>Photowala17 at 05:06, 1 July 2021

2021-07-01T05:06:06Z

New page

{{Infobox writer
| name = Nirmala Govindarajan
| image = Niramala_Govindrajan_At_Book_Launch_Event.jpg
| caption = Nirmala Govindarajan
| birth_date = 
| birth_place =
| occupation = Novelist and journalist
| language = English
| nationality = Indian
| education =
| alma_mater =
| notable_works =
| website = {{Official website}}
}}

'''Nirmala Govindarajan''' is an Indian novelist and journalist. Her novel ''Taboo'' (2019) was shortlisted for the [[Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize]] and was longlisted for the Atta Galatta Bangalore Literature Festival Book Prize in 2020.

==Biography==
Based in [[Bengaluru]], Nirmala Govindarajan started writing during her college education, and later started her career as a journalist.<ref name="The Hindu 2020">{{cite web |last=Dhanaraj |first=Ruth |title=Author Nirmala Govindarajan talks about her latest book, style of writing and what inspires her |website=The Hindu |date=24 January 2020 |url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/books-authors/where-memories-meet-stark-reality/article30644182.ece | access-date=1 February 2021}}</ref> She presently works as a social sector documentarian. In 2014, Nirmala co-curated the debut Times Literary Carnival, Bangalore, and in 2016, debuted the Literary Lounge series at the British Council, Bangalore.

==Works==
Govindarajan's works mostly deal with issues of [[trafficking]], [[Exploitation fiction|exploitation]] and [[Child labour]], and use [[Allegory|allegories]], [[metaphor]]s and [[stream of consciousness]] technique.<ref name="The Hindu 2020"/> Her works have been written in lyrical prose.<ref name="The Wire 2020">{{cite web |last=Mitra|first=Ipshita|title=Marquez's Eréndira Inspired This Author to Write About the Identity of a Sex Worker|website=The Wire|date=15 March 2020|url=https://thewire.in/books/nirmala-govindarajan-sex-work|access-date=1 February 2021}}</ref> She published her first novel ''Community Catalyst'' in 2016. It is inspired by the real life experience of Bharat Lal Meena, former additional chief secretary, Department of Higher Education of Karnataka.<ref name="Dakshina 2016">{{cite web|last=Dakshina|first=Yogita|title=Book Review: What it takes to be a part of a people's movement|website=The Sunday Guardian Live|date=3 December 2016|url=https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/books/7504-book-review-what-it-takes-be-part-people-s-movement|access-date=1 February 2021}}</ref><ref name="Deccan Chronicle 2016">{{cite web|title=Looking at life through the eyes of a bureaucrat|website=Deccan Chronicle|date=2016-10-24|url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/lifestyle/books-and-art/241016/looking-at-life-through-the-eyes-of-a-bureaucrat.html|access-date=1 February 2021}}</ref><ref name="Roy 2017">{{cite web|last=Roy|first=Supriya|title=The Community Catalyst Speaks|website=The Hindu|date=11 July 2017|url=https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/the-community-catalyst-speaks/article19257207.ece|access-date=1 February 2021}}</ref>

Her novel Hunger's Daughters (2018) is based on her experience of documenting in India's rural heartland. The novel is a poetic portrayal of vulnerable lives. The novel tells a story of freedom, identity and independence. Its protagonists are little girls from the unmapped forest hamlets of Orissa, Jharkhand and Karnataka. It talks of Susanthi Bodra, a small girl who lives in a remote village in Odisha. She is pressed to earn at a very young age because her father is presumed dead and her mother has gone missing. Another girl, Nelli, aged 8, runs off from her mistress's home, gets kidnapped and sold in a brothel in Nagpur. For two decades, her mother Gowravva, has been awaiting her return to their home in Kithapur hamlet.<ref>{{cite web |last=Datta |first=Sravasti |title=Activist fiction |website=The Hindu |date=24 January 2019 |url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/books-authors/activist-fiction/article26080119.ece |access-date=1 February 2021}}</ref><ref name="Free Press Journal 2019">{{cite web|title=Hunger's Daughters by Nirmala Govindarajan – Review|website=Free Press Journal|date=13 April 2019|url=https://www.freepressjournal.in/book-reviews/hungers-daughters-by-nirmala-govindarajan-review|access-date=1 February 2021}}</ref>

