num_pages: 162
description: Mahasweta Devi, a major literary force in contemporary Bengali literature, is a prolific author of short fiction and novels. Born into a family of intellectuals, she was influenced early by her association with the Indian Peoples Theatre Association, a leftist cultural group particularly active across the country in the 1930s and 1940s. As a social activist she has worked for years with and for tribals and marginalized communities such as the landless laborers of eastern India. Activism is central to Devi’s understanding of the role of a writer in society, and this is reflected in her impressive body of work. 'Operation Bashai Tudu,' a novelette and 'Draupadi,' a short story, evoke a modern myth of a tribal peasant revolutionary who is killed again and again, but turns up whenever the landless farm labourers are driven to a crisis. Novelist and activist, Mahasweta Devi writes about women, tribals, and revolutionaries, in their confrontation with exploitation.
language: English
title: Bashai Tudu
titlecomplete: Bashai Tudu
ratings_count: 16
publisher: South Asia Books