The first half of the 20th Century history of Odisha, India has been filled up with the eminent and popular freedom fighters’ narratives. Sarala Devi is one of such multi-talented personality witnessed the women’s contribution high and prominent in the freedom movement of Odisha, India. Sarala Devi’s distinctive contribution as a poet, a novelist, short story writer, critique, translator, and columnist are insightful and gender perspectives. Along with such soft skill, Sarala Devi identity as a feminist freedom fighter, activist, social reformer, and educationist is a role model for thousands of women and men of Odisha. Sarala Devi born on 19 August 1904 in a village named Narilo near Baikud station of Jagatsinghpur district, Odisha. Grown up in a conservative zamindar family she could complete only class seven. At a tender age of 14 she got married to Bhagavati Mohapatra a young lawyer and social worker. Life trajectory filled with her intellectual pursuits lead the journey contribute for outstanding literature and freedom movements. The pre- and post-independence era women writing in Odisha have inspired by two things simultaneously. The unconditional services to the collective freedom movements and a new literary platform to voice against injustices and gender stereotypes.
Sarala Devi was elected in the year 1937, as a member of Odisha legislative assembly. She served as a member of Odisha legislation for 9 years. As a legislator in 1938 Sarala Devi was posted in Govt. women’s welfare board. Her embodied experience reflected through literary creativity intertwined with activism and social reform situated the challenges women faced in a patriarchal society. The prolific writer was eloquent to demonstrate that women must learn how to control over own body and sexuality, and gain confidence and courage to voice against the practice of marital rape. Further, the colonial and post-colonial feminist writings Sarala Devi pointed out the significance of education in native language and principle of Gandhian economy.
Sarala Devi situates the commonness in the women’s oppression at a global scale in her penetrating essay entitled Narira Dabi (The Rights of Women). She was also emphasized that the gendered socio-spatial outcomes impact women differentially. Her insights at par excellence with the post-modern and post-colonial southern feminist thought, namely Chandra Talapad Mohanty, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Vandana Shiva, Uma Chakraborty, Judith Butler and many more. According to Mohanty (2011) were far ahead of her times. “She was careful to reject the view, as many later feminists did, of women as universal dependents and “married women as victims of the colonial process” in other essay and in her novel. Similarly, she made a nuanced response to the question of “women and religious ideology”. While many reformers of the colonial and post-colonial era were the proponent of metanarrative about the creation of an oppressive space by the Hinduism and Islam. “Sarala Devi argued that our critique must be context specific and be informed by histories of women in given societies and ideologies.”
In the year of 1981 Sarala Devi owned the title of Iron woman of Jagatsinghpur district. Sarala devi left us on 4 October 1986. An anti-colonial nationalist and political ethicist, Sarala Devi activism and writings would inspire the present generation of women and men to claim their human rights and wisdom to voice against gender parity. Sarala Devi Centre for Gender Research of Rama Devi Women’s University pay sincere tribute to the great soul in her 119th birth anniversary.
Source: We acknowledge the above quote from the book ‘Sarala Devi-Makers of Indian Literature’, authored Sachidananda Mohanty, Published by Sahitya Academy, Delhi in 2011.
Book Reference:
1. To conduct and invest in multidisciplinary gender research.
2. To inspire, translate and amplify gender scholarship.
3. To connect gender specialists and contribute towards gender parity & gender justice.
Establishment of the Centre
Sarala Devi Centre for Gender Research (SDCGR), Rama Devi Women’s University Bhubaneswar was inaugurated by the Founding Vice Chancellor, Prof (Dr.) Padmaja Mishra, RDWU on 29 November 2019. The MoU has been signed with Miranda House, University of Delhi to work in collaboration.
| Name | Designation |
|---|---|
|
Chairman PG Council, Prof. (Dr.) Chandi Charan Rath |
Chairman |
|
Prof. Jyotirmayee Acharya, HOD, Dept. of Gender Studies |
Convener, SDCGR |
|
Prof. Chandrashree Lenka, HOD, Dept. of Home Science |
Member SDCGR |
|
Dr. Sikha Singh, Associate Professor, Dept, of Life Science, DSW |
Member SDCGR |
|
Dr. Aparajita Biswal, HOD, Dept. of Economics |
Coordinator, SDCGR |
|
Dr. Sudam Sahoo, HOD, Dept. of Psychology |
Member SDCGR |
|
Dr. Atashi Rath, Assistant Professor, HoD, Dept. of Sociology |
Member SDCGR |
Rama Devi Women's University Vidya Vihar,PO:Bhoinagar Bhubaneswar,751022,Odisha,India Phone No. : 0674-2542644 Email:registrar(at)rdwu(dot)ac(dot)in
