Suchibrata Roy Choudhury

Suchibrata Roychoudhury
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Born	(1931-09-01)1 September 1931 Guwahati, Assam, India
Died	3 December 2009(2009-12-03) (aged 78) Guwahati, Assam, India
Occupation	Government servant Writer Poet
Years active	1942–2003
Parents	Ambikagiri Raichoudhury (father) Kaushalya Devi (mother)
Awards	Sahitya Akademi Award

Suchibrata Roychoudhury (Assamese language|Assamese: শুচিব্রতা ৰায়চৌধুৰী; 1 September 1931 – 3 December 2009) was an Assamese litterateur and poet, and the first female Assam Public Service Commission|Assam Civil Services officer. She received the Sahitya Akademi Award|Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize in 2001 for translating Suvira Jaiswal's The Origin and Development of Vaishnavism in India. A social worker, she founded the Ambikagiri Memorial Trust and other institutions. She was referred to with the honorific Dinabandhavi ("friend of the poor").

Early life and education

Suchibrata was born on 1 September 1931 in Panbazar, Guwahati to freedom fighter and poet Ambikagiri Raichoudhury|Ambikagiri Roychoudhury and Kaushalya Devi. Ambikagiri (better known in Assam with the honorific Axom Kesari - The Lion of Assam), is reported to have had an immense impact in the life of his daughter. Suchibrata was the eldest of four siblings — Bhabagiri, Nitibrata and Yugabrata.

From an early age, she was engaged in writing songs, stories, poems and articles. In class V, she published her first hand-written magazine Bonti along with her friend Kamala Das. She wrote a poem "Sannyasi" in the magazine on Mahatma Gandhi. She started singing Borgeet when she was in class IV.

Suchibrata Roychoudhury began school at the Balika Primary School in Panbazaar, Guwahati. From class IV onwards, she continued her high school studies at Panbazar Girl's High School and completed her Matriculation in India|matriculation (class 10) in 1945. She also received the Pratibha Devi Award and Narayani Handique Award for Science in the same year.

In the year 1947, she completed her Matriculation in India|Intermediate Examination (class 12) from Handique Girls College|Handique Girl's College securing the first position in Assam amongst women. She graduated from the same college in 1949 and enrolled herself for further studies in the Department of Economics of Gauhati University.

Suchibrata is reported to have wanted to study journalism, but she did not continue her studies, instead supporting her family financially by tutoring, writing plays and singing Borgeet for All India Radio. She started a career as a teacher in the Tarini Choudhury Govt. Girls H.S. & M.P. School|Tarini Charan Girl's School in 1951.

Career

By 1954, Suchibrata had joined the Assam Civil Service as a civil servant.

• 1953: Appeared the Assam Civil Service Examination (ACSE).
• 1954: Deputy Magistrate of the Gauhati Court on 15 February 1954, and then posted in different parts of Assam.
• 1970: Deputy Director of Panchayat Department, Shillong.
• 1973: Chief Executive Officer of Khadi and Gramodyog Board.
• 1976: Sub-Divisional Commissioner of Gauhati Division.
• 1977-83: Secretary of District Gazetteer. She was once again posted as the Chief Executive Officer of Khadi and Gramodyog Board in Guwahati.
• 1983: Deputy Director of Education Department, Assam Secretariat.
• 1986: Director of Social Welfare Department.
• 1989: Retired as an officer of Revenue Department on 31 August 1989.

Bibliography

Suchibrata's literary works generally deal with themes of patriotism and social evils. Some of her literary works are:

Plays

• Kun Bate - Her first play was translated when she was in school. The play was later published by her father, narrated on radio and performed by Arya Natya Samaj and the Handique Girls College.
• Yugar Dabi
• Garima
• Troyee

Translations

Suchibrata translated many books and plays into Assamese.

