Basanta Kumari Patnaik (15 December 1923 – 29 March 2013) was an

Odia Odia, also spelled Oriya or Odiya, may refer to: * Odia people in Odisha, India * Odia language, an Indian language, belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family * Odia alphabet, a writing system used for the Odia languag ...

language novelist, short story writer, playwright, poet and essayist; considered to be one of the pioneers in

Odia literature Odia literature is literature written in the Odia language, mostly from the Indian state of Odisha. The modern Odia language is mostly formed from Tadbhava words with significant Sanskrit (Tatsama) influences, along with loanwoards from Desaj ...

. She became famous for her three novels: ''Amada Bata'' ( The Untroddden Path), ''Chorabali'' and ''Alibha Chita'', among which ''Amada Bata'' has been adapted into an Odia film by same name.

Biography

Basanta Kumari was born on 15 December 1923 in

Bhanjanagar Bhanjanagar is a town and a semi-urban region. It is a Notified Area Council in the Ganjam District in the state of Odisha, India. The town, earlier named as Russellkonda (Russell's Hill) after George Russell, President of then board of Reven ...

, a town in Ganjam district of state of Odisha. She spent most of her life in Cuttack city. She completed her MA in economics from

Ravenshaw College Ravenshaw University, formerly known as Ravenshaw college, is a co-educational state university situated in Cuttack, Odisha on the eastern coast of India. Founded as Ravenshaw College in 1868, the institution became a university in 2006. The un ...

, Cuttack. Along with her brother, Rajkishore Patnaik, she founded a publishing company known as Shanti Nibas Bani Mandira, which was active from 1959 to 1962. She died on 29 March 2013.

Works

Basanta Kumari is considered to be one of the pioneers in Odia literature. In 1950, Basanta Kumari published her first novel, ''Amada Bata'' ( The Untroddden Path), which was well received by readers. It was followed by ''Chorabali'' (1973), ''Alibha Chita'' and other four novels. ''Sabhyatara Saja'' (1950; The Veneer of Civilization) and ''Patala Dheu'' (1952) and ''Jivanchinha'' (1959) are her short story collections. She published two poetry collections: ''Chintanala'' (1956) and ''Taranga''; and two plays: ''Jaura Bhatta'' (1952) and ''Mruga Trushna'' (1956). Her novel ''Amada Bata'', considered to be her magnum opus, was adapted into an Odia film by the same name. It tells a story of the middle-class family of Cuttack and its attempts to get their daughter married. ''Amada Bata'' is noted for its realistic portrayal of women's characters. Her writings reflects the domestic and social life of 20th-century Odisha. She co-translated, with her sister Hemanta Kumari Nanda, a philosophical work of

Jiddu Krishnamurti Jiddu Krishnamurti (; 11 May 1895 – 17 February 1986) was a philosopher, speaker and writer. In his early life, he was groomed to be the new World Teacher, an advanced spiritual position in the theosophical tradition, but later rejected thi ...

Recognition

The Odia Sahitya Akademi awarded her Atibadi Jagannath Das award. She is the first and only Odia woman writer to have received Atibadi Jagannath Das award.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Patnaik, Basanta Kumari 1923 births 2013 deaths Writers from Odisha Recipients of the Atibadi Jagannath Das Award 20th-century Indian women writers 20th-century Indian novelists 20th-century Indian short story writers