Indira Goswami (14 November 1942 – 29 November 2011), known by her pen name Mamoni Raisom Goswami and popularly as Mamoni Baideo, was an Indian writer, poet, professor, scholar and editor. She was the winner of the

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

(1983), the

Jnanpith Award The Jnanpith Award is the oldest and the highest Indian literary award presented annually by the Bharatiya Jnanpith to an author for their "outstanding contribution towards literature". Instituted in 1961, the award is bestowed only on Indian w ...

(2000) and Principal Prince Claus Laureate (2008). A celebrated writer of contemporary Indian literature, many of her works have been translated into English from her native Assamese which include ''

The Moth Eaten Howdah of the Tusker ''The Moth Eaten Howdah of the Tusker'' is a novel written by Indira Goswami in Kamrupi dialect. Book deals with different social issues of mid twentieth century Kamrup. Published as ''Dontal Hatir Une Khowa Howdah'' in 1986, it was translated in ...

'', '' Pages Stained With Blood'' and '' The Man from Chinnamasta''. She was also well known for her attempts to structure

social change Social change is the alteration of the social order of a society which may include changes in social institutions, social behaviours or social relations. Definition Social change may not refer to the notion of social progress or socio ...

, both through her writings and through her role as mediator between the armed militant group United Liberation Front of Asom and the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

. Her involvement led to the formation of the People's Consultative Group, a peace committee. She referred to herself as an "observer" of the peace process rather than as a mediator or initiator. Her work has been performed on stage and in film. The film ''

Adajya ''Adajya'' () is a 1996 Indian Assamese language drama film directed by Santwana Bardoloi based on the novel '' Dontal Haatir Uiye Khowa Haoda'' by Indira Goswami. The film was screened at several international film festivals. Plot The film is ...

'' is based on her novel and won international awards. ''Words from the Mist'' is a film made on her life directed by

Jahnu Barua Jahnu Barua (born 1952) is an Indian film director. He has written and directed a number of Assamese and Hindi films. Some of his notable films are '' Halodhia Choraye Baodhan Khai'' (1987), '' Firingoti'' (1992), ''Xagoroloi Bohu Door'' (1995) ...

Early life and education

Indira Goswami was born in

Guwahati Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...

to Umakanta Goswami and Ambika Devi, a

Vaishnavite Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (gur ...

family that was deeply associated with

Sattra Satras are institutional centers associated with the Ekasarana tradition of Vaishnavism, largely found in the Indian state of Assam and neighboring regions. Numbering in the hundreds, these centers are generally independent of each other and ...

life of the

Ekasarana Dharma Ekasarana Dharma (literally: ''Shelter-in-One religion'') is a neo-Vaishnavite monolithic religion propagated by Srimanta Sankardeva in the 15th-16th century in the Indian state of Assam. It reduced focus on vedic ritualism and focuses on d ...

. She studied at Latashil Primary School, Guwahati; Pine Mount School, Shillong; and Tarini Chaudhury Girls' School, Guwahati and completed Intermediate Arts from

Handique Girls College Handique Girls College is a constituent college A collegiate university is a university in which functions are divided between a central administration and a number of constituent colleges. Historically, the first collegiate university was th ...

, Guwahati. She majored in

Assamese literature Assamese literature ( as, অসমীয়া সাহিত্য, translit=ɔxɔmiya xaɦitjɔ}) is the entire corpus of poetry, novels, short stories, plays, documents and other writings in the Assamese language. It also includes the liter ...

at Cotton College in

and secured a master's degree from

Gauhati University Gauhati University, also known as GU, is a Collegiate university, collegiate public state university located in Guwahati, Assam, India. It was established on 26 January 1948 under the provisions of an Act enacted by the Assam Legislative Assem ...

in the same field of study. Indira goswami impressed by

Akka Mahadevi Akka Mahadevi ಅಕ್ಕ ಮಹಾದೇವಿ (c.1130–1160) was one of the early female poets of the Kannada literature and a prominent person in the Lingayat Shaiva sect in the 12th century. Her 430 extant Vachana poems (a form of spont ...

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

vachanas as she said in Bengaluru.

