“Life is not mathematics and the human being is not made for the sake of politics.”
These words belong toMahasweta Devi, the celebrated Bengali writer and activist whose work was defined by an uncompromising compassion for India’s tribal and marginalised communities.
Through fiction and essays, Mahasweta Devi consistently argued that human dignity and basic needs must never be sacrificed at the altar of political calculation. The statement may sound simple, but it carries a profound moral warning: people are not instruments for schemes, statistics, or state designs. Having lived and worked closely with the marginalised, she wrote their stories so the nation could confront the real human cost of policy and power.
Mahasweta Devi was born onJanuary 14, 1926, in Dhaka, and passed away onJuly 28, 2016, in Kolkata.
Educated in English literature, she chose to write primarily in Bengali and paired her literary career with lifelong activism that extended far beyond the written word. For decades, she worked alongsideAdivasi communities, documenting injustice and campaigning for land rights, dignity, and recognition.
Known for her plainspoken style and fearless interventions, Mahasweta Devi never hesitated to challenge state authority or complacent elites. Her works include novels and stories such asHajar Churashir MaaandDraupadi, as well as powerful non-fiction that exposed systemic exploitation. Although she received major honours, including theJnanpithandSahitya Akademi Awards, she consistently valued human lives over accolades.
When Mahasweta Devi said that life is not mathematics, she rejected the reduction of human beings to numbers and abstractions.
Mathematics simplifies and counts; politics, she warned, often does the same by reducing people to votes, labour units, or statistical outcomes. Her message is deeply ethical: a society that treats citizens as data risks losing empathy, accountability, and moral responsibility. The quote also cautions against development models that prioritise targets and metrics while overlooking suffering that cannot be measured.
Mahasweta Devi advocated listening, ground-level engagement, and the humility to accept realities that fall outside standard frameworks. She believed that literature, lived experience, and testimony reveal truths that statistics often conceal.
Her vision called for a politics of care—one in which human stories inform decision-making and justice responds to the voices of those most affected.
“The real history is made by ordinary people.”
“The matter for my writing comes from the people.”
“After reading my work, the reader should feel ashamed of the true face of society.”
“Time is stronger than grief.”
Mahasweta Devi’s words continue to serve as a moral mirror, reminding us that people must never be exchanged for policy convenience. Her life and legacy insist thathuman dignity remain at the centre of every public decision.
