Manoranjan Byapari

Manoranjan Byapari is often referred to as the pioneer of Dalit writing in West Bengal. While working as a rickshaw puller in Kolkata, he had a chance meeting with Mahasweta Devi, who asked him to write for her journal Bartika. Since then he has published nine novels and fifty short stories. He now works as a cook at the Helen Keller Institute.