Ballad of Kaziranga – Dileep Chandran

Parbina Rashid hails from Guwahati and grew up during the turbulent times of the Assam Agitation of the ‘80s, which was fought against the problem of illegal migration from Bangladesh, and later, the rise of terrorism, which still continues to plague the state. After her schooling in Guwahati, Parbina left for Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), from where she completed her graduation. She later joined Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) for her masters.

She started her career as a Project Fellow under the Women’s Studies Research Centre at the Gauhati University and contributed two research papers titled ‘Dowry Deaths in Assam: A Few Case Studies from Guwahati Municipal Area’ and ‘Women as Decision Maker’, which were published in a complied volume titled, Status of Women & Social Change by the Gauhati University.

At present, she is working with The Tribune and is based in Chandigarh. She writes a column called Beyond Chicken Neck, reviews books, writes opinion pieces and middles for The Tribune.

One of her translated short stories, ‘No Man’s Land’, has appeared in The Little Magazine, edited by Antara Dev Sen.

Parbina has also translated stories for The Sentinel (Assam) and Nezine.com, an online magazine. She has translated and compiled a book, Echoes from the Valley, which is an anthology of short stories by 11 Assamese writers. Her second translated book, If a River and Other Stories, is a collection of short stories by Sahitya Akademi-awardee Dr Kula Saikia, DGP, Assam. While Echoes from the Valley was published in 2017, If a River and Other Stories was launched in February 2018 at the Brahmaputra Literary Festival, Assam.