Writer Mahasweta Devi passes away

Kolkata, July 28 : Reputed Bengali author and social activist Mahasweta Devi passed away at a hospital in Kolkata on Thursday.

Mahasweta Devi was born in 1926 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Her father, Manish Ghatak, was a well-known poet and novelist of the Kallol movement, who used the pseudonym Jubanashwa.

Mahaswetas first schooling was in Dhaka, but after the partition of India, she moved to West Bengal in India.

She joined the Rabindranath Tagore-founded Vishva Bharati University in Shantiniketan and completed a B.A. (Hons) in English, followd by an M.A. in English at Calcutta University.

She is known for writings like Hajar Churashir Maa, Aranyer Adhikar , among others.

She had won numerous awards in her career including Jnanpith Award and Sahitya Akademi Award.

Tweeted Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal, India has lost a great writer. Bengal has lost a glorious mother. I have lost a personal guide. Mahashweta Di rest in peace.

Bengali actor Arindam Sil tweeted: #MahashwetaDevi passes away. #HajarChurasirMaa flashed up lot of memories. R.I.P.