About Yajnaseni, Shilapadma

Pratibha Ray is an Indian academic and writer of Odia-language novels and stories. For her contribution to the Indian literature, Ray received the Jnanpith Award in 2011. She was awarded ‘Padma Shree' in 2007 and ‘Padma Bhusan’ in 2022 for Literature and Education by the Government of India. Her search for a "social order based on equality, love, peace and integration", continues, since she first penned at the age of nine. When she wrote for a social order, based on equality without class, caste, religion or sex discriminations, some of her critics branded her as a communist, and some as feminist. According to her, Men and women have been created differently for the healthy functioning of society. The specialties women have been endowed with should be nurtured further. As a human being, however, woman is equal to man. She started her professional career as a school teacher, and later she taught in various government colleges in Odisha for thirty years. She has guided doctoral research and has published many research articles. She took voluntary retirement as a Professor of Education from State Government Service and joined as Member, Public Service Commission of Odisha. She has travelled extensively in India and abroad to participate in various literary and educational conferences. She has also won numbers of national and state awards for her creative writing.