The birth centenary of Ashapurna Devi

She shaped many Bengali dreams through her literary prowess. She played pied piper to many, offering readers a different view of society through novels like the famous Pratham Pratishruti. The late Ashapurna Devi, a Jnanpeeth awardee, has for many years been an inspiration to middle-class Bengalis.

Born in 1909, Ashapurna Devi would have turned hundred this January. To commemmorate, the Ashapurna Devi Janma Shatabarshiki Utsav Committee hosted a range of events.

The celebrations commenced on 3 January. There were recitations and dramas based on Ashapurna Devi’s literary works. A study of her life and works through paintings and photographs was showcased at Samakal Art Gallery. In addition, film-maker Saibal Mitra’s documentary portrayed the life and works of the author. The film was aired on TV channel Star Ananda on the author’s birth anniversary.

Ashok Basu, one of the organisers, felt that the event was a much-needed one.  ‘We really wanted to celebrate this historic moment. We felt that Ashapurna Devi did not get due respect in her lifetime. This influenced us to organise her 100th birthday celebrations’, said Basu.

The committee hopes to come up with a compilation of photographs and paintings based on Ashapurna Devi’s writing. Ananda Publishers has published a collection of the writer’s works recently.

A towering figure in Bengali literature during her lifetime, Ashapurna Devi focussed on the lives of Bengali women through a few decades. Her writings vividly played up their position in Bengali middle-class households. Critics have sometimes dismissed her as a ‘kitchen writer’, but the growing popularity of Ashapurna Devi’s novels and stories fend off all criticism.


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