Sarasibala Basu (1886–1929) was a

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

, story teller,

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

from the

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

region of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

. She belonged to the generation of writers of the

Bengali Renaissance The Bengal Renaissance (Bengali: বাংলার নবজাগরণ — ''Banglar Navajagaran''), also known as the Bengali Renaissance, was a cultural, social, intellectual, and artistic movement that took place in the Bengal region of ...

. In her short lifespan, she had published more than twenty

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

s, many short stories and

poem Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...

s, and made a big impact on

Bengali literature Bengali literature ( bn, বাংলা সাহিত্য, Bangla Sahityô) denotes the body of writings in the Bengali language and which covers Old Bengali, Middle- Bengali and Modern Bengali with the changes through the passage of time ...

. An equal quantity of her writings had remained unpublished. Sarasibala wrote passionately about the social issues of that period and the world around her.

Early life

Sarasibala Basu was born in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

in 1886. Her childhood education began in a missionary school and thereafter she was admitted into another school, Mahakali Pathsala, in North Kolkata. After just one year, she was taken out of the school because of the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

prejudice of the time against women's education. At home she learned many things by listening to her brother's reading aloud his lessons. After her early marriage around the year 1900, she came to

Giridih Giridih is headquarters of the Giridih district of Jharkhand state, India. The city of Giridih is known for its industrial and health sectors, as well as its scenic beauty. Giridih houses the Giridih Coalfield which is one of the oldest coalfi ...

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...

. Her liberal minded husband, Phanindranath Basu, engaged a private tutor for her education at home. She also learned English and art from him.

Career

With continuous encouragement from her husband she began to nurture her love of Bengali literature and

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

. Her writings, novels and poems, were published in the prestigious periodicals of the day, including, ''Bharatbarsha'', '' Prabasi'', ''Manashi'', and ''Marmabani''. Though she never belonged to the '' Brahmo Samaj'', a

social reform A reform movement or reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary move ...

movement pioneered by the great Raja Rammohan Roy, its influences are apparent in her writings. She was free from the many prejudices and blind notions of the stagnant Hindu society of her time. Social service and brotherhood of mankind were her most cherished ideals. She became a didi, an elder sister, to many rising stars of Bengali literature, including, Probodh Sanyal, Ashapurna Devi, Narendra Deb, and Nirmal Baral.

Personal life struggle and late life

Sarasibala had a difficult family life, with her husband's modest income she managed to raise her nine children, maintain a kitchen garden, a mangrove, a few

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

and do all the housework, and as much social service to the needy as she could squeeze in. Besides, she could find time to write in the early hours of the morning when others in the house would be sleeping. In her later years, Sarasibala responded to

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

's call and worked for reform in the Hindu religion, particularly the rejection of the

caste system Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

and a society free of caste prejudice. She lectured widely on the promotion of women's education and other social welfare activities. All these activities took toll on her health and she fell a victim to

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

, and died in 1929.

References

1886 births 1929 deaths Bengali-language writers Indian women novelists 20th-century Indian novelists 20th-century Indian women writers Writers from Kolkata 19th-century Indian women writers 19th-century Indian novelists Women writers from West Bengal Novelists from West Bengal {{India-writer-stub

Early life

Career

Personal life struggle and late life

Further reading

References