Indira Raisom Goswami (English: Indira Raisom Goswami, born- November 14, 1942; death- November 29, 2010) was a strong signature of Assamese literature. Jnanpith Awardee Indira Goswami played an important role in taking the political initiative to play the role of mediator between Assam’s extremist organization ‘ULFA’ i.e. United Liberation Front of Assam and the Government of India. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award (Assamese) in 1982 for a novel ‘Mamre Dhara Tarowal Aru Dukhan’ written by him.
Introduction
Born on November 14, 1942, Indira Goswami had her primary education in Shillong but later came to Guwahati and completed her further studies from TC Girls High School, Cotton College and Guwahati University. His writing talent became evident at the age of just 20 when his first collection of stories was published in 1962 while his education was still going on. She was one of the few famous contemporary writers of the country. He is best known for his novels ‘Dontal Hatir Une Khovda Howdah’ (‘The Moth Eaten Howdah of a Tusker’), ‘Pages Stained with Blood’ and The Man from Chhinnamasta.
Her husband died after just eighteen months of marriage. After this, she returned from Kashmir to Assam after distributing her belongings and jewelery there. But writing never stopped. Despite being born and brought up in an aristocratic family, his eyes were always on the neglected and humiliated people of the society. Perhaps he saw his sorrows only in the lives of the suffering people. In his literature, stories are not seen of people living in palaces, but of people living in the slums around them. The happiness, sorrow, laughter and crying of those people were the power of their pen and the basis of their creation.
Indira Goswami’s personal honesty is reflected in her autobiographical novel ‘The Unfinished Autobiography’. In this he has thrown light on all the struggles of his life. He has even mentioned such an incident in this book that due to pressure, he had tried to commit suicide. Then only the memories of his carefree childhood and his father’s letters gave him life. Perhaps this honesty and strength of self-criticism brought him into the ranks of the leading writers of Assam.
Indira Goswami was considered a top litterateur. The personality and creative world of Bhupen Da and Mamoni Baideau influenced the entire country. Even though they were Assamese, both of them were invaluable assets to the country. At present, there is no Assamese face in the art world who is known by the entire country. Both of them were national faces of Assam. One represented notes, the other represented words. When Indira Goswami wrote a novel on the cursed widows of Vrindavan, she also depicted the ghats of Varanasi. Kandli chose the comparative study of Ramayana and Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas as the subject of her research and became Ramayani. Started giving lectures on Ramayana. For this he toured the country and abroad and received many honours. This was a different and important dimension of his personality.
Indira Goswami’s works have been translated into most Indian languages. After receiving the Jnanpith Award, his works received more attention in the country and his contemporary works started being evaluated seriously. That is why his works in other Indian languages including Hindi are read with equal interest. This is the reason why any lover of literature in any language knows him through his works.
Indira Goswami’s research on Ramayani literature was highly appreciated. She met Father Kamil Bulke in Ranchi. This incident happened in 1972. Father gave new inspiration to Indira ji to understand Ram literature. After listening to the details of the incidents in Indira ji’s life, he told her to always do good work. The result of good work is never bad. The personal life of this unique writer was full of incidents and accidents. She became a victim of depression at the age of eleven. Any accident happening in or around the family increased his depression. She used to get scared after seeing someone’s death. He had seen his father’s death very closely. Every time she faced depression, she would pick up the pen. He had also said – “Ink flows in my body in the form of blood, that is why I am alive.”
Novel
Chenabar Source, Neelkanthi Braj, Ahiran, Chhinnamasta, Mamre Dhara Tarowal, Datal Hatir Uve Khowa Howda, Tej Aru Dhuli Gray Pages, Blood-Stained Pages, Saga of Southern Kamrup
story collection
Chinaki Maram, Kaina, Hridaya Ek Nadeer Naam, Priya Galpo
autobiography
half accounting document
research
Ramayana from Ganga to Brahmaputra
Respect
Jnanpith Award Principal Prince Claus Laureate Award (Dutch Government) International Tulsi Award (Florida International University) Sahitya Akademi Award Assam Sahitya Sabha Award Bharat Nirman Award Sauharda Award (Uttar Pradesh Hindi Institute) Kamalkumari Foundation Award
death
Indira Goswami died on 29 November 2010.