Mahasweta Devi is a very respected Indian writer and social activist. She made great efforts to study and write about the life and struggles faced by the tribal communities in the states like Bihar, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
Background
Mahasweta was born on 14 January 1926 in a Hindu Brahmin family. Practically all members of the family were known to the public for their activity. Her father Manish Ghatak was a famous poet and novelist. Manish's brother and Mahasweta's uncle was well-known Bengali Indian filmmaker and script writer. Mahasweta's mother Dharitri Devi was also a writer and a social worker whose brothers were very distinguished in various fields, such as the noted sculptor Sankha Chaudhury and the founder-editor of the Economic and Political Weekly of India, Sachin Chaudhury.
After Mahasweta's education she married Mahasweta and in 1948 gave birth to Nabarun Bhattacharya, currently one of Bengal's and India's leading novelist.
Career
Her teaching career started at Bijoygarh College in 1964. Besides, Mahasweta worked as a journalist and as a creative writer. In her Bengali fiction, she often depicts the brutal oppression of tribal peoples and the untouchables by potent, authoritarian upper-caste landlords, lenders, and venal government officials.
During the 2006 Frankfurt Book Fair when India happened to be the first country to have been invited to this fair for a second time, Mahasweta Devi made a very touching speech which moved many among the listeners to tears. Inspired by the famous Raj Kapoor song, she said: "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 (heart) is always Hindustani (Indian)".
Recently Mahasweta Devi has been a leader of the movement against the industrial policy of the government of West Bengal. She criticized confiscation of large tracts of fertile agricultural land from farmers by the government. As a result a lot of Indian intellectuals, artists, writers and theatre workers joined her movement.
There are also several films based on her works:
1. Sunghursh (1968), based on her story, which presented a fictionalized account of vendetta within a Thuggee cult in the city of Varanasi.
2. Rudaali (1993)
3. Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa (1998)
4. Maati Maay (2006), based on short story, Daayen
5. Gangor (2010) Directed by Italo Spinelli, based on her short story, Choli Ke Peeche, from the Book, Breast Stories