Kavita Mahajan


Kavita Mahajan was an Indian author and translator who wrote in Marathi. She is noted for her critically acclaimed novels Brr, Bhinna and Kuhoo, as well as a non-fiction work Graffiti Wall. She was the winner of the 2011 translation award conferred by the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters.

Early life and education

Mahajan was born in the city of Nanded in Maharashtra. She was the daughter of S.D. Mahajan, the ex-secretary of Marathi Vishwakosh and the grand daughter of the painter Tryambak Vasekar.

Literary career

Mahajan wrote on themes of social emancipation and against discrimination. Mahajan's book Brr is a collection of stories about women sarpanch and their experience after the Panchayati Raj system was implemented whilst she wrote Bhinna to describe the lives of those affected by HIV/AIDS. Both books bring out the politics of representation at three levels – one of the institutions like the Panchayats, the corruption in the non-governmental organisations, and the intricacies of human relationships. Mahajan's work focuses on political, social, and economic matters rather than maternal or romantic considerations.
Mahajan's 2011 novel, Kuhoo dealt with the relationship between human and nature, and was marketed as a 'multimedia novel'. It came with a DVD containing sights and sounds from nature, including a few animations. She is also renowned for her poetry, including a collection entitled Dhulicha Awaz. In the same year she published Rajai, a collection of 17 short stories by Ismat Chughtai which she translated from Urdu into Marathi. She was awarded that year's translation prize by the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, for this work.
Mahajan also authored children's literature and published a collection of short stories Joyanache Ranga in 2011. This collection won her the Shashikalatai Agashe Award for Children's Literature in 2013.
Speaking in April 2016 at a programme organised by T.M.A. Pai Chair for Indian Literature at Manipal University, she said: "I am a woman and before that I am a human being. If all are human beings, why is there discrimination? That is a question, which has haunted me from my childhood."

Death

Mahajan died on 27 September 2018 of pneumonia at the Chellaram Diabetes Hospital. She was survived by her daughter.