 She is noted in recent decades for her works related to the study of the rural tribal communities of West Bengal, women and dalits. She is also an activist who is dedicated to the struggle of tribal people in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. In her elaborate Bengali fiction, she often depicts the brutal oppression of tribal peoples and the untouchables by potent, authoritary high-caste landlords, lenders, and venal government officials. She has written of the source of her inspiration
"I have always believed that the real history is made by ordinary people. I constantly come across the reappearance, in various forms, of folklore, ballads, myths and legends, carried by ordinary people across generations....The reason and inspiration for my writing are those people who are exploited and used, and yet do not accept defeat. For me, the endless source of ingredients for writing is in these amazingly, noble, suffering human beings. Why should I look for my raw material elsewhere, once I have started knowing them? Sometimes it seems to me that my writing is really their doing."
Works
· Hajar Churashir Ma (No. 1084`s Mother, 1975)
· Aranyer Adhikar (The Occupation of the Forest, 1977)
· Agnigarbha (Womb of Fire, 1978)
· Choti Munda evam Tar Tir (Choti Munda and His Arrow, 1980)
· Breast-Giver
· Imaginary Maps, 1995 (translated by Gayatri Spivak) London & New York. Routledge
· Dhowli (Short Story)
· Breast Giver (1998)
· Dust on the Road
· Our Non-Veg Cow
· Bashai Tudu
· Titu Mir
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