Padma Shri Awardee Geeta Upadhyay Passes Away at 87

OUR CORRESPONDENT

TEZPUR: Padma Shri awardee, Sahitya Akademi laureate, renowned litterateur, translator, and educationist Geeta Upadhyay passed away at her residence in Chandmari, Tezpur, around 9:15 pm on Monday. She was unwell due to age-related ailments.

Her health had deteriorated recently, following which she was admitted to a private hospital in Tezpur on July 10 and remained under intensive care. On Monday evening, she was transferred back to her home on medical advice, where she passed away.

A towering literary figure, Geeta Upadhyay was widely admired for building a strong bridge between Assamese and Nepali literature. Born into the family of freedom fighter Chabilal Upadhyay, she devoted her life to literature, translation, education, and social service, earning national recognition for her outstanding contributions.

She received the Sahitya Akademi Translation Award in 2012 for translating Jyotiprasad Agarwala's acclaimed Assamese play, 'Karengar Ligiri', into Nepali. She later won the Sahitya Akademi Award for her Nepali novel 'Mero Swadesh', becoming the first Nepali woman writer to receive honours in two different categories from the Akademi.

Her remarkable translation works include the Assamese version of Bhanubhakta Ramayan, the Nepali translation of Nirupama Borgohain's 'Abhiyatri', and Assamese and Nepali translations of The Diary of Anne Frank, in addition to numerous literary works that strengthened cultural and linguistic ties between Assamese and Nepali communities.

Apart from her literary achievements, Upadhyay was a distinguished academic. She was among the first women to earn postgraduate degrees in political science from Gauhati University and served for many years as a faculty member in the Department of Political Science at Sivasagar College.

She also played an active role in several literary and cultural organisations, including the Nepali Sahitya Parishad, Assam Lekhika Sanstha, and the Assam State unit of the Bharatiya Gorkha Parishad, working tirelessly to promote literature, language, and communal harmony.

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