Rebel Writer: Shoma Chatterji

It is with great pleasure that we today profile Shoma Chatterji, winner of Contemporary Indian Woman’s first Prem Singh short-story award. Her writing started an expression of her rebellion against a society that imposes an unfair submission on the female personality. It is exactly this sentiment that was brought out beautifully in her short story 'Backlash' that won her the award. Read her profile here.
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As a young girl, when her mother guided her to Bengali and English literature, little could Shoma Chatterji have known that she would one day become a prolific writer herself. She is, today, an author of 24 titles and a freelance journalist, but Chatterji’s foray into journalism itself had a unique motivation. It was her expression of rebellion. A rebellion against restrictions placed on her by her husband’s family when she got married at 21, and moved from Mumbai to Kolkata. She was asked not to openly talk back or rebel, and from there started the journey of writing.

“I began to write letters to editors expressing my anger and rebellion in many different ways based on my personal experience. Many of these letters won prizes. This instilled in me the passion for writing about women’s issues though I was not exactly a harassed housewife but I was most certainly an oppressed daughter-in-law”, says Chatterji. The cultural difference she felt after marriage, was all the more stark given her mother’s example. “My mother has been the greatest inspiration, guiding spirit and influence in my life. She was much stronger, bolder and radical than I can ever hope to be. She did not practice widowhood when my father passed away. She was “different”. She was misunderstood by many when she was old but I understood her very well. She began writing poetry in Bengali when she became a grandmother and went on to publish two books of poetry in Bengali and two translated by me in English. And imagine she was a school drop-out!” says Chatterji, about her. 

Given the cocktail of these experiences, it is little wonder that she has written extensively on women’s issues and her inspired commentary on the subject is evident even from her short stories, like ‘Backlash’, which won her Contemporary Indian Woman's Prem Singh short-story award. She wanted to pursue quite a different path in life, however. “To begin with, my dreams were to become an excellent classical dancer. My parents trained me in Kathak of the Jaipuri gharana from excellent gharana teachers of the school for 14 years. I also learnt Bharat Natyam from the best school in this dance form in Mumbai and was good at both.” She says. But she was always interested in pursuing academics, which is apparent in the fact that she is a post graduate in Economics and in Education, a post-graduate diploma in journalism and a PhD in History, where she specialised in Indian cinema. She determinedly continued her education while managing work and family at the same time. Chatterji’s work on cinema has won her the National Awards for the Best Critic and the Best Book on Cinema.

Balancing work and family life has not always been easy, though, she admits frankly. “I am always suffering from serious issues of guilt for trying to play the balancing trick between home and work. It is not a very happy journey traversing two different paths that rarely coincide but I have tried to do both to the best of my ability. But I do not think I have done both well”, she says.

Reflecting on women in a patriarchal society, she says that “every woman needs to learn how to live life on her own terms”. “This is easier said than done because we constantly struggle against patriarchal parameters we cannot always afford to break. It is okay because life also vests you with responsibilities you cannot shake off because they concern other people who might be affected by your decision to live life on your own terms. So, you need to constantly negotiate your terms of living with different responsibilities you have.” She adds. 

Shoma Chatterji, 73, lives with her husband in Kolkata now, and continues an active career as a writer and critic.