Career

In 1962, she published her first collection of short stories, "Chinaki Morom", when she was a student. Popularly known as Mamoni Baideo in Assam, she was encouraged by editor Kirti Nath Hazarika who published her first short stories — when she was still in Class VIII (thirteen years old) — in the literary journal he edited.

Depression

Goswami has suffered from depression since her childhood. In the opening pages of her autobiography, ''The Unfinished Autobiography'', she mentions her inclination to jump into Crinoline Falls located near their house in Shillong. Repeated suicide attempts marred her youth. After the sudden death of her husband, Madhaven Raisom Ayengar of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

, in a car accident in the Kashmir region of India, after only eighteen months of marriage, she became addicted to heavy doses of sleeping tablets. Once brought back to Assam, she joined the Sainik School, Goalpara as a teacher. At this point she went back to writing. She claims that she wrote just to live and that otherwise it would not have been possible for her to go on living. Her experiences in Kashmir and

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

Indian states India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions. History Pre-indepen ...

where her husband had worked as an engineer, were used in her novels ''Ahiron'' and ''The Chehnab's Current'', respectively.

Life in Vrindavan

After working at the

Sainik School The Sainik Schools are a system of schools in India established and managed by the Sainik Schools Society under Ministry of Defence (MoD). They were conceived in 1961 by V. K. Krishna Menon, the then Defence Minister of India, to rectify the reg ...

Goalpara Goalpara, Pron: ) is the district headquarters of Goalpara district, Assam, India. It is situated to the west of Guwahati. Etymology The name Goalpara is said to have originated from the word "Gwaltippika" meaning Guwali village, or The villa ...

, Assam, she was persuaded by her teacher Upendra Chandra Lekharu to come to

Vrindavan Vrindavan (; ), also spelt Vrindaban and Brindaban, is a historical city in the Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located in the Braj Bhoomi region and holds religious importance in Hinduism as Krishna spent most of his childho ...

, Uttar Pradesh, and pursue research for peace of mind. Her experiences as a widow as well as a researcher finds expression in her novel ''The Blue Necked Braja'' (1976), which is about the plight of the Radhaswamis of Vrindavan who lived in abject poverty and sexual exploitation in everyday life. One of the main issues that the novel touches upon is the plight of young widows for whom companionship beyond the confines of their ashrams and fellow widows become impossible. Their urge to live, as well as the moral dilemma that they face ''vis-a-vis'' the order of precepts of religion in this regard, are brought out with astonishing clarity and feeling in the novel. The novel exposed the uglier face of Vrindavan – the city of

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

, a

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 ...

deity – inviting criticism of Goswami from conservative sections of the society. It remains a classic in modern Indian literature. It is autobiographical in character as she says the anguish of the main character Saudamini, reflects what she had gone through after her husband had died. It was also the first novel to be written on this subject. The novel was based on Goswami's research on the place as well as real-life experience of living in the place for several years before she joined the

University of Delhi Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate Central university (India), central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and ...

as a lecturer. In Vrindavan she was involved in

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...

studies. A massive volume of

Tulsidas Tulsidas (; born Rambola Dubey; also known as Goswami Tulsidas; c.1511pp. 23–34.–1623) was a Ramanandi Vaishnava Hindu saint and poet, renowned for his devotion to the deity Rama. He wrote several popular works in Sanskrit and Awadhi, but ...

's ''

'' purchased during her stay there for just eleven rupees was a great source of inspiration in her research. This finds expression in her book Ramayana from Ganga to Brahmaputra, an unparalleled comparative study of Tulsidas's ''Ramayana'' and the fourteenth-century Assamese Ramayana written by Madhava Kandali.

