About “Mahasweta Devi”
Mahasweta Devi: Witness, Advocate, Writer
Language is a weapon, its not for shaving your armpits.
So says eminent writer Mahasweta Devi in this documentary about the her life and work.
At the center of a half-century of tumultuous change, the lifetime of Mahasweta Devi has spanned the British period, Independence, and fifty years of postcolonial turmoil. Her writing has given Indian literature a new life and inspired two generations of writers, journalists and filmmakers. A celebrated writer and tireless activist; for the last two decades, she has led a battled on the behalf of the De-notified tribes of India-indigenous groups who were branded “natural criminals” by the British Colonial State, who face discrimination to this day, despite being “de-notified.”
Informal in style, this video explores how Mahasweta’s daily life and writing is a part of her life as a tireless worker for the rights of the aboriginal peoples of India.
