ANUPAMA NIRANJANA (1934–1991)
Anupama Niranjana was a doctor who was prominent in speaking out for women in India. Her birth name was Venkatalakshmi. She fought her family to get herself educated, graduating from the Mysore Medical College in 1956. That year also saw her marriage to the Kannada writer Niranjana, against her family’s wishes. Anupama had a hard fight after that, both with her husband’s paralysis after a stroke and her own cancer. Nevertheless she brought up her two daughters Tejaswini and Semanthini, and continued to write. The year 1976 saw her publish Madhavi, a novel, followed by Ele (Thread, 1980), and Ghosha (Rallying Cry, 1985). Her novel Runamuktalu was made into a successful movie in 1984. She also published a number of books of advice for young women on health and social issues. Her daughter Tejaswini is also a writer and academic and has translated a number of her mother’s works from Kannada into English. The Karnataka Lekhakiyara Sangha awards the Anupama Award for Kannada writers each year in her name.
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