Life at the University of Delhi

Goswami relocated to

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

, India, to become Professor of Assamese in the Modern Indian Languages & Literary Studies (MIL) Department at the University of Delhi under the guidance of her lifelong mentor Prof. Bhabananda Deka, who was subservient in the introduction of Assamese Language in MIL Department of Delhi University (DU). While at the university, she wrote most of her greatest works. Several short stories, including ''Hridoy'', ''Nangoth Sohor'', ''Borofor Rani'', used Delhi as the background. During later part of her life, after she became Head of the MIL Department in Delhi University, she, in collaboration with award-winning Assamese popular short-story writer and novelist Arnab Jan Deka made efforts and persuaded Delhi University to set up a Chair in the name of Middle Age Assamese saint-philosopher-littérateur-artist Srimanta Sankardev. They also convinced the Chief Minister of Assam to make a contribution of Rupees One Million to Delhi University to create the corpus for the proposed Chair. However, Dr Goswami could not see the fruits of her effort during her lifetime. Her two classics – ''Pages Stained With Blood'' and ''The Moth Eaten Howdah of a Tusker''— were also written during this period. The other books completed while she lived in Delhi were '' Ahiron'', '' The Rusted Sword'', '' Uday Bhanu'', '' Dasharathi's Steps'' and ''The Man from Chinnamasta''. In ''Pages Stained With Blood'' she writes about the plight of Sikhs in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots following the

assassination of Indira Gandhi Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated at 9:30 a.m. on 31 October 1984 at her residence in Safdarjung Road, New Delhi. She was killed by her bodyguards Satwant Singh and Beant Singh in the aftermath of Operation Blue Star, ...

, the Prime Minister of India. Goswami had witnessed the riots while staying in the Shakti Nagar area of Delhi. She visited many of the other sites to complete this novel. She even went to G. B. Road, Delihi's red-light district, to depict the lives of the prostitutes who lived there which forms a part of her novel. In ''The Moth Eaten Howdah of a Tusker'' she writes about the plight of Assamese Brahmin widows in

Satra Satra Corporation was a US trading and metal processing company. It is primarily known in the United Kingdom for its Satra Motors Limited subsidiary, which was the official importer and distributor of Soviet Union cars and motorcycles in that co ...

, religious institutions of Assam. This novel was anthologised in '' The Masterpieces of Indian Literature'' and was made into a film, ''Adajya'', which won several national and international film-festival awards. The novel was also made into two television mini-series; Nandita Das played the role of Giribala in one of the mini-series. At the peak of her literary career she wrote the controversial novel ''The Man from Chinnamasta'', a critique of the thousand-years-old tradition of animal sacrifice in the famous Hindu

Shakti In Hinduism, especially Shaktism (a theological tradition of Hinduism), Shakti (Devanagari: शक्ति, IAST: Śakti; lit. "Energy, ability, strength, effort, power, capability") is the primordial cosmic energy, female in aspect, and r ...

temple to Kamakhya, a mother goddess, in Assam. Goswami reported that there was even threat to her life after writing the novel. In this novel she quotes

scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual pra ...

s to authenticate the argument she puts forward in the novel – to worship the Mother Goddess with flowers rather than blood. She said in an interview, "When the novel was serialized in a popular magazine, I was threatened with dire consequences. Shortly after this, a local newspaper, '' Sadin'', carried an appeal about animal sacrifice, which resulted in quite an uproar—the editor was gheraoed and a tantrik warned me. But when the appeal was published, the response was overwhelmingly in favour of banning animal sacrifice. I also had to contend with rejection from a publisher who was initially keen and had promised me a huge

advance Advance commonly refers to: *Advance, an offensive push in sports, games, thoughts, military combat, or sexual or romantic pursuits *Advance payment for goods or services *Advance against royalties, a payment to be offset against future royalty pa ...

, but who later backtracked, offering instead to publish any other book of mine. But the rest, as they say, is history and ''Chinnamastar Manuhto'' went on to become a runaway bestseller!" Another major piece of her fiction during the period was ''Jatra'' (''The Journey''), based on the problem of

militancy The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin " ...

secession Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics le ...

ism that has affected almost the entire

North-East India , native_name_lang = mni , settlement_type = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , motto = , image_map = Northeast india.png , ...

frontier ever since Indian independence. Mamoni Raisom Goswami died at the Gauhati Medical College Hospital on 29 November 2011.

