Nivedita Louis

The topic of this article may not meet Wikitia's general notability guideline. Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention. If notability cannot be shown, the article is likely to be merged, redirected, or deleted.
Find sources: "Nivedita Louis" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

|

Nivedita Louis

Add a Photo

Nivedita Louis

Born|  (1978-05-07) May 7, 1978 (age 47)
Ambasamudram, Tirunelveli, India
Occupation| Author · Feminist Historian · Social Activist · Editor
Language| Tamil
Nationality| Indian
Education| Bachelor of commerce · Master of Business Administration
Alma mater| Madras University · Bharathiar University
Genre| Non-Fiction · Biography · Essays
Subject| Society · Archaeology · History · Women's history
Notable awards| Tha Mu E Ka Sa Thozhar Kae Muthaiah virudhu · Puthumaipiththan Padaippilakkiya Viruthu
Years active| 2010-present
Spouse| Louis Irudayadasan
Children| Lionel
Leina
Relatives| Davis Angel Queen-Jayaseelan Savarimuthu (Parents)
Website
Her Stories

Nivedita Louis (Tamil: நிவேதிதா லூயிஸ்; born 5 July 1978), is a Tamil author, researcher, feminist historian and social activist[1]. She is the co-founder and editor of Her Stories, a non-profit organization that works towards women empowerment[2]. She primarily writes non-fiction books about subjects such as local history, archeology, women's history and she is known for her works like Vadachennai: varalarum vazhviyalum, Mudhal Pengal and Pathai Amaithavargal[3].

## Contents

* 1 Education and early career
* 2 Career
* 2.1 Writing career
* 2.2 Heritage walks
* 2.3 Her stories initiative
* 3 Works
* 4 Awards
* 5 References
* 6 External links

## Education and early career[edit]

She did her schooling in AVRmV Matriculation School, Ambasamudram and SBOA School and Junior College, Chennai and Nivedita started writing from her school days and was published in her school magazine and her first published work is a poem in SBOA school souvenir[4]. One of her facebook posts caught the attention of the editor of Kungumam Thozhi, a Tamil magazine for women and that post was later published as an article with the title "சமூக ஊடகங்களால் தொல்லையா, சமாளிக்க 20 வழிகள்" in Kungumam Thozhi and after her first article was published, Nivedita started writing about social issues[5]. At this same time, she also began attending heritage trips and walks and immersed herself in the rich local culture, which led her to write books about History[6].

## Career[edit]

#### Writing career[edit]

Nivedita’s first published book, Mudhal Pengal which first came out as a series by the same name in the Tamil magazine Aval vikatan, was published by Prema Revathi, Editor of Maithri Feminist publication.[7]. During this period, Marudhan and Badri Seshadri of Kizhakku Pathippagam asked if she could write a book on archaeology for their publication[8]. Inspired by Balakrishnan IAS and his pot route, she did extensive research and wrote the book Adichanallur Muthal Keezhadi Varai, The book was well received and her next book was also commissioned by Kizhakku Pathipagam[9].

She had worked for more than 3 years in North Madras and decided to write a novel titled “VadaChennai Varalarum Vazhviyalum” about her experiences and the local culture which was a mix of non-fiction, history, anthropology and travelog[10]. It was also well received and won Nivedita two awards, Tha Mu E Ka Sa Thozhar Kae Muthaiah virudhu and Puthumaipiththan Padaippilakkiya Viruthu[11].

Parallelly she traveled with a friend to Bhutan and wrote a series on the Minnambalam site and with their permission, that series was made into an ebook by the name Magizhchiyin Desam[12].

During 2020 in the Covid Lockdown, She wrote Sindhuveli Nagarigam Kandupidikkappatta Kathai - a book on how the Indus civilization was discovered[13]. During this period, she also started working on her long term dream project Ariyappadatha Christhavam[14]. After one and a half years of field visits to various parts of the State, extensive research and interviews, “Ariyappadatha Christhavam”, a 1272 pages 2-volume ethnographic study of Tamil Christians, was published by Kizhakku Pathipagam[15]. Nivedita considers this book to be her Magnum Opus[16], IAS.

Nivedita’s next books Ammakannuvukku Neelanai Pidikkathu (collection of essays on people and practices) and Kalaga Puthagam were also published by Kizhaku Pathipagam[17].

Her next book “Paathai Amaithavargal - Muthal Pengal 2” was published under from her own flagship publications - Her Stories[18].

#### Heritage walks[edit]

With the help and encouragement of her mentor Venkatesh Ramakrishnan, Nivedita curated her first heritage walk and since that she has curated around 10 heritage walks and rides, mostly in unchartered territories. [19] in Greenways road. Then she organized bike rides in Poonamallee[20]

Kavitha Ramu gave her an opportunity to curate the “Iyal Isai Museum walk” in the Government Museum of Madras and it was regarded as a success[21]. Historian Vidya Dehejia from the US invited her over for a walk and a chat on musical instruments[22]. With help of Vallidasan, She gave her first lecture "Wonder Women of Madras" which was based on the series she started writing for Aval Vikatan[23]. The talk was well received and she started doing more lectures and impromptu walks across the city[24].

