Suchibrata Roy Choudhury. Picture by S.H. Patgiri

Bonti, meaning light, was Suchibrata Roy Choudhury’s first literary venture. At that time Choudhury was in class V. “We took out a hand-written magazine where we scribbled poems, stories and other writings in exercise books. It was a closely-guarded secret between my friend, Kamala Das, and me. I never showed it to my father or to anyone else. Maybe, we were too young to realise its significance then...,” reminisces Choudhury, the sexagenarian writer and social worker who was awarded the Sahitya Akademi award for translation in 2001.

Simplicity, with a streak of rebelliousness, is her hallmark. Bespectacled and clad in a simple khadi sari with a shawl draped around her seemingly frail body, Choudhury says, “I never cared about what people said. Once, when I did not have an umbrella, I wore a japi (traditional Assamese hat) to college and to office.”

A non-conformist, she recalls how she chopped off her hair herself when she found it difficult to manage. “I cut it myself and my mother was very angry. She was very conservative. She wanted to get me married at the age of nine and strictly within our own caste. But I was defiant and refused to marry within my caste,” Choudhury remembers.

Born on September 1, 1931 in Panbazar, Guwahati to the illustrious freedom fighter, poet and writer, Ambikagiri Roy Choudhury, Suchibrata was brought up in a charged atmosphere. Though mother Kaushalya Devi was not formally educated, she taught her daughter how to spin.

Her maternal grandfather was also an ardent freedom fighter, based in Pakua in Nalbari. “He used to collect the news bulletins of the freedom movement circulated by the Indian National Army. Then he made me and my aunt copy the same thing to be distributed among the villagers,” says Choudhury.

“We participated in the movement and we taught the village women how to spin,” she says. She started writing her first play, Kun Bate, when she was in class VIII. It was about sacrifice and love for the country and was printed by her father and later aired on All-India Radio.

Her source of inspiration was her father, also known as Assam Kesori, an ardent nationalist and eminent poet. He had given up his studies and formed an anarchist party under the innocuous name of Assam Seva Sangha and was honoured with the Sahitya Akademi Award for his book of poetry titled Bedonar Ulka.

He published and edited a magazine, Chetana, and a weekly paper, Deka Asom, for some years since 1919 and 1936 respectively. “He voiced his opinion against anything that went against the interest of Assam. I have imbibed his spirit and even today, I don’t mind calling a spade a spade,” she says.

Songs composed by Ambikagiri enthralled the gathering at the Pandu and Jalukbari sessions of the All-India Congress in 1926 and 1956. “I used to sing borgeet since I was in class IV. Our father sang with us and he played the harmonium, sitar and the violin,” she says.

After completing her schooling from Panbazar Girls’ High School, Choudhury completed her graduation in 1949 from Handique Girls’ College. She wanted to study journalism and her father also desired so, she adds with a twinkle in her eye.

As her father was not well-equipped financially, being the eldest in the family, she had to shoulder the household responsibilities by giving tuition, writing radio plays and singing borgeet at the All-India Radio. “We were even evicted from our house once. I also had to take care of a disabled brother who was bedridden for life,” she says.

While in college, the fiery lady initiated the formation of the students’ union in Handique Girls’ College and was elected its general secretary. While in college, she compiled a textbook called Sahitya Manjari and compiled Anubhuti and Ahuti based on her father’s writings.

Life took a different turn after she became the first lady civil servant from Assam and joined as the sub-deputy magistrate in Guwahati on February 15, 1954. Her father was not happy with the idea and she had to convince him that India was Independent and that the country needed efficient administrators. With her joining her job, their financial condition also improved. “My father took a loan to build a house and our family members lent our labour. I used to carry bricks after coming from office,” she recalls.

However, her lifestyle did not change even after joining the civil services. “Like my father, I never liked the class system of bureaucracy,” she says. “I used to give my entire salary to my father. I saved 25 paise as the rickshaw fare to go to the court and have tea for an anna. Sometimes I walked to save money.”

Though detached from the literary circle after joining service, she continued writing. She translated Mahmud of Ghazni, an historical biography, from English to Assamese under the Indian Council of Historical Research, wrote a few short stories and later compiled it into a book called Saptaparna in 1960. In association with her brother, she decided to do something for small children based on epics like the Bhagavad Gita and Mahabharata. Her brother wrote Morom Vijayi and she designed the cover.

She wrote a novel called Sundar Desh based on the Indian life, spiritualism, will power and sacrifice, another novel called Bah Maroli and a novel based on adventure stories called Africar Batat, which has been left half-done.

However, she never used her surname in any of her writings. “I never used the titles which bring in family background. One’s name should be one’s only identity,” she says.

An avid reader, Choudhury has read several Bengali and English books. “I like any book whose message appeals to me. I have translated Somerset Maugham’s Cake and Ale and George Bernard Shaw’s Major Barbara,” she says.

Choudhury was honoured with the Sahitya Akademi award in 2001 for translating S. Jaiswal’s The Origin and Development of Vaishnavism in India. The Bharatiya Dalit Sahitya Akademi, Assam branch, conferred on her the Bir Bala Kanaklata award at the second Dalit writer’s conference in Guwahati in 2002. The Assamese society of North America also honoured her for her service to society.

She was honoured with the Prabina Saikia award in 2003 for her overall literary contribution. “Awards mean nothing to me. I call myself a social worker. I was a government servant and tried to serve society within my limited means,” she says. In 1986, she first started the Assam Co-operative Society and initiated the sale of snacks like pitha and laddoo and distributed threads among the tribal women. She also initiated the setting up of a working girls’ hostel in Narengi in 1968, which currently houses over 150 girls.

At present, she is busy setting up an old-age home at Patharquarry. “I was touched by the lonely old people who had everything but nobody to take care of them. So I am building such a house,” says Choudhury. “We have also set up a home and a helpline for distressed women and started a campaign against drugs and alcohol,” she says.

Choudhury is going strong even at her age. After the old-age home is finished she wants to concentrate on completing her writings. A roving soul, she admits, “I have no permanent dwelling place. Sometimes, I stay at my brother’s house, sometimes at my sister’s, at my niece’s or at the Ambikagiri Memorial Trust office. The change breaks the monotony,” she adds.