Writer Ashapurna Devi was born on this day. She is one of the most powerful Bengali novelists and short story writers, whose prolific writing captured vividly, the narrow, constricted lives of middle class women in the Bengal of the 20th century, through the restless years of the freedom movements and then the nation’s attempts to come to terms with Independence. But even as it portrayed the oppressiveness of women’s lives, Ashapurna’s writing remains remarkable for the brilliant struggles of some of her women.
She was born in a conservative middle class family in north Kolkata. Her mother inculcated in her the love of reading. Young Ashapurna, who had no formal education, remained glued to books. She and her sisters, somewhat like the Bronte sisters in an England of an earlier age, read voraciously even as they remained secluded from the outside world; though not unaware of the political battles outside. As a child, she had secretly sent a poem to the Bengali magazine Sishu Sathi and then received requests to send more writing there. She was married at 15.
She first wrote for children. From the 40s, she began to write for adult readers.
Ashapurna is remembered most for her trilogy, Pratham Pratisruti, Subarnalata and Bakulkatha, written between 1964 and 1974. They have inspired generations of women readers and are regarded among the best of Bengali fiction.
Ashapurna wrote movingly, with a keen eye for details and an uncanny understanding of the alleyways of the human mind.
She received the most distinguished awards of the country: Jnanpith Award, Padma Shri, honorary degrees from institutions including Rabindra Bharati University and Jadavpur University, Deshikottama award from Viswa Bharati University and Sahitya Akademi Fellowship from Sahitya Akademi.
She passed away in 1995 in Kolkata.