THE STORYTELLER 1550-1600

Once upon a time on the bank of the Fulesshari river, there lived a Supergirl by the name of Chandrabati. It was Chandrabati who started telling the HerStories. Before her time, stories were told about princes, heroes, and rajas, but Chandrabati wrote about heroines, princesses and ranis. This changed everything.

Chandrabati was the beloved daughter of the popular poet-composer Bansidas. Her father taught her to read and write and soon she was as good as him.

One day, while plucking flowers for the puja, Chandrabati met a boy named Joychandra. They started spending all their time together—studying, playing, writing poetry. There were rumours that Chandarabati and Joychandra were going to get married. Suddenly, to the astonishment of everyone, Joychandra was betrothed to another girl. Chandrabati was heartbroken! She swore to never marry and asked her father to build her a temple. She decided to spend her life praying and writing.

Ever since, Chandrabati wrote about the lives of girls. They became the stars of her stories, strong and powerful characters. She is remembered for her epic, SITA'S RAMAYANA, based on THE RAMAYANA, a story about family duties, wars and feuds. Chandrabati rewrote the tale from the point of view of Princess Sita, who is captured by the evil kind Ravana. In Chandrabati's version, Sita is not just a helpless hostage, she is dignified, witty and unbreakable throughout—a real heroine.

In this way, Chandrabati became the main character of her own story. She did not need a prince to save her, she was a great writer, and we continue to tell the story she began hundreds of years ago!

Copyright for the story of Chandrabati belongs to HerStory Foundation