Sarojini Sahoo

Sarojini Sahoo (born 4 January 1956) is an Indian feminist writer, a columnist in The New Indian Express and an associate editor of Chennai-based English magazine Indian AGE.. Accessed 7 November 2010Express Buzz. Accessed 7 November 2010 She is listed as one of the 25 Exceptional Women of India by Kindle Magazine of Kolkata in 2010,Orissa Diary . Accessed 8 April 2010 and is an Odisha Sahitya Academy Award winner.Orissa Sahitya Akademy . Accessed 7 November 2010

Life Born in the small town of Dhenkanal in Odisha (India), Sahoo earned her MA and PhD degrees in Odia Literature and a Bachelor of Law from Utkal University. She now teaches at a degree college in Belpahar, Jharsuguda, Odisha.

She is the second daughter of Ishwar Chandra Sahoo and the late Nalini Devi and is married to Jagadish Mohanty, a veteran writer of Odisha. She has a son and a daughter.Official web site . Accessed 11 August 2007

Fictions Her novel Gambhiri Ghara was commercially successful in Odia literature.. Accessed 7 November 2010 Her novels have gained a reputation for their feminist outlook and sexual frankness and have been translated into English and published from India under the title The Dark Abode (2008) () and published from Bangladesh in Bengali as Mithya Gerosthali ( 2007 ) (). Prameela K.P has translated this novel into Malayalam and has been published as "Irunda Koodaram" by Chintha Publishers, Thiruvananthapuram. Martina Fuchs for German and Dinesh Kumar Mali for Hindi. Another novel Pakhibas has been translated into Bengali and published from Bangladesh under the same title in 2009. This novel has been translated into Hindi by Dinesh Kumar Mali and has been published with same title by Yash Publication, Delhi () in 2010. Also, Dinesh Kumar Mali translated two more novel in Hindi titled बंद कमरा and विशादेश्वरी published from Rajpal and Sons, New Delhi and Yash publication, New Delhi. The same translator had translated सरोजिनी साहू की दलित कहानियाँ and रेप तथा अन्य कहानियां published from Yash publication, New Delhi as well as Rajpal and Sons, New Delhi.

Essays She has published a collection of essays titled 'Sensible Sensuality (2010). published by Authors Press, E-35/103, Jawahar Park, Laxmi Nagar, Delhi- 110 092 The book discusses femininity from an Eastern perspective, exploring the role of sexuality within Eastern feminism. Sahoo argues that feminism should challenge social structures rather than oppose men individually, asserting that traditional gender roles restrict both men and women.Note by publisher of Sensible Sensuality, , Accessed 3 September 2010.

Sahoo's writings frequently address female sexuality, relationships, and the experiences of women within traditional societies. Her perspectives on feminism and her rejection of Simone De Beauvoir's 'the other' theory have led to her inclusion among the "25 Exceptional Women of India" by Kindle Magazine.Preface by publisher of Sensible Sensuality, .

Thoughts and themes

Feminism Associated with contemporary feminism in Indian literature, she has stated that her approach to feminism focuses on an integral part of femaleness rather than a confrontation with male hegemony, arguing that men and women share a basic human equality despite constitutional differences.

Her fiction recurrently addresses themes related to female sexuality and societal experiences, including adolescence, pregnancy, rape, and social stigma.

