Mahasweta Devi: Woman defied inequity

Manoranjan Byapari, in his late twenties, was ferrying a lady professor one day. Suddenly, he asked her the meaning of the Bangla word 'Jijibisha' (yearning of life). The lady professor was amazed to hear such a word from a rickshaw puller. After hearing his life story, the lady professor invited him to write for her Bangla journal 'Bartika.' That day, by a sheer stroke of luck, a marginalised man like Manoranjan Byapari met someone who paved his way to become a writer. That lady professor was none other than Mahasweta Devi, the legendary Indian writer.

Mahasweta Devi had been the voice of the marginalised people in West Bengal. Her pen danced to write for the unprivileged who live at the bottom line of the social pyramid. Her journal 'Bartika' was among her many contributions to advocate the genesis of the subaltern people like the landless labourers in eastern India. At a time when women had to write for their own rights, Mahasweta Devi shouting loud for the polarised section of the society was something illustrious.

Mahasweta Devi was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 1926. She belonged to a family of social workers, scholars and intellectuals. Her father was a famous poet and novelist and her mother was a social worker and writer. Though she started off her career as a teacher, she also took the pen like her parents when she started working as a journalist.

Mahasweta Devi's first deep encounter with human sufferings was during the 1940s Bengal Famine, when she volunteered to help the affected people. These experiences gave her insights into what a neglected and tortured life the marginalised people live. She worked for the rights of the people living at the mercy of the influential sections of the society. She led many movements and formed organisations that worked for the rights of tribal communities, Dalits, nomads and labourers. She also fought with her pen for tribes like Santals, Lodhas, Mundas and so on. Her famous novel Aranyer Adhikar (Right to the Forest) is based on the life of the tribal freedom fighter, religious leader and folk hero Birsa Munda. She later took a firm stand against government acquisition of tribal lands and also led the movement against the industrial policy of the government in West Bengal.  

Mahasweta Devi was not only a social activist, but also a prolific writer who penned bitter truths in her writings and unmasked the faces of injustice that had been occurring to the marginalised people. She has authored more than a hundred novels and short stories that focus on the tribal communities, Maoist rebels, nomads, beggars and labourers. Her writing was mainly in Bangla, but she often included tribal dialects. Her most famous literary works include Hajar Churashir Ma (1973), Aranyer Adhikar (1977), Rudali (1993), etc.

About her inspiration, Mahasweta Devi wrote, "I have always believed that real history is made by ordinary people." She admired the subaltern people who would not accept defeat even when they are oppressed by the upper class and fight back. This belief coincided with the relentless struggle of women to earn their rights, perfectly reflected upon her life and works as an illustrious woman.

The writer is a student at Dhaka University.
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