Mahasweta Devi: Witness, Advocate, Writer

At the center of a half-century of tumultuous change, the lifetime of Mahasweta Devi has spanned the British period, Independence, and fifty years of post-colonial turmoil. Her writing has given Indian literature a new life and inspired two generations of writers, journalists and filmmakers. A celebrated writer and tireless activist for the last two decades, she has battled on behalf of the "de-notified" tribes of India - nomadic and tribal groups who were branded "natural criminals" by the British colonial state and who face discrimination to this day.