Indira Goswami | |
---|---|
Born |
Guwahati, India |
14 November 1942
Died | 29 November 2011 GMCH, Guwahati, Assam, India |
(aged 69)
Pen name | Mamoni Raisom Goswami |
Occupation | Activist, editor, poet, professor and writer |
Nationality | Indian |
Ethnicity | Assamese |
Period | 1956–2011 |
Genre | Assamese literature |
Subject | Plight of the dispossessed in India and abroad |
Notable works | -The Moth Eaten Howdah of a Tusker -The Man from Chinnamasta -Pages Stained With Blood |
Spouse | Madhaven Raisom Ayengar (deceased) |
Indira Goswami (14 November 1942 – 29 November 2011), known by her pen name Mamoni Raisom Goswami and popularly as Mamoni Baideo, was an Assamese editor, poet, professor, scholar and writer.
She was the winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award (1983), the Jnanpith Award (2001) 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, Pages Stained With Blood and The Man from Chinnamasta.
She was also well known for her attempts to structure social change, 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. 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 (অদাহ্য) is based on her novel won international awards. Words from the Mist is a film made on her life directed by Jahnu Barua.
Indira Goswami was born in Guwahati to Umakanta Goswami and Ambika Devi, a family that was deeply associated with Sattra life of the Ekasarana Dharma. She studied at Latashil Primary School, Guwahati; Pine Mount School, Shillong; and Tarini Charan Girls' School, Guwahati and completed Intermediate Arts from Handique Girls College, Guwahati. She majored in Assamese literature at Cotton College in Guwahati and secured a master's degree from Gauhati University in the same field of study. Indira goswami impressed by Akka Mahadevi's Kannada vachanas as she said in Bengaluru.