Beautiful, Hot, Humid, Cold, Sandy, Shining India. My country.Template:Sfn{{#if:|{{#if:|}}

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In 1997, president Shankar Dayal Sharma commuted two death sentences after Devi led a petition campaign.<ref name="Chishti 2015">Template:Cite news</ref> In 2012, she was one of more than 215 signatories, along with Nandita Das, Aamir Bashir, and Anusha Rizvi, to a petition delivered to president Pranab Mukherjee that opposed the death penalty after the conviction of Ajmal Kasab following the 2008 Mumbai attacks and instead favoured life imprisonment.<ref name="Janwalkar 2012"/> The letter stated, "In the land of Buddha, Mahavira and Gandhiji, let it not be said there is no place in our hearts for mercy."<ref name="Janwalkar 2012">Template:Cite news</ref>

Personal lifeEdit

On 27 February 1947, she married renowned playwright Bijon Bhattacharya, who was one of the founding fathers of the Indian People's Theatre Association movement.<ref name="Hindu28Jul16" /> In 1948, she gave birth to Nabarun Bhattacharya, who became a novelist and political critic.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She worked in a post office but was fired for her communist leaning.Template:Sfn She went on to do various jobs, such as selling soaps and writing letters in English for illiterate people. In 1962, she married author Asit Gupta after divorcing Bhattacharya.Template:Sfn In 1976, the relationship with Gupta ended.

DeathEdit

File:Mahasweta Devi memorial.jpg
Mahasweta Devi Memorial unveiled at Adivasi Academy of Tejgadh, Gujarat

On 23 July 2016, Devi suffered a major heart attack and was admitted to Belle Vue Clinic, Kolkata. Devi died of multiple organ failure on 28 July 2016, aged 90.<ref name="Scroll">Template:Cite news</ref> She had suffered from diabetes, sepsis and urinary infection.<ref name="Hindu28Jul16"/>

On her death, Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal tweeted "India has lost a great writer. Bengal has lost a glorious mother. I have lost a personal guide. Mahasweta Di rest in peace."<ref name="Hindu28Jul16"/> Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted "Mahashweta Devi wonderfully illustrated the might of the pen. A voice of compassion, equality & justice, she leaves us deeply saddened. RIP."<ref name="Hindu28Jul16"/>

Awards and recognitionEdit

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  • 1986: Padma Shri for Social Work<ref name="award80-89">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Major worksEdit

Devi's major works include:Template:Sfn

  • Jhansi Rani (1956, biography)<ref name="Chatterjee 2020" />
    • The Queen of Jhansi, by Mahasweta Devi (translated by Sagaree and Mandira Sengupta). This book is a reconstruction of the life of Rani Lakshmi Bai from extensive research of both historical documents (collected mostly by G. C. Tambe, grandson of the Queen) and folk tales, poetry and oral tradition; the original in Bengali was published in 1956; the English translation by Seagull Books, Calcutta, 2000, Template:ISBN
  • Mastar Saab also known as Massaheb (The School Teacher), which is based on Bihar's communist led armed revolution for land reforms. This novel is said to be based on life of naxal leader Jagdish Mahto, who became a well known figure in Bhojpur for his contribution to armed struggle of the poor against the landlords.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Hajar Churashir Maa (1974, novel, Mother of 1084)<ref name="Chatterjee 2020" />
  • Aranyer Adhikar (1979, novel, Right to the Forest)<ref name="Chatterjee 2020" />
  • Agnigarbha (1978, short stories collection)<ref name="Chatterjee 2020" />
  • Murti (1979, short stories collection)
  • Neerete Megh (1979, short stories collection)
  • Stanyadayani (1980, short stories collection)
  • Chotti Munda Ebong Tar Tir (1980, novel, Chotti Munda and His Arrow)

Film adaptationsEdit

  • Sunghursh (1968), Hindi film based on short story Layli Asmaner Ayna<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
  • Rudaali (1993)<ref name="Chatterjee 2020" /><ref name="Indiatoday28Jul16">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • Bayen (Hindi) (1993) a film based on Short story Directed by Gul Bahar singh
  • Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa (1998)<ref name="Chatterjee 2020" /><ref name="Indiatoday28Jul16"/>
  • Maati Maay (2006), Marathi film based on short story Baayen<ref name="Indiatoday28Jul16"/><ref name=fron>Template:Usurped Frontline, The Hindu Group, Volume 23 – Issue 20: 7–20 Oct 2006.</ref>
  • Gangor (2010), Italian film based on short story Choli Ke Peeche<ref name="Indiatoday28Jul16"/>
  • Ullas (Bengali film based on three short stories— Daur, Mahadu Ekti Rupkatha and Anna Aranya) directed by Ishwar Chakraborty, released in 2012.

In popular cultureEdit

Mahananda, a Bengali film based on her life and works, directed by acclaimed director Arindam Sil was released in 2022. Gargi Roychowdhury essayed the titular role in the film.

See alsoEdit

ReferencesEdit

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BiographyEdit

External linksEdit

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