''Hajar Churashir Maa'' (''No. 1084's Mother'') is a
1974
Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
novel written by
Ramon Magsaysay Award
The Ramon Magsaysay Award (Filipino: ''Gawad Ramon Magsaysay'') is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in governance, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealis ...
winner
Mahasweta Devi
Mahasweta Devi (14 January 1926 – 28 July 2016) ''
. It was written in 1974 on the backdrop of the Naxalite revolution in the Seventies.''Hajar Churashir Maa'' Retrieved 17 July 2012
Overview
''Hajar Churashir Maa'' (means Mother of 1084) is story of a mother (Sujata) whose son (Brati), corpse number 1084 in the
morgue
A morgue or mortuary (in a hospital or elsewhere) is a place used for the storage of human corpses awaiting identification (ID), removal for autopsy, respectful burial, cremation or other methods of disposal. In modern times, corpses have cus ...
, was brutally killed by the state because of his
ideology
An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied pri ...
of advocating the brutal killing of class enemies, collaborators with the State and counter-revolutionaries within the Party. The story starts on the eve of Brati's death anniversary when Sujata recollects her son starting from his birth. She meets Brati's close accomplice and tries to justify Brati's actions and his
revolution
In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
ary mentalities. Throughout the story she is portrayed as a strong woman who fought against the odds. She is advised to forget her son, as people like her son are what are often called "''cancerous growth on the body of
democracy
Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...
''". It's a story of a mother as she relives, years later, the death of her son in the
political upheaval
In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
that left almost no home untouched.THE SIXTY-YEAR JOURNEY: BHASHA LITERATURE
The Hindu
''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...
. Published Sunday, 7 March 2010. Retrieved 17 July 2012 ''Hajar Churashir Maa'' also portrays the other faces of the human stories that emanated from the restless political adventure of the vibrant Bengali youth, which was ruthlessly cowed by the then
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
government until the
Communist Party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...
displaced them and who then again themselves ruthlessly cowed their opponents, the same Bengali youth.
Characters
* Sujata: Main
protagonist
A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...
and a ''modern'' strong mother.
* Brati:
Rebel
A rebel is a participant in a rebellion.
Rebel or rebels may also refer to:
People
* Rebel (given name)
* Rebel (surname)
* Patriot (American Revolution), during the American Revolution
* American Southerners, as a form of self-identification; s ...
and son of Sujata.
* Dibyanath: Husband of Sujata and seen as same type of people against whom Brati fought.
* Nandani : girlfriend of Brati
Film adaptation
Govind Nihalani
Govind Nihalani (born 19 December 1940) is an Indian film director, cinematographer, screenwriter and producer, known for his works in Hindi cinema. He has been the recipient of six National Film Awards, and five Bollywood Filmfare Awards. In 1 ...
made this novel to a film called ''
Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa
''Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa'' ( en, The Mother of 1084) is a 1998 Indian feature filmthat deals with the life of a woman who loses her son, a Naxalite, to the violence that is a result of his adopted ideology.
The film is directed produced by Govin ...
'' in 1998.Of death and resurrection Rediff news. Retrieved 17 July 2012''Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa'' won the
National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi
The National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several a ...
.
Award
Mahasweta Devi got the
Jnanpith Award
The Jnanpith Award is the oldest and the highest Indian literary award presented annually by the Bharatiya Jnanpith to an author for their "outstanding contribution towards literature". Instituted in 1961, the award is bestowed only on Indian w ...
in 1996 for this book, which she received from
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
n freedom fighter and president
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...
The Times of India
''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...
. Published 29 March 1997. Record Number : A0080925. Retrieved 18 July 2012
* (''Karuna Prakashani'',
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
-9)
* (''Karuna Prakashani'',
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
-9)Hajaar Churasir Maa(Hardcover, Bengali)
Flipkart
Flipkart Private Limited is an Indian e-commerce company, headquartered in Bengaluru, and incorporated in Singapore as a private limited company. The company initially focused on online book sales before expanding into other product categories ...
.com. Retrieved 18 July 2012
References
External links
Biography of Mahasweta Devi Retrieved 17 July 2012
''emory.edu''. Retrieved 29 July 2012
One Of A Rare Tribe ''outlookindia.com''. Retrieved 29 July 2012
* Roy, Pinaki. "''Mother of 1084'': A Chronicle of Deadly Times". ''Mahasweta Devi's 'Mother of 1084': Critical Readings and Rereadings''. Eds. Sarkar, J., and S. Debnath.
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
:
Books Way
A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical arr ...