She is a Kolkatan and she is smart. Meet Mini Mondal of Kolkata who had a childhood like many others. She uses to spend her childhood reading books, not just fictional. Mini was an avid reader of Sci-fi books especially by Satyajit Ray, Dakshinaranjan Mitra Majumdar and Premendra Mitra and she has done something which will make us feel proud to have a girl-child like her. The writer in her emerged since her school days.
Today, this Author, Editor and Jadavpur University alumnus is competing with other eminent personalities from all around the world of sci-fi literature. She has been nominated for 2018 Hugo-Award in the ‘Best Related Work Category’ for her book – Luminescent Threads: Connection to Octavia E-Butler. A book deals about celebrating the triumph of diversity.
“I am not an outlier genius. I am completely homegrown and following the path of my elders. Growing up in Kolkata, I read very little purely generic science fiction. And honestly, I taught myself English from a dictionary so I didn’t see people like myself in the worlds written by white, male writers. What I did grow up reading, and this is where we Bengalis have an advantage, was a lot of Dakshinaranjan Mitra Majumdar, Satyajit Ray, Premendra Mitra, Rabindranath Tagore, Narayan Gangopadhyay, Lila Majumdar and Sunil Gangopadhyay… I read them all,” says Mondal, who lives in New York now.
What is Hugo Award?
The Hugo awards were first given in the year 1953 and it is known to honor the best literary work both in science and fantasy fiction.
This talented girl did her Masters in English from Jadavpur University and her MLitt from the Scotland’s University of Stirling. Being a master in creative writing, this girl from Kolkata was a commonwealth scholar back in Scotland. Mini Mondal completed her schooling from Kolkata’s Nava Nalanda and her +2 from Calcutta International School.
The Dalit Background! Her book celebrates the triumph of diversity and inclusion of diverse people. Though Mini knows that western world will never understand the social fabric of India, which many of the citizens of India face and that she comes from a Dalit background being a ‘Mondal’.
