Nasreen, currently living in Paris, disclosed her proposed visit to India to the Save Taslima Nasreen Committee (Mumbai), a group of intellectuals and writers who have been pursuing the Indian government to give the 38-year-old writer shelter for over two years now.

Nasreen took refuge in Sweden in 1994 when her comments against the Quran angered Maulavis in her motherland. Her book Lajja, dwelling on the persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh after the demolition of the Babri Masjid, saw her being declared a traitor. Lajja was banned by the Bangladeshi government and arrest warrants issued against Nasreen. AfterMuslim fundamentalists put a prize on Nasreen's life, she has been ensconed in Europe. She was in Dhaka last September to visit her ailing mother, and returned shortly after her mother's death.

Interestingly, Nasreen's latest book written in exile, Amar Meyebela (My Girlhood), has received critical acclaim outside the sub-continent. A French translation of the book hit the stands even before the Calcutta-based People's Book Society published the Bengali original. The Bengali book is already on the bestseller list, and a German translation has also hit the market.

``Nasreen is the first writer from the sub-continent whose original text has been translated and published in European languages much before Indian publishers dared touch the original text. The book has not even been translated in any other Indian language. It is a record of sorts,'' observed Shalil Ghosh of the Save Nasreen Committee. ``Incidentally, Nasreen's book Lajja has now been translated into 12 foreign languages, apart fromtranslations into Indian languages. And a writer of international repute like her must be given shelter by our country, especially since the governments of Sweden, Germany and France have helped her immensely,'' added Ghosh.

Nasreen will be felicitated at a function in Calcutta to celebrate the roaring success of Amar Meyebela. The book is a bold autobiographical depiction of her formative years in a male-dominated Muslim society. The word Meyebela itself was coined by Nasreen. Chele means boy and Meye girl in Bengali. However, the word Chelebela connotes childhood for girls as well as boys. Nasreen has added Meyebela to the lexicon, granting a specific identity to the childhood of girls.