Nalini Prava Deka

Nalini Prava Deka
File:Nalini Prava Deka.jpg
Born	(1944-03-11)11 March 1944 Assam, India
Died	15 June 2014(2014-06-15)
Occupation	Entrepreneur, author, poet, storyteller, playwright, essayist, litterateur, social activist, feminist
Years active	1964–2014
Spouse	Bhabananda Deka
Children	Ankur Deka, Arnab Jan Deka, Jim Ankan Deka

Nalini Prava Deka (11 March 1944 – 15 June 2014) was a prominent Assamese author, poet, storyteller, essayist, actress and radio playwright from Assam, a state encompassing the Brahmaputra valley in India. She had been honoured as a leading writer from Assam at the biggest literary gathering held at Ledo in 2012 under the banner of Assam Sahitya Sabha in presence of top litterateurs from several countries including various states in India as well as ministers of India government and several state governments. She played crucial pioneering role in the traditional Assamese society through nurturing and promoting Assamese heritage, traditional customs, ethnic weaving traditions and fabric art, ethnic Assamese food preparation techniques, traditional folk music, Assamese social ethos like inter-religious tolerance and gender-neutrality together with her famous scholar husband Prof. Bhabananda Deka. They both devoted their entire lives in extensive research and promotion of traditional Assamese lifestyle, art, literature and culture through significant social and intellectual works, and left behind a rich legacy of books under their individual authorships and prestigious institutions. She was the first Indian lady Editor-Publisher-Printer-Distributor of an iconic children's magazine called Phul ('Flower'). She authored a total of 30 (thirty) numbers of critically acclaimed books. India Government owned national radio channel All India Radio broadcast many of her radio-plays on topical issues relating to women and children.

The highest circulated and oldest English daily of entire North East India, The Assam Tribune, acknowledged that Nalini Prava Deka has "been like an institution to our society", and she "has contributed immensely to the cultural and economic spheres of our state." Another leading Assamese daily Dainik Sankarjyoti published from Guwahati city in India described how she played a notably significant role in nurturing the traditional Assamese lifestyle and social ethos by practicing and promoting Assamese weaving traditions by setting up and maintaining Assamese hand-loom units called Taat Xaal wherein ethnic Assamese daily-wear costumes like Mekhela Chador and Churiya Chapkon are woven, and also traditional Assamese crop-grinding units called Dheki which is used for producing traditional Assamese food-items and snacks like rice and Pithaguri, while at the same time propagating through her literary and research activities unique Assamese social practices like inter-religious tolerance & understanding, gender neutrality and progressive activism, thereby ushering in a social resurgence in Assam and India. Her solitary initiatives were unprecedented in the annals of history in the north-eastern part of India.

She died on 15 June 2014 in Guwahati city in India.

ChaiTunes recently released a music video as a tribune to the notable social contributions of this outstanding Assamese personality.

Flag-bearer of traditional Assamese lifestyle

A seasoned poet, she also inculcated the legacy of Assamese traditional culture and heritage to her children. She set an example herself by setting up Assamese traditional handloom unit called Taat-Xaal at her city residence campuses in New Delhi and Guwahati city in India in order to produce Assamese hand-woven fabrics and garments at home, and wear them on everyday life as well as during festivities and public functions. Through this significant step, she brought out the rich tradition of Assamese rural life from the confines of the villages to prominence and facilitated their major exposure at national and international arena. She made it a mission in her entire life to assert her Assamese identity by always wearing her own traditional hand-woven Assamese fabrics like Mekhela-Chador. She had also woven traditional Assamese male garments like Suriyaa-Saapkon for her husband, and made him to wear them on all occasions, so that these traditional Assamese garments could garner importance and respect at all social forums nationally and internationally.
She also set up a crop-grinding tool called Dheki at her city home campus, which she used as a domestic tool of everyday use for producing her family’s own food from organic herbal sources. Raw paddy was brought from the paddy-fields including rice, wheat, lentils etc. and those were grinded in her Dheki to produce varieties of traditional Assamese food and snacks like Chaul, Chira, Aakhoi and Sandoh. Thus, she emulated a self-reliant life, and showed that it was possible in a city dwelling as well in a modern ambiance.

