Suchitra Bhattacharya is an India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n novelist.

Early life and education

Suchitra Bhattacharya was interested in writing from her childhood.

She graduated from the Jogamaya Devi College

Jogamaya Devi College

Jogamaya Devi College is a women's college in Kolkata, India. The college offers undergraduate degrees and is affiliated to the University of Calcutta. It was established in 1932.-Notable alumnae:*Maitreyi Devi*Bijoya Ray*Uma Dasgupta*Amala Shankar...

, an affiliated undergraduate women's college of the historic University of Calcutta

University of Calcutta

The University of Calcutta is a public university located in the city of Kolkata , India, founded on 24 January 1857...

, in Kolkata

Kolkata

Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...

.

After graduating from the University of Calcutta

University of Calcutta

The University of Calcutta is a public university located in the city of Kolkata , India, founded on 24 January 1857...

 she married and took a break from writing. She returned to writing with short stories written in the late seventies (1978–1979). She started writing novels in the mid eighties. Within a decade, especially after publication of the novel Kacher Dewal (Glass Wall), she became one of the major writers of Bengal.

Career

Her writing focuses on contemporary social issues. She is a perceptive observer of the changing urban milieu and her writing closely examines the contemporary Bengali middle class. Crisis in human relationships and the changing values of the present era along with degeneration of the moral fibre of the society in the backdrop of globalisation and consumerism are depicted in her prose. Exploitations and sufferings of women regardless of their social or economic identities find a distinct voice in her writing. While she is famous for her writing on women's issues, she does not consider herself as a feminist. She took up many odd jobs in her early youth and finally joined the public service which she left in 2004 to become a fulltime writer. Her long career is reflected in many of her stories and novels.

Over the past two decades, Suchitra has written about 24 novels and a large number of short stories in different leading Bangla literary magazines. Some of her acclaimed novels are Kachher Manush (Close to Me), Dahan (The Burning), Kacher Dewal, Hemonter Pakhi, Neel Ghurni, Aleek Shukh, Gabhir Ashukh (A Grave Illness), Uro Megh, Chhera Taar, Alochhaya, Anyo Basanto, Parabas, Palabar Path Nei, Aami Raikishori, Rangin Pritibi and Jalchhobi among others. Her novels and short stories have been translated into many Indian languages such as Hindi

Hindi

Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...

, Tamil

Tamil language

Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...

, Telugu

Telugu language

Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...

, Malayalam, Oriya

Oriya language

Oriya , officially Odia from November, 2011, is an Indian language, belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family. It is mainly spoken in the Indian states of Orissa and West Bengal...

, Marathi

Marathi language

Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...

, Gujarati

Gujarati language

Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. It is derived from a language called Old Gujarati which is the ancestor language of the modern Gujarati and Rajasthani languages...

, Punjabi

Punjabi language

Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region . For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language...

 and English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

. She also writes novels and short stories for children. Her novel Dahan

Dahan (film)

Dahan is an award-winning Indian Bengali feature film directed by Rituparno Ghosh. The film is based on Suchitra Bhattacharya's story of the same name.- Cast:*Indrani Halder as Srobona Sarkar,Jhinuk...

was made into a movie by famous Bengali director, Rituparno Ghosh

Rituparno Ghosh

Rituparno Ghosh is a Bengali film director. He has won 8 National Film Awards in India and several awards at international film festivals abroad.- Early life and background :...

.

Awards and Accolades

Suchitra has received several awards which include the Bhuban Mohini Medal from Calcutta University in 2004, the Nanjanagudu Thirumalamba National Award from Bangalore

Bangalore

Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...

 in 1996, the Katha Award 1997 from Delhi, the Tarashankar Award in 2000 from Kolkata

Kolkata

Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...

, the Dwijendralal Award in 2001 from Kalyani, the Sharat Puroshkar in 2002 from Bhagalpur

Bhagalpur

Bhagdattpuram was one of the most influential towns in "Aryavarta" . It is supposed to have been concurrent to Patliputra or Patna. Bhagdattpuram finds its mention in the Vedas and Ramayana as well. It is supposed to be the kingdom of Daanvir Karna, the son of Kunti and the Sun God...

, as well as the Bharat Nirman Award, Sahitya Setu Award and Shailajananda Smriti Puroshkar in 2004.

External links

• Biography on US Library of Congress site