Aparna Mohapatra

Aparna Mohapatra was an Indian Odia writer best known for her women-centric works Nirupama Devi – Sikhya Prati Nivedita Jeevan (in Odia) and Nirupama Devi – A Life Dedicated to Education (in English). These books narrate the life of Nirupama Devi, a girl married at a very young age within traditional boundaries, who nonetheless pursued education with determination and later devoted her life to promoting its transformative power, particularly for women.

The narrative portrays values such as grit, discipline, love, and resilience, showing how Nirupama Devi rose above personal loss without giving space to hatred, jealousy, or resentment. Through her life story, the books highlight education as both personal empowerment and social responsibility.

Centered on the author’s mother, Aparna Mohapatra’s works function as a biography, an autoethnographic memoir, and a social history of a specific time and place. Set in post-independence India, they illustrate how individuals worked wholeheartedly for nation-building, especially in the field of women’s education. The integration of personal narrative and historical context makes her works relevant and meaningful for a wide readership.