Literary works

Novels

* 1972 ''Chinavar Srota'' (''The Chenab's Current'') * 1976 Neelkanthi Braja (''The Blue-Necked Braja''), translated by Gayatri Bhattacharya; Zubaan Books, 2013) * 1980 ''Ahiron'' * 1980 ''Mamore Dhora Tarowal aru Dukhon Uponyas'' (''The Rusted Sword and Two Other Novels'') * 1980 ''Budhosagor Dhukhor Geisha Aru Mohammed Musa'' * 1988 ''Datal Hatir Une Khowa Howda'' (''The Moth Eaten Howdah of a Tusker'' translated by the author, Rupa Publications) * 1989 ''Udaybhanur Choritro'' * ''Nangoth Sohor'' * 2001 ''Tej Aru Dhulire Dhusarita Prishtha'' (''Pages Stained With Blood'') * ''Dashorothir Khuj'' (''Dashorothi's Footsteps'') * 2005 ''Chinnamastar Manuhto'' translated as (''The Man from Chinnamasta'' translated by Prasanta Goswami, Katha) * 2009 "Thengphakhri Tehsildaror Tamor Taruwal" ("The Bronze Sword of Thengphakhri Tehsildar") translated by Aruni Kashyap, published by Zubaan Books, 2013)

Autobiography

* ''An Unfinished Autobiography'' ( Assamese: আধা লেখা দস্তাবেজ) * biography's new pages ( Assamese: দস্তাবেজ নতুন পৃষ্ঠা) * biography's new pages ( Assamese: অপ্সৰা গৃহ )

Short stories

* ''Beasts'' * ''Dwarka and His Gun'' * ''Parasu's Well'' * ''The Journey'' * ''Sanskar'' * ''To Break a Begging Bowl'' * ''Udang Bakach'' * relive

Poetry

* ''Pain and Flesh'' * ''Pakistan'' * ''Ode To A Whore''

Non-fiction

* ''Ramayana from Ganga to Brahmaputra'', Delhi 1996. (Research work on

Saptakanda Ramayana ''Saptakanda Ramayana'' (Assamese: সপ্তকাণ্ড ৰামায়ণ) is the 14th-15th century Assamese version of the ''Ramayana'' attributed to the famous assamese poet Madhava Kandali. It is considered to be the second translati ...

)

Online works

"The Journey"
(short story)

Awards

* 1982 –

Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian government. Its of ...

Award (for ''Mamore Dhora Tarowal'') * 1989 – Bharat Nirman Award * 1992 – Sauhardya Award of Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan of Government of India. * 1993 – Katha National Award for Literature * 1996 – Kamal Kumari Foundation National Award in 1996 * 2000 –

* 2002 – D Litt Degree from Rabindra Bharati University, West Bengal * 2002 – Mahiyoshi Jaymati Award with a citation in gold by Ahom Court of Assam * 2002 –

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

(She refused to accept) * 2007 – D Litt Degree from Rajiv Gandhi University

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares ...

* 2008 – D Litt Degree from

Indira Gandhi National Open University Indira Gandhi National Open University, known as IGNOU, is a Central University located at Maidan Garhi, New Delhi, India. Named after former Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi, the university was established in 1985 with a budget of 20& ...

* 2008 – Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar Gold Plate from

Asiatic Society The Asiatic Society is a government of India organisation founded during the Company rule in India to enhance and further the cause of "Oriental research", in this case, research into India and the surrounding regions. It was founded by the p ...

* 2008 – Principal Laureate Prince Claus Award * 2009 – Krishnakanta Handique Award, Asom Sahitya Sabha * Awarded the Ambassador for Peace from the Inter Religious and International Federation for World Peace * The International Tulsi Award from Florida International University for her book, ''Ramayana From Ganga To Brahmaputra'' * Asom Ratna – the highest civilian award in the State of Assam, India

References

External links

* The 'Peace-Mediator' rests in peace: Indira Goswami (1942–2011)

Amitav Ghosh on Indira Goswami

Obituary in The Hindu : A beloved daughter of Assam, writer, peacemaker

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Goswami, Mamoni Raisom 1942 births 21st-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian novelists Indian women activists Indian women academics Recipients of the Jnanpith Award People from Kamrup Metropolitan district Writers from Guwahati People from Mathura Delhi University faculty Indian women poets Women writers from Assam Assamese-language poets 2011 deaths Cotton College, Guwahati alumni Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Assamese 20th-century Indian poets 20th-century Indian women writers 20th-century Indian novelists 21st-century Indian poets Activists from Assam Assamese people Novelists from Assam Women educators from Assam Educators from Assam Writers from Assam Writers from Northeast India People associated with Shillong