Sara Aboobacker (1936 – 2023), a Kannada fiction and story writer as well as a translator, hailed from a backward muslim community in Kerala – Karnataka border. Though she was born in a family in Kerala’s Chemnad village on the bank of Chandragiripuzha in Kasargod, she was married to a Kannadiga and settled in Karnataka.
Sara Aboobacker was born in1936 in an orthodox muslim family in Chemnad village in Kasargod district, Kerala. Her father was a lawyer by profession and a progressive character, meanwhile her surroundings were resistant to accept any kind of change especially in women’s education and career. In the 1940s, despite scored too many marks in secondary exams, she had to leave her studies after class 10. Her primary education was in Malayalam medium, but later in high school she joined in Kannada medium school which became a turning point to invigorate her aptitude in Kannada language and literature. After 10th class, she faced many obstacles to countinue her studies, since there were no colleges in Kasargod. There were colleges in Mangalore, but travelling by train everyday was not possible in those times. Her father was very supportive in continuing her studies.
Her first novel “Chandragiriya Theeradalli” has gained widespread acceptance among the society and gradually instilled her name and fame in Kannada literature. She wrote miserable life of muslim women community to whom she belonged, introduced pathetic situation of muslims in Kerala – Karnataka border. This novel has been translated to different languages including English and Marathi. Sara Aboobacker started her writing career in publishing articles in Lankesh Patrike, a kannada magazine founded by P.Lankesh. Sara Aboobacker was a family friend of Lankesh family and Gauri Lankesh, daughter of P. Lankesh, has a close relationship with Sara until her demise in 2017. Sara Aboobacker was deeply distressed of her assassination by a group of criminals.
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