Ashapurna Devi

Ashapurna Devi was an eminent woman literateur of Bengal. She had no formal education. She was simply a housewife. But her passion for literature went a long way in shaping her literary self. She was born in a very conservative family but it never was a hindrance to her literary practices in private. She studied the Bengali Women’s plight from her four walls. But her interior observations were so realistic that she became indeed a spokeswoman of the whole womenfolk of Bengal. Her literary career spanned over seventy years. Among her one hundred and seventy-six novels, her trilogy, Pratham Pratisruti, Suvarnalata, Bakulkatha have won the hearts of Bengal. She was a recipient of several prestigious literary prizes which include ‘Rablndra Puraskar’, ‘Sahitya Akademi Puraskar’ and above all the country’s highest literary award Jnanapitha in recognition of her outstanding literary contributions.

My myopic vision cannot fathom the unfathomable Sri Ramakrishna. He seems to me like an ever enigmatic boundless sky.

Sri Ramakrishna is meant for both the learned and unlettered persons. The quintessence of all knowledge is treasured in his gospel which he has catered to all in his own rural language.

The academic body of the whole world has realized that the life of Sri Ramakrishna manifests the essential creeds of all religions.

I see Sri Ramakrishna like an ocean so vast, so profound! I ask and ask, who is He?