Book author

Nalini Prava Deka authored & edited a total 30 books, mostly in Assamese language. Some of her writings including some short-stories had been translated into English. Many of her widely read books had been critically reviewed by leading Assamese literary scholars and critics including Dr Maheswar Neog, Dr Bhupen Hazarika, Dr Pramod Chandra Bhattacharya, Sheelabhadra, Prof Rammal Thakuria, Principal Bhabananda Deka, Prof Bisweswar Hazarika, Prof Kanak Chandra Deka and others. She had a very cordial relationships with cultural icon Dr Bhupen Hazarika and literary stalwart Dr Mamoni Raisom Goswami alias Indira Goswami, and had constant exchange of intellectual thoughts with both of them. Dr Hazarika even wrote an illuminating article on one of the books of Nalini Prava Deka.
An edited book compiling her literary works together with her famous littérateur-husband with the title Sahityik Dampati Adhyaksha Bhabananda Deka–Nalini Prava Deka was publicly launched at a function on 4 December 2014 in presence of leading littérateurs, scholars, film personalities, technocrats, physicians and others in Guwahati city. Another English book An Extraordinary Assamese Couple highlighting distinguished characteristics of Nalini Prava Deka and her husband was officially launched on 28 February 2015 by leading river scientist and author from The Netherlands Dr Constantin Aurel Stere.

Radio playwright

She had been a popular first generation woman radio playwright in Assamese language in the state of Assam from early 1970s. Her radio-plays centered around issues pertaining to women and children had been very popular. Many of her women and children-centric dramas had been broadcast over India Government-owned All India Radio from its Guwahati city centre. She herself also acted in some of her own radio-plays, apart from enacting various roles in stage plays.

Short story writer

She authored three short story collections including Elandhu (Smut) (2011) and Ebigha Mati( A Plot of Land) (1990). Several of her short stories had been translated into English. Some English stories had been compiled together with her Assamese stories in the same book, Elandhu. Her short stories usually carried messages of universal brotherhood and sisterhood and religious tolerances.

Poet & songwriter

She was also a popular Assamese poet and songwriter. Many of her composed poems and songs were tuned into and sung by leading Assamese musicians and singers.

Editor of children's magazine

Nalini Prava Deka also edited a popular children's magazine Phul (Flower) from 1987. She single-handedly managed the entire responsibilities of editing, publishing, printing, distributing, marketing and publicity of her pet journal for several years, which had been printed in her own printing press.

Prominent social activist of North East India

Nalini Prava Deka was a leading social activist of Assam in India, and she played a prominent role in the establishment of several reputed organisations of national and international level. Some of these organisations include Srimanta Sankardev International Foundation, Assam Foundation–India, Delhi Asomiya Sahitya Samaj, Sadou Asam Moina Parijat, Kamrup (undivided) District Sahitya Sabha, Sadou Asam Chemoniya Chora, Pub–Sarania Naamghar, Rajgarh Sahitya Chora, Pohar Proyasi Mohila Samiti, Urvashi Kristi Kendra, Urvashi Sangeet Vidyalay and others. She was the founder President of Purbanchaliya Mohila Parishad, the women wing of a regional political outfit of North East India. Through these organisations, she not only promoted Assamese heritage, culture and literature all over the world, but also ushered in a social renaissance through women empowerment and inter-religious tolerance. Her relentless effort in creating social awakening in Assam inspired the composition of a very popular song "Xare Aso", literally meaning "We are awake".

Bibliography

1. Axomiya Pitha Pona—Assamese Recipe book on traditional snacks (1974)
2. Chotfotiya Bheem—Children's storybook on Indian mythology (1974)
3. Xixu Prem—Assamese rhymes for children (1980)
4. Padmasri Nalini Bala Debi—biography (1986)
5. Xadhukothar Thupi—Assamese tales for children (1990)
6. Akonir Mohabharot—Children's storybook on Indian mythology (1993)
7. Elandhu—Smut—English-Assamese storybook (2013)
8. Moloya—Radio-play on woman emancipation (1987)
9. Moitree aaru Mukti—Radio-play for children (jointly authored with Arnab Jan Deka) (1989)
10. Ebigha Maati—Assamese short story collection
11. Prabandha Koroni—Assamese Essay collection
12. Kamrupor Biya Geet—traditional wedding songs
13. Horirox Naam Geet—Assamese devotional songs
14. Aair Hator Rondhon Juti—cooking recipe book
15. Axomor Vaisnav Romoni—biography on extraordinary Assamese pathbreaker ladies
16. Smoroniyo Byoktitwor Xanniddho—Assamese Memoir
17. Mor Bicharot Naree Mukti—Assamese essays
18. Mor Jibon Smriti—Assamese autobiography
19. Xaptadox—Assamese story collection
20. Xampadokoloi Chithi—collection of letters to the Editors
21. Gobinda Kalita Rachanavali (Ed.)
22. D Thakuria Commemorative Volume (Ed.)
23. Pratibhar Protibha (Ed.)
24. A Thakuria Smritigantha (Ed.)
25. Phul (Children's magazine) (from 1987)
26. Gobinda (Religious journal) (from 1984)
27. Rastrajyoti (Assamese Hindi research journal) (1980)
28. Galpa Moni—short story collections
29. Kobita Jim—poem collections
30. Prabandha Jan—essay collections