Her novel ''Taboo'' (2019), is inspired by underage girls who are kidnapped and trafficked. It speaks of female power and identity. The story revolves around the Lady with the Slender Hands who traverses people, illegal trades and regions to map her back to who she was, so she can finally claim the freedom of who she wants to be. ''Taboo'' takes place in South-East Asia, from Spain to [[Sri Lanka]] and Tamil Nadu. It explores the psychological and physiological aspects of girls in the sex trade. It depicts themes of human trafficking and child prostitution. The novel poses several questions about a democratic society and its politics, and their objective to stop these practices.<ref name="Deccan Herald 2020">{{cite web|title=Nirmala Govindarajan's 'Taboo' documents stories of girls pushed into sex trade|website=Deccan Herald|date=12 March 2020|url=https://www.deccanherald.com/metrolife/metrolife-on-the-move/nirmala-govindarajans-taboo-documents-stories-of-girls-pushed-into-sex-trade-812888.html|access-date=1 February 2021}}</ref><ref name="The Sunday Guardian Live 2020">{{cite web|title=Love in the time of identity politics|website=The Sunday Guardian Live|date=7 November 2020|url=https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/lifestyle/love-time-identity-politics|access-date=1 February 2021}}</ref><ref name="F.A.Z. 2020">{{cite web |title=Die Sprache der Leere|website=F.A.Z.|date=8 June 2020|url=https://zeitung.faz.net/faz/feuilleton/2020-06-08/1231a0d44a81fdecf0754ad16b742154|language=de|access-date=1 February 2021}}</ref><ref name="Munir 2019">{{cite web|last=Munir|first=Rehana|title=Books of the week: From Love, Loss, and Longing in Kashmir to the India story of the Panama Papers, our picks|website=Firstpost|date=17 November 2019|url=https://www.firstpost.com/living/books-of-the-week-from-love-loss-and-longing-in-kashmir-to-the-india-story-of-the-panama-papers-our-picks-7650181.html|access-date=1 February 2021}}</ref><ref name="Explocity Bangalore 2020">{{cite web |last=Saujata|first=Tushar|title=Taboo By Nirmala Govindarajan - A Journey into The Soul Of Its Characters |website=Explocity Bangalore|date=1 August 2020|url=https://bangalore.explocity.com/article/taboo-by-nirmala-govindarajan-a-journey-into-the-soul-of-its-characters/|access-date=1 February 2021}}</ref>

Govindarajan has co-authored two books: ''Mind Blogs 1.0''<ref>https://mindblogs.writewing.in/</ref> published by Write Wing Media <ref>https://www.writewing.in/</ref>and ''Trailblazers of Bangalore'' published by The Times of India.<ref name="Deccan Chronicle 2016"/> She has written for ''[[The Times of India]]'', ''[[The Hindu]]'', ''[[Deccan Herald]]'', ''[[India Today]]'', and ''[[The Sunday Guardian]]''.

==Honour==
Her novel ''Taboo'' (2019) was shortlisted for the [[Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize]] and was longlisted for the Atta Galatta Bangalore Literature Festival Book Prize in 2020.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize shortlist announced |website=The Indian Express |date=27 November 2020 |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/books-and-literature/rabindranath-tagore-literary-prize-shortlist-announced-7070686/ |access-date=1 February 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Atta Galatta–Bangalore Literature Festival Book Prize longlist announced |website=The Indian Express |date=15 October 2020 |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/books-and-literature/atta-galatta-longlist-2020/ |access-date=1 February 2021}}</ref> The novel was also longlisted for the fiction category of JK Paper Auther Awards.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Gbooks-author|Nirmala Govindarajan}}
* {{Official website}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Govindarajan, Nirmala}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian women writers]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian writers]]
[[Category:Indian women novelists]]
[[Category:Women writers from Karnataka]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]

Nirmala Govindarajan - Revision history

>Photowala17 at 05:06, 1 July 2021