A Star Named Bibha and Other Stories

Talking about A Star Named Bibha and Other Stories author Anwesha Sengupta says, ‘Researching the lives of these thirty exemplary women has been an inspiring journey for us. They had the courage to imagine a fairer society and had the resilience to work for it against all odds. We hope that the life stories of these women will empower young readers to question social hierarchies and to imagine a more equal world.’

Author Simantini Mukhopadhyay says, ‘The women we write about worked between late 19th century and mid-20th century India. We highlight how important events like the Second World War, India’s freedom struggle and the country’s partition shaped the opportunities and constraints faced by these women. The war that left a profound impact on Amrita Pritam’s poems led to a suspension of commercial flying due to which Sarala Thakral was unable to get her commercial flying license. Bibha Chowdhuri had to discontinue her research in India and join the University of Manchester because the equipment necessary for her experiments became unavailable during the war. While the events were central in defining the experiences of these women, many of the constraints they faced still persist for today’s women.’

Author Supurna Banerjee says, ‘In trying to bring out stories of women from various social locations we decided to focus on early achievers rather than obsessing on the first. This allows the book to tell stories of women from diverse backgrounds, facing different constraints and opportunities, in various fields. We hope these choices will help our young readers appreciate the ways in which vectors of social power interact and shape the lives of the women and their work.’

About the book

What’s a common thread that connects remarkable women such as Tun Tun, Bibha Chowdhury and Pandita Ramabai?

That they were born, lived and worked between the late-nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries, when being a woman was a challenging experience, shaped by caste, religion, place of residence, class and occupation. These women dared to go against social conventions and made their mark in traditionally male-dominated spaces and professions, paving the way for the women of today.

A Star Named Bibha and Other Stories is a collection of short biographies of thirty such trailblazing Indian women who have broken the glass ceiling, and done it in style. Read about Durgabai Kamat, Amrit Kaur, Amrita Pritam, Fatima Beevi and many other such inspiring women of India.

This book is the latest in the Timeless Biographies series, which includes a range of biographies published over the last couple of years such as ‘Rebel with a Paintbrush’; ‘She Can You Can’; ‘Cadet No. 1 and Other Amazing Women in the Armed Forces’ among others.

About the authors

Anwesha Sengupta teaches history at the Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata. She has a PhD in history from Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Simantini Mukhopadhyay is a development economist with a PhD in Economics from the University of Calcutta. She works at the Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata.

Supurna Banerjee is a feminist sociologist with a PhD in Sociology from the University of Edinburgh. She works at the Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata.