Srutimala Duara is indeed an iconic lady who has given shape and direction to the literary landscape of the state and region through her variegated contributions. A bilingual writer (who writes in Assamese and English) and academician, her books in English include three novels and four collections of short stories - The Sunset Hour And Other Stories (1998), Waiting for the Last Breath (1999), The Jhoolan Evening (2000) and The Missing Link.
Her five books of poems include Shells of Expressions, Petals, By the Brahmaputra and Other Poems, Along my Route and When it Rains. She has also authored a book on the city of Guwahati titled 'Mindprints of Guwahati' and a book on travels titled, 'European Rhapsody'. She is also a popular and familiar name in the newspaper and academic book circuit and has penned numerous articles for both platforms. On the other hand her books in Assamese include six story books for children, three children novels, a collection of short stories and a novel.
When Saturday Fare contacted the lady for an interview and asked her about the defining moments in her life's journey she simply stated, "My father has been my best friend and this has been one of the best things in my life. I could talk about anything under the sun and share everything about my private life with him and he always gave me a patient hearing without being judgmental. He also taught me the value of time. Another very important thing that became a challenge for my life, but made me a stronger person is my cancer. I wrote a book 'My Journey through Cancer' during my difficult times and it is now with a publisher.
Saturday Fare was touched by the simplicity of her answer for Srutimala Duara has many laurels to her credit. She is an associate professor in the department of English, Handique Girls' College and was awarded the 'Naari Shakti Award' in April 2015. She was also conferred the title of 'Woman of the Year 2016' by the International Human Rights Council (Assam Chapter) and bagged the coveted 'Women Achievers' Award in Literature' (by D. S. Creation) in January 2019. This is not all. She has received the Indian Women Achievers Award in Literature by Asian Literary Society in 2021.
Talking about her literary journey, Srutimala says, "My literary journey started with an Assamese story. Three more stories followed and were all published in 'Akash'. Intermittently I wrote poems in Assamese. Then I eventually wrote stories for children in Assamese and Lawyers Book Stall brought out four books of children stories."
Srutimala's first book in English was a novel based and researched on the activities of ULFA. It was titled 'Travelling with Dreams', which was published by Modern Book Depot. "This was followed by my collections of short stories and then a few poetry books followed. The most recent one to be published this August is 'Autumn Poems'," she shares.
In her words, "I realised that I feel comfortable writing for children in Assamese. I have novels, stories, and rhymes published in Assamese and just one collection of short story for adults titled 'Mon Gohonot'. I enjoy writing poetry these days."
So what are the things that essentially translate to inspirations while crafting books? "Well poetry is inspired by life. The city, the seasons and bygone years inspire me to write poetry. When it comes to fiction, it is certain events, characters and situations that inspire. However, whatever I write, I do a lot of editing. I am never really satisfied even after my work goes to publishers. After letting my work rest for days, I go back to it again, find certain words and punctuations that I am not satisfied and need to edit. Writing, after all, is a craft and not to be taken lightly. One should never be in a hurry to publish," she elaborates.
Talking about her early life, she says, "I was born and brought up in Guwahati and never stayed anywhere else. I love the city. My childhood years were spent in Panbazar. The Panbazar of yesteryears was a quiet, tranquil residential area with Assam type houses and known faces all around. Opposite my house, lived the Dasguptas and their daughter Mala was a dear friend. In those days we did not have televisions and mobiles ofcourse but were never bored as the neighborhood was so lively and people in general were so much more connected to each other."
Talking about people who influenced or motivated her to become the person she is today she says, "My biggest influence was my mother, Dr. Manjumala Das, who was a lecturer in the department of Assamese at Handique Girls' College. She gave me books in Assamese to read - novels and short stories of renowned writers. My mother used to always tell me that although I studied in St. Mary's Convent, I should always be able to read Assamese well. I actually started writing in Assamese. My first story to be published was for Priti Barua's children magazine 'Akash'. When a story gets published when you are just in Class 9, it really motivates you to write. Ma has been my constant guide when it comes to writing, even today. She would be after me to write in the flagship papers of our state like The Assam Tribune, The Sentinel and Dainik Asom. As for writing for The Sentinel, it was D. N. Bezboruah who asked for Middles and articles. I enjoyed writing Middles thanks to Bezboruah da. My father, Dr. Bhuban Mohan Das, was an anthropologist and consequently I was inspired to write about tribes and take interest in people."
When asked about her favourite books, Srutimala says, "I enjoy reading poetry, Pablo Neruda, Khalil Gibran among others. As for fiction, I read a lot, and it is difficult to name just one or two writers. I find Haruki Murakami very interesting. Not an easy read, but fascinating."
Srutimala was the Secretary of North Writers Forum. Talking about this experience she shares, "Well new members are joining the Forum and I am very happy about this. I was one of the founder members of the Forum. We started the Forum way back in 1997 with the intention of knowing our writers from the eight states writing in English. We were a very close knit family. We would sit initially at Meenaxi Barkataki's house, read our new writings and get constructive criticism and feedback that helped in improving our writing. We would hold lit fests including 'Meet the Author', Asia Literary Festival and Brahmaputra Festival. We also did translation workshops, one with Katha and brought out books of stories in translation."
According to Srutimala the purpose was to promote writings, even translations from the Northeast. "We have members like Mamang Dai from Arunachal, Bijoy Singh from Mizoram, Robin Ngangom from Meghalaya, Monalisa Changkisa from Nagaland, Guru Ladakhi and Pankaj Thapa from Sikkim, Dhruba Hazarika and Mitra Phukan from Guwahati, just to name a very few writers. I know I have left out names of a lot of well known writers. Now young and new writers have joined," she shares.
Srutimala was a presenter in Doordarshan Kendra, Guwahati for 20 years. She has acted in television serials and on stage, in more than 50 radio plays.
When asked about her individual vision that has spearheaded her work as an academician, she says, "My profession is teaching. I love teaching; I simply enjoy being in a classroom with my girls. It's not just a profession, it's my passion too. Being a student of English literature, I could read about life and works of writers and poets. I got inspired by their writings and learnt a lot. This has helped me in becoming a writer."
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