Maitridevi Sisodia was adjudged as the Winner of Today Book Awards 2024 for her poetry collection; Moments and Eternities.

When calamity struck Vadodara in the monsoon of 2019, a newly appointed officer, barely two days into her first independent charge, stepped onto a “Taraapo” - a makeshift boat made by tying wood logs to metal sheets and plastic barrels. The road had disappeared beneath floodwaters, and a pregnant woman needed urgent medication and help in a village, cut off from roadways. NDRF rescue boats were already addressing other emergency rescue operations within the district. "The waters were rising, and waiting for a rescue boat was not an option," recalls Maitridevi Sisodia. “What I witnessed that day - the Service before Self approach of my team- it stayed with me. It showed me what public service truly means. The look of relief on the face of the distressed woman, her family, and the village residents stays fresh in my mind to this day. Certain experiences are so fulfilling that they are bigger than any laurels.”

Today, Maitridevi Sisodia stands at the confluence of two great responsibilities: a civil servant and a storyteller. She is part of the Gujarat Administrative Services and is currently posted as a Deputy Collector in Ahmedabad. Today Book Awards 2024 winner, Maitridevi Sisodia, has steadily carved a life defined by resilience, service, and the relentless pursuit of justice and beauty, both on the field and on the page.

From Administration to Art

For over seven years, Sisodia has served across Gujarat with postings that have taken her from urban centers to the tribal heartlands. Whether responding to floods in Vadodara, leading civil society initiatives in Bodeli, or conducting state and national elections with distinction, she has approached every role with resolve and empathy. Her work as Returning Officer for Sankheda Assembly Constituency in the Gujarat Vidhan Sabha Elections in 2022 even earned her the State-level Best Electoral Registration Officer Award—an impressive feat during her first major election duty.

And yet, parallel to her administrative path runs another river: her love for words.

That love, nurtured by her grandfather, a retired English professor, Mr. Himmatsinh Sisodia, eventually gave birth to a literary voice that is now winning the country’s attention. She draws inspiration from a score of women writers - Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf, Simon De Beauvoir, Emily Dickinson, to name a few. Shakespeare is her favourite playwright, owing to early exposure to his work and commentaries through her grandfather. She believes that the pen bears power and has always yearned to write and create an impact.

Moments, Eternities, and a Pen that Moves Between Worlds

Her award-winning second book, Moments and Eternities, is a collection of 110 poems spread across five deeply evocative themes—Nature, Time, Self, Love, and the Universe. Described as "a reflective journey through the transient and the timeless," the book gently invites readers to explore the fragile beauty of passing moments while anchoring themselves in universal truths.

“The poems are both mirrors and windows,” she says. “They let you see yourself, and also peer into something larger.”

The book has received notable applause from literary giants, among others. Legendary author Ruskin Bond praised its lyrical depth, while celebrated poet-diplomat Abhay K. lauded the collection for its philosophical elegance. Their words, she says, are an affirmation—not just of her writing, but of her deeper purpose.

“It is incredibly humbling to have someone like Ruskin Bond find value in your work,” Maitri says. “His writing has been a major influence on me since my early years. To hear him speak kindly of my writing—it was surreal.”

Moments and Eternities is the book that earned her the Today Book Awards 2024, an honour she describes as both “a celebration and a responsibility.”

Bearing Witness Through Words

While Moments and Eternities explores the metaphysical, Maitri’s first book, Contemporary Cheerharan – Women Fighting Indignity and Injustice, tackled the visceral. It comprises short stories, essays, diary entries, and poems, all focusing on myriad issues faced by women. It is a clarion call to voice concerns, fears and desires altogether for an India which is free from gender bias, where women do not have to settle for feeling unsafe as a way of life, where women have equal access to opportunities, where women aren’t held back by fences, barriers and ceilings at every stage.

Contemporary Cheerharan earned her the Ukiyoto Woman Writer of the Year award and a finalist spot at the International Book Awards 2022, placing her firmly among India's emerging literary voices.

Grounded in Service, Soaring Through Stories

Whether in poetry or policy, Maitri remains grounded in her mission: to create impact.

She has been a speaker at the Ahmedabad International Literature Festival and the New Delhi World Book Fair, she also engages in panels at various platforms varying from CII-IWN led businesswomen conclaves to UNICEF and partner NGOs conferences. This offers glimpses of her dual identity: the civil servant who writes, the writer who serves. “All art is nourishment,” she says. “And when shared, it becomes a social experience. I believe both governance and literature require imagination and empathy.”

Her next literary pursuit is just as ambitious: a historical book chronicling the lives of lesser-known women pioneers from India’s princely states. “There’s so much power in the stories we haven’t told yet,” she says.

A Legacy in Motion

Maitri is not just a woman of achievements—she is a woman of intention. Her life straddles public policy and poetry, floodplains and metaphors, real people and imagined realms. Through her work, she reminds us that strength can be soft, and impact can be quiet but enduring.

 “This award is a cherished honor and has given impetus to my resolve as a writer,” she says of the Today Book Award. “It is an encouragement to keep writing, keep questioning, keep serving.”

And that, perhaps, is her greatest achievement: not merely in what she has accomplished, but in what she continues to aspire to become. With a heart in public service and a pen poised for purpose, Maitridevi Sisodia is a woman of her time—and for the times to come.