Sarojini Sahoo – A Crusade for Feminism    

Sarojini Sahoo needs no introduction to readers of contemporary Oriya literature. So also doesn’t Jagadish Mohanty, her husband and a distinguished writer who is known for his unpretentious handling of maverick ideas. This couple has played an important role in the growth of modern Oriya fiction. But what is worth observing is that there is hardly anything common between these two writers in terms of approach and content.

Sarojini has emerged as a writer crusading for the cause of feminism through various experimentations in fiction. Most of her stories and novels tend to become no-holds-barred exploration into the feminist self of a feminine soul.

A BEFITTING MEDIUM

The literary forms of story and novel have served as a befitting medium to Sarojini for delineation of a woman’s dilemma in a variety of situations. However it does not mean that the theme of her stories always remains confined to a feminist view of life. She has also undertaken a social and psychological study of various stages of human existence in some of her works.

It has led to treasure-house of an output. Till date she has nine published anthologies of stories and eight novels to her credit. This excludes many of her pieces published in leading literary journals. Some of her works have also been translated into English and Indian languages.

In translation Sarojini’s appeal remains as effective as in her original creations. A Bengali translation of her novel Gambhiri Ghara entitled Mithya Gerosthali and published recently in Bangladesh received overwhelming response from the readers there.

INTELLECTUAL PURSUIT

Born in 1956 Sarojini has M.A and and Ph. D degrees in Oriya literature. She is also a Bachelor in Law from Utkal University. Presently she teaches Oriya literature in a Degree College in Belpahar, Orissa. She is as committed to her teaching profession as she is to her literary pursuits.

An academic background in Oriya literature has enriched her literary career in a significant manner. 

In spite of her busy schedule mostly packed with writing preoccupations Sarojini finds time to update her blog. Her postings in the blog contain unhindered statements on bold issues. “The world would be a lot of poorer without sexual energy in art, music, literature, drama, architecture, design, poetry and cooking”, she says in one of her posts on Sexuality and Spiritualism in Indian literature.

SEEDS OF FEMINISM

It appears that the seeds of aggressive feminism in her literary life were sown by circumstances faced by her during childhood. Here we would like to quote an account of her childhood in her own words:

“Before my birth, my father was expecting a son and when I was born my father was not present beside my mom. Finding myself a female baby my mother had a shock, coz my birth might be the reason of her humiliation in future. My mom told me later, she could not sleep the night with fear of facing my father with a girl child. She was praying all the night to God for changing my gender, but God did not pay attention to her pathos and hence my gender was not changed.”

The predicament of being a woman and the harsh treatment meted out to women in the society contributed in a valuable way to her growth as a feminist writer.

A SUPPORTIVE HUSBAND

How has Jagadish Mohanty impacted her writing career? – when we pose this question to Sarojini she has this to say: “ Most of the writers of the 70s and later were influenced by the style and language of Jagadish. No doubt, I was also one of his followers. But in later period, I found out my own way of expression. Unlike those traditional women writers, I have been referred as a frank-speaking writer in India and as a husband Jagadish has never raised any complaints for that.”

Before marriage Jagadish was her lover. At that time she used to write her feelings  in a frank and unabashed manner. She says that she is grateful that Jagadish never argued with her for such free flow of feelings in her writings.    

No doubt such a support from her husband for being distinctly different from him has proved a blessing to Sarojini and she continues to grow making her pen all the more powerful with each passing day.