THE QUIET REBEL WHO IS AGAINST MEDIOCRITY

ANUPARNA Roy is arguably one of the best things to happen to India, and more specifically, West Bengal.

- SHARMISTHA GHOSAL

For people scarred by a plethora of scams and gradually drowning in cynicism, this slender woman takes to the podium of the oldest film festival in the world and wins the award, becoming only the second woman in the country to be crowned on such a platform. In a trembling voice, she expresses her indebtedness to the villages and soil of her beleaguered state.

Roy has been a quiet rebel -standing against mediocrity. She rose from a very humble background with no touch of elitism in her family, education, job or patronage.

Raised in one of the chronically underdeveloped districts of West Bengal, Roy attended an obscure college, far from dwindling institutions of excellence in the state.

Like thousands of others who leave Bengal in search of a career, she too moved to Mumbai to pursue her dreams.

A person who excels on a global platform solely through their own merit, without the relying on family connections, earns respect in every society. This is specially true in West Bengal, which has not produced too many such faces in recent times.