Published Paper Details:

Mahasweta Devi is a vital segment of India's indigenous literature. She is an activist cum writer who has carried a tireless crusade working, fighting and writing for the marginalized. Her writings render the excruciating dilemmas of humans at the social-periphery. Her works have been widely read and translated for their poignant themes and social commitment. Published in 1979, Old Women by Mahasweta Devi is a collection of two stories "Murti" (Statue) and "Mohanpurer Rupkatha" (The Fairy Tale of Mohanpur) that unveils the societal oppression encountered by the two women protagonists - Dulali and Andi. These stories were translated into English by Columbia University Professor Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak in 1999. Mahasweta Devi was honoured with the Ramon Magsaysay award in 1997. The present paper shall analyse Old Women in the light of the above given statement. The significance of these stories as an effective tool to define identity and existence of the otherwise deprived beings shall be enlisted. Mahasweta Devi's fine understanding of the marginalised psyche and her belief that those on the fringes cannot be heard till they speak shall be established. An attempt shall also be made to view that how the stories of the Old Women reveal the social matrix and construct a subaltern's perspective. The negative impact of exploitation and neglect that reduces people to a subhuman existence and the need to give voice to the voiceless shall be the major concern of this paper.