Books by Mahasweta Devi

A brief, evocative memoir from one of India‿s greatest writers. “Like a dazzling feather that has fluttered down from some unknown place. . . . How long will the feather keep its colours, waiting? The ‿feather‿ stands for memories of childhood. Memories don‿t wait.â€?   In Our Sanitikentan, the late Mahasweta Devi, one of India‿s most celebrated writers, vividly narrates her days as a schoolgirl in the 1930s. As the aging author struggles to recapture vignettes of her childhood, these reminiscences bring to the written page not only her individual sensibility but an entire ethos.   Santiniketan is home to the school and university founded by the foremost literary and cultural icon of India, Rabindranath Tagore. In these pages, a forgotten Santiniketan, seen through the innocent eyes of a young girl, comes to life‿the place, its people, flora and fauna, along with its educational environment, culture of free creative expression, vision of harmonious coexistence between natural and human worlds, and the towering presence of Tagore himself. Alongside, we get a glimpse of the private Mahasweta‿her inner life, family and associates, and the early experiences that shaped her personality.   A nostalgic journey to a bygone era, harking back to its simple yet profound values‿so distant today and so urgent yet again‿Our Santiniketan is an invaluable addition to Devi‿s rich oeuvre available in English translation.

It's the mid-to-late 1800s and the British have banished Wajid Ali Shah--the nawab of Awadh in Lucknow--to Calcutta. To the sound of the soulful melody of the sarangi, the mercurial courtesan Laayl-e Aasman is playing a dangerous game of love, loyalty, deception, and betrayal. Bajrangi and Kundan, bound by their love for each other and for Laayl-e, struggle to keep their balance. Ranging across generations and geography, the scale of Laayl-e's story sweeps the devil, a crime lord, and many other remarkable characters into a heady mix. Mirror of the Darkest Night is almost an aberration in Mahasweta Devi's oeuvre. Known for her activism and hard-hitting indictment of social inequalities, she pays close attention to detail in this sparkling novel. It offers a rare glimpse of Devi's talent for telling the sort of story she normally eschewed--and it's a cracker of a tale.

Focuses on the trauma of a mother who awakens one morning to the shattering news that her son is lying dead in the morgue and her struggle to understand his decision to be a Naxalite.

Collects such stories as - "Fisherman", "Knife", "Body," and "Killer". This title contextualizes the stories within the development of the growing criminal underworld in Bengal.

The wide sweep of this important novel encompasses many layers. It ranges over decades in the life of Chotti - the central character - in which India moves from colonial rule to independence and then to the unrest of the 1970s.

Weaving history, myth and current political realities, these three stories by Bengali writer Mahasweta Devi explore troubling motifs in contemporary Indian life. Both delicate and violent, Devi's stories map the experiences of the "tribals" and tribal life during decolonization.