Kannada writer Sara Aboobacker passes away
The Hindu
Mangaluru/Bengaluru
Eminent Kannada writer Sara Aboobacker passed away at a private hospital in Mangaluru on Tuesday, January 10. The 87- year-old writer has left behind four sons.
Born in Kasargod district in Kerala on June 30, 1936, she was a pioneering Muslim woman writer in Kannada. In her works, she delineated the lives of women, Muslim women in particular, in a nuanced manner. She was among the first girls in her community in n Kasargod to complete schooling.
Ms. Aboobacker shot to fame with her first novel Chandragiriya Teeradalli in 1981, which has also been translated into many languages including English as Breaking Ties. The story of young Nadira’s struggles in a stifling and patriarchal set up, it was initially serialised in Lankesh Patrike edited by P. Lankesh and later brought out as a novel. This has also been adapted into a play.
Chandragiriya Thiradalli and many of her later books were consistently critical of patriarchy and customs that hindered a woman’s freedom. Among her other important works are Sahana, Vajragalu and Panjara. She was known for her straight forward and realistic style of narration that documented the lives of women around her as she saw them, particularly in coastal Karnataka and Kerala. She also translated from Malayalam into Kannada.
She had received several awards and recognitions.
She had settled down in Mangaluru’s Hat Hill. The last rites will be performed at the graveyard of the Zeenat Baksh Masjid in Bunder area in the city around 8 pm, said her relatives.