PRATIBHA RAY
WRITER
For some, the pen is mightier than the sword. Sometimes, a rebellion is best won by ideas and thoughts rather than the path of violence. The state reveres those individuals who consider their own interests to be a part of that of the greater humankind and fight for their mother tongues. Her search for a “social order based on equality, love, peace and integration”, continues from the time when she first penned down her thoughts at the age of nine.
A professor by vocation and writer as a passion, Pratibha Roy, is one of the finest writers and critics in the Odia language. One of the most prolific women writers of our times, she highlighted issues of discrimination and corruption based on caste and religious lines apart from gender.
She was the first Odia woman to have won the Jnanpith award, alongside other accolades like the Moortidevi and Saptarshi. Other national and state accolades to her credit include the Padma Shree, Odisha Living Legends Award, and the Padma Bhushan from Government of India.
One of the boldest writers in India, her writings bring about her desire for a social order based on equality, love, peace, non-violence and emotional integration. Claiming to be a humanist, she advocates that the qualities integral to women deserve to be nurtured further, for not only a fairer but a fully lucrative future. Her Love for and attachment towards the Odia language won over all her social obligations, bringing about hundreds of novels, short stories, and travelogues in Odia. She has toured half of the globe in order to participate in various literary and educational conferences.
We at VARINDIA are proud to feature this bold jewel into our Crown Jewels of Odisha, a special edition.
