Despite many challenges coming their way, Odia women writers are today becoming more vocal. At a session ‘Contours of Change: The Women of Odia Literature’ which was moderated by author Subhashree Lenka, writers Chirashree Indrasingh, Sucheta Mishra and Hiranmayee Mishra spoke about the various challenges that existed for Odia women writers in the past and continue till date, and how these challenges are shaping women writers’ voices, The New Indian Express reports.
Poet Sucheta said writing for women writers is still a challenge, as it used to be in the past. Stating that poetry is an art, she said today women writers in the Odia language are getting bold with their choice of words, which was not the case in the past. “Although inappropriate, there is no harm in using these words, but one has to be extremely responsible to use them appropriately and in the right context in poetry. Because, if you use these words directly, it will eclipse the beauty of poetry,” Sucheta added.
She also resented the fall of poetry in the age of social media and observed that women were safer and more independent earlier, according to The New Indian Express.
“Because, earlier a woman was in her home and faced harassment there. Today, she is out in the society working where her safety is always at stake. When it comes to social media, everything, even a woman’s personal life, is available on it. So when people have known and seen everything, how does one innovate with words? All this makes it very challenging for a woman writer, a poet particularly, to pick up a pen and write on subjects that matter to her in a manner which is pleasing but has an impact on people’s minds and souls,” said the recipient of the Odisha Sahitya Akademi award.
To a query by Subhashree on why Odia women writers today are reluctant to write novels, novelist Hiranmayee Mishra said that traditionally, novels were written less and today, the practice is further going south.
“Today, there is a lot to write. Be it honour killings, the fight for acceptance of sexual orientation, war crimes, etc. Novels provide a platform for writers to raise their voice against these issues. Although today, some young Odia women are writing novels that centre around several societal problems, their numbers have come down over the years,” she said. And one of the biggest reasons behind it, Mishra said, was the lack of an audience that has enough time to read novels in the age of social media.
Author Indrasingh opined that today, there is a lack of readers in Odia. She said there is a need for the young generation to develop a habit of reading Odia literature. She further added that women’s literature earlier highlighted the plight of women, but this has changed now.
“We rarely use pure Odia words today out of the fear that people might not understand them. The modern women writers today have a new outlook and also new challenges,” she said. Indrasingh recited some lines from her popular poem ‘Saree’, which was greeted with loud applause from the audience.