• Mahmud of Ghazni, a historical biography, from English to Assamese under the Indian Council of Historical Research
• The Moon Is Down|The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck|John Steinback into Assamese with the title Beli Lohiale'
• The Moon and Sixpence, a collection of short stories by Somerset Maugham
• The Serpent and the Rope by Raja Rao (2005), as Jivanatit, published by Sahitya Akademi
• The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekov (2005), published by Lawyer's Book Stall
• Dangerous Corner by J.B Priestly into Assamese as Bipad Seema' (1994)
• A collection of Short Stories by O. Henry (1999)
• The Origin and Development of Vaishnavism in India by Suvira Jaiswal (1999)

Short stories

• Saptaparna (1960)
• Sonali Pera (1956)
• Budhiyok Kun (1991-98)

Novels

• Sundar Desh (1960)
• Bah Maroli (1953-54)
• Kamonar Jui Jolil Jetiya (1954)

Collections of poems and songs

• Mathu Katha (1988)
• Tumi Aru Moi (1950)
• Hahakarar Gaan (1995)
• Suhuri (1996)
• Gunjan (1996)
• Spandan

Other works

• Jeeban Premor Atandra Anal (2000)
• Agneepath (2010) a biography of her father, Ambikagiri Roychoudhury
• Aain Aru Adalat (2006)
• Sahitya Manjari
• Anubhuti
• Ahuti
• Chetanar Chinta (1999), a compilation of editorials of the magazine Chetana published by the Asam Sahitya Sabha.

Suchibrata's works are signed by her first name only. Her biography reports that this is because she believed that a person's name should be their only identity, not by their last name (in Assam, as in most of India, the last name indicates community, caste and creed).

Political work

Suchibrata Roychoudhury believed in the Gandhism|Gandhian philosophy. During the 1942 Indian independence movement|Indian Independence movement, she was guided by her maternal grandfather Kalicharan Choudhury to redistribute copies of news bulletins and literature from the Indian National Army to villagers to spread awareness of the freedom movement. She also taught the villagers how to Spinning wheel|spin, as an act of civil disobedience to the British.

In college, she founded the Students' Union in Handique Girls' College and was elected its General Secretary.

In her later years, from 2006 till her death in 2009, Suchibrata and other members of the civil society attempted to negotiate a settlement between the Indian government and the separatist outfit United Liberation Front of Asom|ULFA.

Social work

Suchibrata set up many institutions throughout her life, which earner her the honirific Dinabandhavi ("friend of the poor").

• In 1958, she established an Assamese medium pre-primary school for the Harijan at her own residence in Dhubri, Assam. She taught the students herself.
• In 1962, established the Pub Guwahati Mahila Samovay Samiti, that encouraged women entrepreneurship.
• In 1968, established a Working Women's Hostel for the economically weaker section at Narengi under the aegis of a Socio-cultural organisation Yuva Niwas Sanstha' on a non-profit.
• In 1975, she became the founder president of the Assam Lekhika Parishad.
• In 1977, established Kanya Mahavidyalaya, a girl's college in Geetnagar, Guwahati.
• In 1980, founded Ankur Vidyapeeth, a Middle English (ME) School in Narengi, Guwahati, Assam managed by the Yuva Niwas Sanstha'.
• In 1986, under the aegis of Association for Social Health in India (Assam Chapter), she established a home for the Destitute women and their children Nirmal Ashray. The objective was to support the deprived women and help them rehabilitate through vocational training programmes for these women during their stay in the home.
• In 1988, in the memory of her father Ambikagiri Roychoudhury, she founded the Ambikagiri Memorial Trust to intiate social welfare activities and propagate her father's ideology. She donated all her personal property and income to the trust.
• In 2000, she started Navajivan, again an unit of ASHI (Association for Social Health in India, Assam Chapter), a rehabilitation centre for the alcohol and drug addicts and initiated campaigns against drugs and alcohol abuse.
• In 2003, she established an old age home, the first in Assam, Aamar Ghar'.

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