Mahasweta Devi (1926-2016): The autobiography that remains unfinished

Kolkata: Eminent writer Mahasweta Devi, who penned hundreds of heart-warming tales about the downtrodden, could never finish her own story about the mental trauma she went through after her divorce.

Mahasweta Devi, who ardently fought for the rights of the tribals and other marginalised sections, passed away yesterday after a cardiac arrest. She was 91 and had been suffering from kidney, lung and other age-related ailments for a long time. Doctors at Belle Vue Clinic hospital, where she had been admitted on May 22, said she died of a cardiac arrest at 3.16 pm, which was preceded by multi-organ failure.

Documentary filmmaker Joshy Joseph, who was associated with the Jnanipath and Sahitya Akademi award winning writer for a long time, said after the Nandigram violence during acquisition of land in 2007 she had started writing her autobiography.

"She finished half of the diary four years ago but while shifting her house and the trouble she had with her ex-aide it got lost. Now it remains unfinished and we don't even know where the priceless manuscript is lying," Joseph said.

He said he had persuaded Mahasweta to finish writing it but it never happened. "She even read out some portions of the manuscript which was about her early life."

Mental trauma
She was married to eminent playwright Bijon Bhattacharya, one of the founding members of the Indian People's Theatre Association, but as things turned sour they separated in 1962. It was during this stage that she suffered a mental trauma and financial crisis. Things improved as she got a job as an English lecturer in a government college.

"I don't think besides this autobiography there is any unpublished work of hers," said Joseph, who has made three documentaries on her life.

However, many of her works are lost because she used to send the original manuscript of her writing to the publishers without keeping a copy of it.

Original works lost
"Some of the magazines in which they were published are now not available in the market. So many of her works are lost. She has been writing endlessly," her associate said.

The first film he made on her was the 51-minute documentary ‘Journeying with Mahasweta Devi' about 10 years ago while the second one was ‘Mahasweta Devi: Close-up'. The last one, which is an experimental film of only five minutes, is called ‘Serendipity Cinema'.

Joseph has over 140 hours of footage of Mahasweta's life including conversations with her. "This footage is of great archival value."