Prabhat Nalini Das

Prabhat Nalini Das is an Indian academic from Odisha.^[1][2] She has served as an English professor at Lady Shri Ram College, Ranchi University and Utkal University. She has also been the Director/Dean of the Humanities Division at IIT Kanpur, and the Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the North Eastern Hill University.

Early life

She has the distinction of topping every university she attended. She was a gold medallist at Ravenshaw University, where she earned her B.A. English (Honours). She earned her M.A. in English at the University of Allahabad, where she topped the university with three gold medals. She earned another Masters in English at the University of Minnesota as a Fulbright Smith-Mundt Scholar,and topped that university as well, winning several honours, including being the best graduate student of the year (1954) from the Department of English, and the Delta Phi Lambda Award for proficiency in writing. At Minnesota, she was a star pupil of Murray Krieger, Ricardo Quintana, Samuel Monk and John Hospers.

Academic career

She taught at Ravenshaw University, and Sailabala Women's College, Cuttack, before being hired, at age 31, as Head, Department of English at Lady Shri Ram College, by the industrialist, Sir Shri Ram, and Dr. Olive Reddick, founder of the USIEF in India. She turned down the post of Principal of Lady Shri Ram College to move to the IIT Kanpur, as its first Director/Dean of the Humanities Division, at age 35. She was, afterwards, Head of the Department of English at Ranchi University, a Senior Research Fellow at the American Studies Research Centre, Hyderabad, and Founder-Professor and Head, Department of English, Utkal University. Prof. Prabhat Nalini Das also served as pro-vice-chancellor of the North Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Shillong, with independent charge of its Kohima campus, in Nagaland.

Prof. Prabhat Nalini Das has been a pioneer in resuscitating the Orissa ikat saris and southern Orissa's Berhampur silk saris, as well as tussar saris. So prized and rare is her collection of saris that part of it was requested for display at The Smithsonian during the Festival of India in the USA, in 1985.

Together with her husband, Prof. Bidhu Bhusan Das, she supported and patronized Odissi dance and music, and Oriya theatre, right from the early 1950s. They helped Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, Guru Pankaj Das and Guru Debaprasad Das when their career trajectories were evolving, and, later, in substantive ways, when they sought their help over a protracted period of time.

Prof. Prabhat Nalini Das has also translated several major Oriya works into English.

Works

• Prabhat Nalini Das (1969). The Captive and the Free: Essays in Criticism and Aesthetics. Lark Books. 
• Bidhu Bhusan Das; Trilochan Misra; Prabhat Nalini Das (1994). Eye to Orissa. Information & Public Relations Department, Government of Orissa. 

Translations

• Manoranjan Das (1993). The Wild Harvest. Translated by Prabhat Nalini Das; Jatindra Mohan Mohanty. Sahitya Akademi. ISBN 978-81-7201-436-0. 
• Manoranjan Das (2000). Nandika Keshari: (Sarala Award Winning Play). Translated by Prabhat Nalini Das. Prachi Prakashan. ISBN 978-81-85824-12-3. 

References