Nivedita Louis

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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].

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]

External links[edit]

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