Volume II, Special Issue, February 2026
Volume-II, Special Issue, February, 2026 |
Received: 26.12.2025 | Accepted: 30.01.2026 | ||
Published Online: 28.02.2026 | Page No: | ||
DOI: 10.69655/atmadeep.vol.2.specialissue.W. | |||
‘অশ্বযোনি’: নারীর জীবন সংগ্রামের উপাখ্যান পরশুরাম রজক, সহ শিক্ষক, আশ্বিনটোলা প্রাথমিক বিদ্যালয়, মালদা, পশ্চিমবঙ্গ, ভারত |
‘Ashwayoni’: The Narrative of a Woman’s Life Struggle Parshuram Rajak, Asst. Teacher, Ashwintola Primary School, Malda, West Bengal, India | ||
ABSTRACT | ||
Among those who emerged at the turn of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and showed new directions to Bengali fiction, Bani Basu is eminent. She is distinguished by virtue of her unique narrative technique and analytical insight. In her fiction, women are vibrant, expressive, and full of life. Alongside portraying the suffering of women’s lives, she also sheds light on their social positioning. She has closely observed the dynamic life of Kolkata and has seen how people, as travelers on the path of life’s struggle, move forward along the road of progress. This path is neither smooth nor comfortable. To secure the means of survival, people must constantly struggle—and women must struggle far more. Women are compelled to build strong resistance against patriarchy, and only then can they choose the path of progress. Along this path, women repeatedly become victims of exploitation and oppression. At times, they surrender themselves to the conventional flow of life; at other times, they rise again, choosing their own rhythm of life. Bani Basu has created timely and relevant female characters in her novels such as Antarghat, Pancham Purush, Shwetpatharer Khala, Uttar Sadhak, Gandhabi, Ekush-e Pa, Amrita, Khanamihirer Dhipi, and Maitreya Jatak. Among her distinguished novels is Ashwayoni, by the author of Maitreya Jatak, which chronicles the formation of an independent female identity along the path of protest. Rajeswari is an unwanted child of her parents’ old age; she is dark-skinned. An inevitable neglect, bestowed by nature, marks her forehead. The patriarchal structure of a wealthy family marginalizes her. Eight years ago, she left the Goswami family—that is, both her parental home and her husband’s family—and chose an independent life and livelihood. She is now established as a writer and critic. With her self-earned income, she lives independently in a modest apartment on the outskirts of South Kolkata, along with her son Babui, given to her by her husband Saheb. She is divorced. Having refused to compromise with any form of injustice, she remains alone—and in this solitude lies her freedom. | ||
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