Dear Sir,
The death of renowned Bengali writer and social activist Mahasweta Devi at the age of 90 marks the end of an era in India’s literary world. She leaves behind a formidable literary legacy. She campaigned tirelessly for empowerment of the tribal people in India. Her death is a great loss for the literary world that will be hard to fill for years to come.
She will be remembered as one of the greatest Indian women writers of our times and also one of the most decorated writers of India. She won Sahitya Academi (1979) Jnanpith (1996) awards for literary excellence. She was also the recipient of Padma Shri (1986), Ramon Magsaysay (1997) and Padma Vibhushan (2006) awards.
She used literature as a means of social change and voice of oppressed. “The reason and inspiration for my writing,” she once said, “are those people who are exploited and used, and yet do not accept defeat”.
In recent years, she raised her voice against forcible land acquisition in Singur and Nandigram. “My India,” she once said, “still lives behind a curtain of darkness”.
Over the years, several of her novels have been turned into films. Award-winning films Hazar Chaurasi ki Ma and Rudali were based on her novels.
Ramesh G Jethwani
(Address supplied)
Mahasweta Devi
