ABSTRACT
In this chapter, Indira Goswami touches upon the incidents and occurrences in her life that served as raw materials for her fiction. By highlighting the points of intersection of reality and imagination, Goswami maintains that her short stories and novels draw upon her experiences in life and these narratives, both covertly and overtly autobiographical in nature, use fictional names and places to hide the poignant truths. She talks about what made her write pieces like ‘Hriday’, Chenabor Xrot, Mamore Dhora Taruwal, Neelakanthi Braja, Jakhmi Jatri, etc. and the extensive research that had gone into the making of those. Her brush with pain, death and unfortunate accidents made her empathetic towards the downtrodden and wronged. Also, Goswami’s rebellious nature makes an entry into the fiery and temperamental female characters in her fiction, one being Saudamini of Neelakanthi Braja.
