Literature – fiction

“While the danger of extinction looms large over some languages, many other languages have been thriving. For example, Gondi (spoken in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra), Bhili (Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat), Mizo (Mizoram), Garo and Khasi (Meghalaya) and Kokborok (Tripura) are showing an upward trend because educated people in these communities have started using these languages for writing. They publish poems, write plays and perform them. In some of the languages, even films are being made.” – Abhijit Mohanty in “Seven decades after independence, many tribal languages in India face extinction threat” (Down to Earth, 26 August 2020)
https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/governance/seven-decades-after-independence-many-tribal-languages-in-india-face-extinction-threat-73071
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=6879

“In Bastar, I learned that my books were used to teach English to the tribal children”: Chetan Bhagat on his sense of belonging and literature as entertainment

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[…] I know most writers want to be published in the US and UK after becoming famous in India, but for me, it’s very important that even the smallest part of my own country experiences my writings and feels like a part of it. […] Do you think part of your popularity is also connected with … Read more

“There are so many ‘theirs’ in the land of my birth who have nothing but the harsh landscape of surviving from day to day”: Mahasweta Devi’s inaugural speech at the Frankfurt Book Fair

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Mahasweta Devi had people in tears at this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair [2006]. Delivered with passionate heart, her inaugural speech about our freedoms still on hold stirs a kind of moral transformation At 80-plus I move forward often stepping back into the shadows. Sometimes I am bold enough to step back into the sunlight. As a … Read more

Mahasweta Devi: A model in which activism and writing can reflect upon each other

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Mahasweta Devi was born in 1926 in the city of Dacca in East Bengal (modern day Bangladesh). As an adolescent, she and her family moved to West Bengal in India. Born into a literary family, Mahasweta Devi was also influenced by her early association with Gananatya, a group who attempted to bring social and political … Read more

“The tribal world and the tribal way is complete in itself”: Mahasweta Devi (1926-2016)

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Quoted from “Swearing by Mahasweta” by Gopalkrishna Gandhi, The Hindu, August 7, 2016 | Backup (PDF, 450 KB) >> Ms. Devi had cast off the trappings of the middle class she was born into and chose to live simply, often roaming the country with her subjects as she did research. In more than 100 novels and short … Read more