Baby Halder
Encyclopedia
Baby Halder (born 1973 or 1974 in West Bengal
) is an India
n housekeeper and author whose autobiography Aalo Aandhari or A Life Less Ordinary (ISBN 81-89013-67-X) describes her harsh life. Abandoned by her mother at age 7, raised by a neglectful father and married off at age 12, she later left an abusive husband with her three children for a life as housemaid in New Delhi
and then encountered several exploitative employers. Her sister was killed by her husband.
She wrote after work, using plain matter-of-fact language and writing in Bengali
. Her last employer, writer and retired anthropology professor Prabodh Kumar, had encouraged her and aided in editing the book. He translated it into Hindi
and this version was published in 2002. The Bengali original was published in 2004. A Malayalam
version appeared in 2005 and the English translation was published in 2006. The book became a best-seller in India
. Translations into French
and Japanese
are being planned. As of 2006, Ms. Halder continues to work at a home in Gurgaon
on a sequel to her bestseller.
The book has been translated into German in 2008. It is expected that the author herself will be visiting Germany in the company of her publisher, Preeti Gill of New Delhi, India to present the book to audiences there and explain to them the present situation of women in India. The prestigious Georg-August University in Goettingen, Germany has arranged for a seminar to be held with the author and her publisher on 23 October 2008. Further seminars are being arranged in Frankfurt
, Düsseldorf
, Krefeld
, Halle, Kiel
, Berlin and Heidelberg
.Now she has two boys called Subodh and Tapas and a girl called Piya.
she has two boys named tapas and a daughter piya
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
) is an India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n housekeeper and author whose autobiography Aalo Aandhari or A Life Less Ordinary (ISBN 81-89013-67-X) describes her harsh life. Abandoned by her mother at age 7, raised by a neglectful father and married off at age 12, she later left an abusive husband with her three children for a life as housemaid in New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
and then encountered several exploitative employers. Her sister was killed by her husband.
She wrote after work, using plain matter-of-fact language and writing in Bengali
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
. Her last employer, writer and retired anthropology professor Prabodh Kumar, had encouraged her and aided in editing the book. He translated it into Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
and this version was published in 2002. The Bengali original was published in 2004. A Malayalam
Malayalam language
Malayalam , is one of the four major Dravidian languages of southern India. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India with official language status in the state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry. It is spoken by 35.9 million people...
version appeared in 2005 and the English translation was published in 2006. The book became a best-seller in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. Translations into French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
are being planned. As of 2006, Ms. Halder continues to work at a home in Gurgaon
Gurgaon
Gurgaon is the second largest city in the Indian state of Haryana. Gurgaon is the industrial and financial center of Haryana. It is located 30 km south of national capital New Delhi, about 10 kilometers from Dwarka Sub City and 268 km south of Chandigarh, the state capital...
on a sequel to her bestseller.
The book has been translated into German in 2008. It is expected that the author herself will be visiting Germany in the company of her publisher, Preeti Gill of New Delhi, India to present the book to audiences there and explain to them the present situation of women in India. The prestigious Georg-August University in Goettingen, Germany has arranged for a seminar to be held with the author and her publisher on 23 October 2008. Further seminars are being arranged in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
, Krefeld
Krefeld
Krefeld , also known as Crefeld until 1929, is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its centre lying just a few kilometres to the west of the River Rhine; the borough of Uerdingen is situated directly on the Rhine...
, Halle, Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
, Berlin and Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
.Now she has two boys called Subodh and Tapas and a girl called Piya.
Sources
- In India, a Maid Becomes An Unlikely Literary Star. The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, 2 August 2006 - A life less ordinary. The HinduThe HinduThe Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Chennai since 1878. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.46 million copies as of December 2009. The enterprise employed over 1,600 workers and gross income reached $40...
online edition, 15 May 2006 - From maid to bestselling author, BBC News, 21 September 2004
she has two boys named tapas and a daughter piya