Having travelled the world,she is still a Kolkatan at heart

Born in Kolkata,author Mitali Perkins,along with her family had migrated to the United States when she was seven years old. Later the family moved to different parts of the world including Ghana,Cameroon,England,Bangladesh,Mexico,Thailand and also almost the entire length and breadth of America. Yet,she feels at home during her visits to Kolkata,looking forward to the rice,dal,alu bhaja and aam er achar.

Having given birth to the third daughter,her mother had to go through a lot. “I understand the pressure that my mother was under. I feel strongly for women,especially in the villages,who are under pressure to produce sons. Had there been the technology in the 1960s when I was born,I might have been aborted. The pain is not just for me but for all the girls. I have had the best of education,a good life. I don’t have anything to complain about. But the girls who have had less power… I am going to fight for them all my life,” she said,interacting with students on International Women’s Day at the American Centre Library.

Her family,she said,had been a constant support. “I was a strong believer about why I was a girl. My dad validated that I was a girl and never once said “oh,I wish you were a boy!”,and later when I was struggling to make it big as an author,my husband was beside me,helping me through that phase,” she recollects. Her writings were initially rejected by 29 authors,before she penned some of the best sellers for children.