Sulekha Sanyal (15 June 1928 – c. 1962) was a Bengali writer and activist. She emerged as an early feminist in the region through her work ''Nabankur'' (''The Seedling'') in 1956. The work has been translated to English in 2001 by Gouranga P. Chattopadhyay.

Early life and career

Sanyal grew up in Korokdi, now in Faridpur

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

, in a decaying

zamindar A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...

family that had once been

indigo Indigo is a deep color close to the color wheel blue (a primary color in the RGB color space), as well as to some variants of ultramarine, based on the ancient dye of the same name. The word "indigo" comes from the Latin word ''indicum'', m ...

planters, and was to become a member of the

Communist Party of India Communist Party of India (CPI) is the oldest Marxist–Leninist communist party in India and one of the nine national parties in the country. The CPI was founded in modern-day Kanpur (formerly known as Cawnpore) on 26 December 1925. H ...

. An early influence on her was the

Brahmo Bengali Brahmos are those who adhere to Brahmoism, the philosophy of Brahmo Samaj which was founded by Raja Rammohan Roy. A recent publication describes the disproportionate influence of Brahmos on India's development post-19th Century as unpar ...

philosopher and reformer,

Ramtanu Lahiri Ramtanu Lahiri (1813–1898) was a Young Bengal leader, a teacher and a social reformer. Peary Chand Mitra wrote about him, "There are few persons in whom the milk of kindness flows so abundantly. He was never wanting in appreciation of what ...

, who was related to her mother. Senyal passed the matriculation exam as a private candidate in 1944 and intermediate exam from Rajendra College, Faridpur in 1946. She then went to Kolkata and enrolled herself in Victoria Institute. ''Nabankur'' was published in English by Stree in 2001. Its heroine, ''Chhobi'', is a young girl from a rural zamindar family in Bengal of the 1930s, and the book follows her as she learns to fight injustice, protest against the privileges denied her but granted to her brothers, and the restrictions of the patriarchal society around her.

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

breaks out, cutting short Chhobi's education in the city. She returns to the village, gets involved with relief work and witnesses the

Bengal famine of 1943 The Bengal famine of 1943 was a famine in the Bengal province of British India (present-day Bangladesh, West Bengal and eastern India) during World War II. An estimated 0.8 to 3.8 million Bengalis perished, out of a population of 60.3 millio ...

. Much of the story mirrors Sanyal's own life, for she was born into a similar family, educated briefly in

Chittagong Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in B ...

, went for undergraduate studies at the

Scottish Church College Scottish Church College is a college affiliated by Calcutta University, India. It offers selective co-educational undergraduate and postgraduate studies and is the oldest continuously running Christian liberal arts and sciences college in A ...

, where she became involved in politics during the Bengal Famine. On 21 January 1947, following a police assault, she was arrested along with her college friends Anjana Guha and Anima Ghosh, and that put an end to formal education.Basu, Pradip. ''The Question of Colonial Modernity and Scottish Church College'' in ''175th Year Commemoration Volume'', Scottish Church College, April 2008, page 46. Late in life, she was awarded a degree in

Bengali literature Bengali literature ( bn, বাংলা সাহিত্য, Bangla Sahityô) denotes the body of writings in the Bengali language and which covers Old Bengali, Middle- Bengali and Modern Bengali with the changes through the passage of time ...

by the

University of Burdwan The University of Burdwan (also known as Burdwan University or B. U.) is a public university in Purba Bardhaman, West Bengal, India. It was established by the West Bengal Government as a teaching and affiliating university on 15 June 1960 wit ...

. Sanyal's first stories were accepted by the newspaper ''

Jugantar Jugantar or Yugantar ( bn, যুগান্তর ''Jugantor''; lit. ''New Era'' or ''Transition of an Epoch'') was one of the two main secret revolutionary trends operating in Bengal for Indian independence. This association, like Anushi ...

''. Sanyal also wrote a collection of short stories, ''Sindure Megh'' (Clouds Tinged with Red). Her ''Dewal Padma'' (Wallflowers) was published in 1964, after her death from leukemia in 1962.

Personal life

Sanyal was married from 1948 to 1956. She had a sister Sujata Sanyal and an elder brother Abanti Kumar Sanyal.

References

External links

A Critique on Sulekha Sanyal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanyal, Sulekha 1928 births 1962 deaths Indian women novelists Indian communists Deaths from leukemia Deaths from cancer in India Scottish Church College alumni University of Burdwan alumni 20th-century Indian women writers 20th-century Indian novelists Communist women writers Indian political writers Indian women political writers Bengali writers 21st-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian writers

Early life and career

Personal life

References

Further reading

External links