Her work links feminism to sexual politics, advocating against restrictions on female sexual expression and identifying sexual liberation as a central element of the women's movement.Sahoo, Sarojini, Sensible Sensuality, Authors press, Delhi, , Accessed 4 September 2010. In South Asian Outlook, an e-magazine published from Canada, Menka Walia writes: "Sahoo typically evolves her stories around Indian women and sexuality, which is something not commonly written about, but is rather discouraged in a traditionalist society. As a feminist, she advocates women's rights and usually gives light to the injustices Eastern women face. In her interviews, she usually talks about the fact that women are second-class citizens in India, backing up these facts with examples of how love marriages are forbidden, the rejection of divorces, the unfairness of dowries, and the rejection of female politicians." Her novels, including Upanibesh, Pratibandi, and Gambhiri Ghara, address themes ranging from sexuality and philosophy to domestic and international politics. According to American journalist Linda Lowen, Sarojini Sahoo has written extensively as an Indian feminist about the interior lives of women and how their burgeoning sexuality is seen as a threat to traditional patriarchal societies.Cf. Lowen, Linda, Indian Feminist Author Sarojini Sahoo Explores Female Sexuality, women's issue guide of New York Times portal About.com Sarojini's novels and short stories treat women as sexual beings and probe culturally sensitive topics such as rape, abortion and menopause – from a female perspective.Lowen, Linda, Sarojini Sahoo Explores Female Sexuality

Sexuality

Simone De Beauvoir, in her book The Second Sex, first elaborately described the gender role and problem away from biological differences. In Odia literature, Sahoo's fiction frequently addresses themes of sexuality and feminism.Oriya Women's Writing: Paul St-Pierre and Ganeswar Mishra, Sateertha Publication,

Her novel Upanibesh explores themes of female sexuality through its protagonist, Medha, a bohemian character who challenges traditional societal expectations regarding marriage and relationships.The Amari Gapa: Special Issue on Sarojini, May–July 2006

Her novel Pratibandi centers on Priyanka, a protagonist living in a remote village who begins a relationship with an older, former Member of Parliament.

In her novel Gambhiri Ghara, she describes an unusual relationship between two people: a Hindu housewife of India and a Muslim artist of Pakistan. It is a net-oriented novel. A woman meets a very sexually experienced man. One day he asks if she had any such experience. The woman, Kuki, scolds him and insults him by calling him a caterpillar. She said without love, lust is like hunger of a caterpillar. Gradually they become involved with love, lust, and spiritually. That man considers her as his daughter, lover, mother, and above all these, as a Goddess. They both madly love each other, through the Internet and on the phone. They use obscene language and they kiss each other online. Kuki does not lead a happy conjugal life though she has a love marriage with Aniket. But the novel is not limited to only a love story.

It has a greater aspect. It deals with the relationship between State and individual. Safique is not a Muslim by temperament, but as a historian, thinks the Pakistan of today has separated itself from its roots and looks towards Arabian legends for his history. He protests that the syllabus of history for the school would start from seventh century A.D., not from the Mahenjodaro and Harappa. Safique was once arrested after the bomb blast of London for allegation of being associated with the terrorist, but is it a fact? Later Kuki learned that Safiques is trapped by a military junta. The ex-lover of Safique's wife had retaliated against Safique by arresting him with an allegation of terrorism. Awards

Odisha Sahitya Academy Award, 1993 Jhankar Award, 1992 Bhubaneswar Book Fair Award, 1993 Prajatantra Award, 1981,1993 Ladli Media Award, 2011

Selected bibliography

Novels

Upanibesh (1998) Pratibandi (1999) Swapna Khojali Mane (2000) Mahajatra (2001) Gambhiri Ghara (2005) Bishad Ishwari (2006) Pakshibasa (2007) Asamajik (2008)

Short stories She has published ten anthologies of short stories.

Her English anthologies of short stories are:

Sarojini Sahoo Stories (2006) Waiting for Manna (2008)

Her some of short stories have been anthologised in Hindi:

Rape Tatha Anya Kahaniyana (2010)

Some of her short stories have also been anthologized into Bengali:

Dukha Aprimita(2012) is one of her Bengali version of short stories, translated by Arita Bhoumik Adhikari and published from Bangladesh., published by Milan Nath, Anupam Prakashani,38/4, Bangla Bazar, Dhaka 1100

Her other Odia anthologies of short stories are:

Sukhara Muhanmuhin (1981) Nija GahirareNije (1989) Amrutara Pratikshare (1992) Chowkath (1994) Tarali Jauthiba Durga (1995) Deshantari (1999) Dukha Apramita (2006) Srujani Sarojini (2008)

Sarojini Sahoo

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