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Reckoned as the grand dame of Hindi literature, Krishna Sobti confronts the preserves of patriarchy with sparkling honesty and empathy.
Krishna Sobti won the Sahitya Akademi award for Zindaginama – a novel set in the feudal Punjab of the pre-Partition days. She was also conferred the first Katha Chudamani Award in 1999 for Lifetime Literary Achievement.
The 87-year-old writer is the creator of literary masterpieces – Dar Se Bichudi, Mitro Marjani, Ai Ladki, Dil-o-Danish, Surajmukhi Andhere Ke – whose protagonists are striking, feisty women who refuse to dissolve their identities to sexist conventionality.
Realism and humanism throb in equal measure in Krishna Sobti’s works. We also find in her essays and fiction the usage of a terse personal idiom that makes the author a challenge for anyone to emulate. Even translate.
Krishna Sobti is active even today from her Delhi home, proving that there is no such thing called intellectual retirement.
Why we find her inspiring?
– Because, she is fiercely protective of her space – both as a writer and an individual
– Because she compels us to rethink the status quo through emphatic female characters
– Because in articulating provocative issues, she yanks society out of its comfort zones
– Because in declining a national award, she demonstrates that inner sanction is greater than institutional recognition
Suggested readings:
A total commitment to writing
Ai Ladki – A novella by Krishna Sobti
*Photo credit: The Hindu.
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We say that we live in modern times and talk on subjects like feminism, supporting your loved ones, encouraging them to follow their dreams. But how many of us can really say that they actually do that?
We live in a world where there comes times in everyone’s life when one has to make choices which will leave a long term impact in not just their life but on the lives of those attached to them.
Giving the ones you claim to love the freedom and space to make their own choices and the wings to fly is not only the right thing to do but sometimes its also the thing they need the most; without having to face the ‘guilt’ of living the life they want.
She would serve everyone fresh food and serve herself the stale rice and curries from the previous meal. Some days after finishing the leftovers she was so full she would not even be able to even taste the fresh food.
When I married the first time, my MIL told me that during the Navratri the lady of the house should not eat stale food. ‘Gharatlya bai ni shila khau naye’ — in refined upper caste Marathi.
I was just 26, eager to please, not versed in patriarchy or feminism, and it seemed like a positive thing — respect for the goddess in woman.
But soon I realised she spent the remaining 356 days of her year finishing leftovers. And that I was expected to do the same.