Nalini Bala Devi (23 March 1898– 24 December 1977) was an Indian writer and poet of

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 ...

, known for nationalistic as well as mystical poetry. Das, p. 197 She was awarded the

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 ...

by 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, ...

in 1957 for her contribution to literature, and 1968 she won 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 ...

given by

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 ...

(India's National Academy of Letters) for her poetry collection ''Alakananda''. She is the first woman Assamese poet to be awarded with Padma Shri and the first lady to the chair the Assam Sahitya Sabha.

Biography

She 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 ...

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

in 1898. Her father, ''Karmaveer''

Nabin Chandra Bordoloi Nabin Chandra Bardoloi (1875–1936) was an Indian writer, politician and leader of Indian National Congress party from Assam. An Indian independence movement activist, he was a prominent leader from Assam in the Non-cooperation movement (1920� ...

(1875–1936), was an Assamese

Indian freedom movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged from Bengal. ...

activist and writer. She wrote her first poem, ''Pita'' at age 10, and was married at age 12, but her husband, Jeeveshwar Changkakoti, died when she was 19. Two of her sons also died early in her life. She began writing poems, with emotion, tragedy, patriotism and devotion as central themes, which are still acclaimed in Assamese literature. Natrajan, p. 31 Her first book of poems ''Sandhiyar Sur'' (Evening Melody), Barua, p. 15 published in 1928, was later adopted by

Calcutta University The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate State university (India), state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered ...

and

Guwahati University Gauhati University, also known as GU, is a 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 Assembly. It is the oldest ...

as a textbook in 1946 and 1951 respectively. Her other works include ''Alakananda'', ''Sopunar Sur'' (Melody of Dreams), ''Porosh Moni'', ''Yuga Devata'' (Hero of the Age), ''Shesh Puja'' (The last worship), ''Parijator Abhishek'', ''Prahlad'', ''Meghdut'', ''Suravi'', ''Rooprekha'', ''Shantipath'' (Essay anthology), ''Sheshor Sur'' (The last Melody)m ''Smritir Tirtha'' (Biography on her father), ''Biswadeepa'' (A collection of biographies of famous women), ''Eri oha Dinbur'' (The Days Passed, Autobiography), ''Sardar Vallavbhai Patel'' are some of her biographical works. She had to her credit one drama titled ''Meerabai''. In 1950, she established ''Sadou Asom Parijat Kanan'' which later become famous as ''Moina Parijat'', the children organisation in Assam. She was the president of 23rd Jorhat session of

Assam Sahitya Sabha The Asam Sahitya Sabha (; Literary Society of Assam) is a non Government, non profit, literary organisation of Assam. It was founded in December 1917 in Assam, India to promote the culture of Assam and Assamese literature. A branch of the organi ...

(Assam Literary Society) in 1955. She died on 24 December 1977, but is remembered in Assamese literature by the last four lines of her famous poem ''NaatGhar'' (The theatre) ....''Kun Kar Jogotor / Kun Kar Moromor / Chokur Chinaki Dudinor // Sasimor Rooprekha /Asimot Bur Jabo / Khohi Gole Jori Moromor'' (Who's for whom in this world / Who's under whose care / Temporary acquaintances, eye-to-eye contacts these are with // Bounded facial outlines / That get dissolved in the infinite oblivion / If the thread of love that binds them snaps.) The

Cotton College, Guwahati Cotton University (formerly known as ''Cotton College'') is a public state university located in Guwahati, Assam, India. It was established in 2017 by the provisions of an Act from the Assam Legislative Assembly which merged Cotton College Sta ...

named its girls hostel after her as 'Padmashree Nalini Bala Devi Girls' Hostel' in 1986. The Sadou Asom Lekhika Samaroh Samiti literary organization has published ''Mahasweta'', about her works.

Works

* ''Sandhiyar Sur'' (Evening Melody, 1928) * ''Sopunar Sur'' (Melody of Dreams, 1943) * ''Smritir Tirtha'' (Biography, 1948) * ''Paroshmoni'' (Touchstone, 1954) * ''Jagriti (Awakening, 1962) * ''Alakananda'' (1967)

Awards and recognition

She was awarded with

for her poetry anthology ''Alakananda'' in 1968 and conferred

in 1957 by the

Biography

Works

Awards and recognition

References

Further reading