#### Her stories initiative[edit]

Her Stories was started as a facebook page during lockdown in 2020 to provide a space for women of different backgrounds to express themselves in social spheres.[25] The page, which was created by Nivedita, Vallidasan, and Sahana, gained a strong social media following which it was expanded as a web page in 2021[26].

By 2022, Her Stories had published 7 books and established itself as a feminist centric non-profit organization[27]. Her Stories encourages women of all backgrounds to write and express themselves, both well-known authors and beginners write articles in Her Stories[28]. Her Stories now has about 27 titles, more than 500 essays and a social media following of over 10000 people[29].

## Works[edit]

* Muthal Pengal
* Adhichanallur Muthal Keezhadi Varai
* Magizhchchiyin Thesam
* Sindhusamaveli Nagarigam Kandupidikkappatta Kathai
* Vadachennai Varalarum Vazhviyalum
* Ariyappadatha Christhavam
* Ammakannuvukku Neelanai Pidikkathu
* Kalaga Puthagam
* Paathai Amaithavargal

## Awards[edit]

* Tha Mu E Ka Sa Thozhar Kae Muthaiah virudhu (cash award of Rs. 10,000/- and citation)
* Puthumaipiththan Padaippilakkiya Viruthu by SRM Thamizh Peraayam (cash award of Rs.1,00,000/- and citation)

## References[edit]

1. ↑ "Celebrating The Wonder Women Of Madras Who Fought Patriarchy". femina.in. Femina.
2. ↑ "Nivedita Louis".
3. ↑ Padmanabhan, Geeta (25 July 2018). "Women changemakers of Madras". The Hindu.
4. ↑ "Facebook". www.facebook.com.
5. ↑ "முதல் பெண்கள்". Goodreads.
6. ↑ "A date with history". The New Indian Express.
7. ↑ "Filtered representations". The New Indian Express.
8. ↑ "Tamil Heritage Trust தமிழ்ப் பாரம்பரிய அறக்கட்டளை".
9. ↑ "The Pot Route: from Indus to Vaigai | Dr.R.Balakrishnan IAS speech".
10. ↑ Sankar, Sindhu Priyadharsini (31 March 2021). "வடசென்னை: வரலாறும் வாழ்வியலும்". Women's Web Tamil.
11. ↑ "🔴நேரலை: SRM தமிழ்ப்பேராய விருதுகள் விழா 2022 | SRM | TamilAwards".
12. ↑ "Minnambalam".
13. ↑ "Nivedita Louis speech | எழுக சிந்து - சிந்து முதல் வைகை வரை | நிவேதிதா லூயிஸ்".
14. ↑ "Christian music, Christian Tamil music, Christian keerthanais and Kutchery: All with "Thomas myth", the way, Nivedita Louis spreads it!". Indology. 6 July 2020.
15. ↑ "Collector gifts book on Christianity's history in Tamil Nadu to CM MK Stalin, BJP cries foul". The New Indian Express.
16. ↑ "Pudukkottai Collector gifts book on Christianity's history to CM Stalin, BJP cries foul". The New Indian Express.
17. ↑ Nath, Sayantani (28 September 2019). "Meena Narayanan: She Broke Barriers to Become India's First Woman Sound Engineer!". The Better India.
18. ↑ Padmanabhan, Geeta (25 July 2018). "Women changemakers of Madras". The Hindu.
19. ↑ B.A, Pon Vasanth (30 August 2020). "Nivedita Louis on how Chennai's documented history lacks voices of women and oppressed communities | The Madras Week Podcast". The Hindu.
20. ↑ "Exploring Poonamallee: Bringing alive the fascinating history of this TN town". The News Minute. 29 April 2018.
21. ↑ Nath, Parshathy J. (14 February 2018). "A peek into Chennai's Iyal Isai Museum". The Hindu.
22. ↑ James, Merin. "Lecture to trace links between Christianity and Tamil music". DT next.
23. ↑ "'Wonder women of Madras should be given more credit'". DT next.
24. ↑ "Three English women who shaped colonial Madras". The New Indian Express.
25. ↑ "Why tribal school girls in TN flung dupattas in the air to welcome a feminist writer". The News Minute. 22 March 2023.
26. ↑ "பெண்களுக்கான உரிமை எப்படி இருக்க வேண்டும்? விளக்குகிறார் எழுத்தாளர் நிவேதிதா லூயிஸ்". HerZindagi Tamil (in தமிழ்). 10 April 2023.
27. ↑ "Foreign Women and Madras: A presentation by Nivedita Louis".
28. ↑ B.A, Pon Vasanth (30 August 2020). "Nivedita Louis on how Chennai's documented history lacks voices of women and oppressed communities | The Madras Week Podcast". The Hindu.
29. ↑ Ganesh, Sanjana (30 March 2023). "A book by Tamil publishing house Her Stories is behind the viral video of school children throwing their dupattas". The Hindu.

## External links[edit]

Add External links

This article "Nivedita Louis" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical. Articles taken from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be accessed on Wikipedia's Draft Namespace.  [Category:Author]]