Sulekha Sanyal (15 June 1928 – c. 1962) was a Bengali writer and activist. She emerged as an early feminist in the region through her work ''Nabankur'' (''The Seedling'') in 1956. The work has been translated to English in 2001 by Gouranga P. Chattopadhyay.

Early life and career

Sanyal grew up in Korokdi, now in Faridpur

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

, in a decaying

zamindar A zamindar in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semi-autonomous feudal lord of a ''zamindari'' (feudal estate). The term itself came into use during the Mughal Empire, when Persian was the official language; ''zamindar'' is the ...

family that had once been

indigo InterGlobe Aviation Limited (d/b/a IndiGo), is an India, Indian airline headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana, India. It is the largest List of airlines of India, airline in India by passengers carried and fleet size, with a 64.1% domestic market ...

planters, and was to become a member of the

Communist Party of India The Communist Party of India (CPI) is a political party in India. The CPI considers the Foundation of the Communist Party of India, December 26, 1925 Cawnpore (Kanpur) conference as its foundation date. Between 1946 and 1951, the CPI led m ...

. An early influence on her was the

Brahmo Bengali Brahmos are those who adhere to Brahmoism, the philosophy of Brahmo Samaj which was founded by Raja Rammohan Roy. A recent publication describes the disproportionate influence of Brahmos on India's development post-19th Century as un ...

philosopher and reformer,

Ramtanu Lahiri Ramtanu Lahiri (1813–1898) was a Young Bengal leader, a teacher and a social reformer. Peary Chand Mitra Peary Chand Mitra (22 July 1814 – 23 November 1883) was an Indian writer, journalist, cultural activist and entrepreneur. His ...

, who was related to her mother. Senyal passed the matriculation exam as a private candidate in 1944 and intermediate exam from Rajendra College, Faridpur, in 1946. She then went to Kolkata and enrolled herself in Victoria Institute. ''Nabankur'' was published in English by Stree in 2001. Its heroine, ''Chhobi'', is a young girl from a rural zamindar family in Bengal of the 1930s, and the book follows her as she learns to fight injustice, protest against the privileges denied her but granted to her brothers, and the restrictions of the patriarchal society around her.

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

breaks out, cutting short Chhobi's education in the city. She returns to the village, gets involved with relief work and witnesses the

Bengal famine of 1943 The Bengal famine of 1943 was a famine in the Bengal province of British India (present-day Bangladesh, West Bengal and eastern India) during World War II. An estimated 800,000–3.8 million people died, in the Bengal region (present-day Ban ...

. Much of the story mirrors Sanyal's own life, for she was born into a similar family, educated briefly in

Chittagong Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

, went for undergraduate studies at the

Scottish Church College Scottish Church College is a college affiliated by Calcutta University, India. It offers selective co-educational undergraduate and postgraduate studies and is the oldest continuously running Christian liberal arts and sciences college in Asia. ...

, where she became involved in politics during the Bengal Famine. On 21 January 1947, following a police assault, she was arrested along with her college friends Anjana Guha and Anima Ghosh, and that put an end to formal education.Basu, Pradip. ''The Question of Colonial Modernity and Scottish Church College'' in ''175th Year Commemoration Volume'', Scottish Church College, April 2008, page 46. Late in life, she was awarded a degree in

Bengali literature Bengali literature () 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 and dynastic patronization or non-patronization. Bengali h ...

by the

University of Burdwan The University of Burdwan (also known as Burdwan University or B. U.) is a public state university located in Purba Bardhaman, West Bengal, India. It was established by the West Bengal Government as a teaching and affiliating university on 1 ...

. Sanyal's first stories were accepted by the newspaper ''

Jugantar Jugantar or Yugantar ( ''Jugantor''; lit. ''New Era'' or ''Transition of an Epoch'') was one of the two main secret revolutionary trends operating in Bengal for Indian independence. This association, like Anushilan Samiti, started in the g ...

''. Sanyal also wrote a collection of short stories, ''Sindure Megh'' (Clouds Tinged with Red). Her ''Dewal Padma'' (Wallflowers) was published in 1964, after her death from leukemia in 1962.

Personal life

Sanyal was married from 1948 to 1956. She had a sister Sujata Sanyal and an elder brother Abanti Kumar Sanyal.

References

External links

A Critique on Sulekha Sanyal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanyal, Sulekha 1928 births 1962 deaths Indian women novelists Indian communists Deaths from leukemia in India Scottish Church College alumni University of Burdwan alumni 20th-century Indian women writers 20th-century Indian novelists Communist women writers Indian political writers Indian women political writers Bengali writers 21st-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian writers Women writers from West Bengal

Early life and career

Personal life

References

Further reading

External links