An Original Feminist
“Behind the Bakuls and Paruls of present day Bengal is the history of years of struggle- the history of the struggle of their mothers, grandmothers and great- grandmothers. They weren’t great in number, only one or two out of many. They advanced alone, crossing ditches; grinding rocks, pulling off thorns and thistles.” – First Promise
Ashapurna Debi’s works reflect this struggle, this process of making way through the obstacles of social norms. Her arrival in the Bengali literary scene took the readers and critics by storm as she destroyed all conventional notions of Bengali family life and revealed its true conditions with her sharp eyes and ruthless pen. Her ork tells the story of the many changes that has happened in the lives of the Bengali women in the last hundred years.
Ashapurna Debi was born on 8th January 1909, (24th Poush, 1315 in the Bengali calendar), Friday, at her maternal uncle’s home at Pataldanga in North Kolkata. Due to the strict codes of society, she never had the opportunity to study in her mother tongue. In spite of that, her will to read was tremendous and her mother instilled in her a strong curiosity about life and literature. She started her writing career with poetry and her first work was published in the year 1923 in a Bengali magazine called ‘ShishuSathi’. She received her first award at the age of 15 in a poetry competetion. Around this time, she got married to Mr.Kalidas Gupta of Krishananagar. In 1939, her first novel – ‘Chhoto Thakurdar Kashibash’ written for children was published and six years later, her first nvel for adults ‘Prem o Proyojon’ was published. After this, her pen never ceased moving till she breathed her last on the 13th of July 1995(27th Ashar 1402 in the Bengali calendar)
