Dilip D'Souza
Encyclopedia
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
-based writer and journalist. He writes about social and political causes, with a left-centrist, liberal perspective, as well as some travel and current affairs articles. His columns have appeared in The Sunday Observer, Rediff.com, Outlook
Outlook (magazine)
Outlook is one of India's four top-selling English weekly newsmagazines. Like many other Indian magazines, it is reluctant to reveal its circulation, but the 2007 National Readership Survey suggested 1.5 million copies...
, Mid-Day
Mid-day
Mid Day is an afternoon daily Indian compact newspaper. Editions in various languages are published in Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi and Pune .-Establishment:...
, Hindustan Times
Hindustan Times
Hindustan Times is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded in 1924 with roots in the Indian independence movement of the period ....
, indiatogether.org, Caravan
Caravan
-Specific automobile models:*Dodge Caravan*Nissan Caravan*Opel Omega Caravan*Opel Astra Caravan*Chevrolet Caravan -Airplane models:*Cessna Caravan, a utility airplane*C-76 Caravan, an American 1940s medium military transport aircraft-Other:...
(http://www.caravanmagazine.in) and others.
A column by him about two young engineers from Kerala who built a dam in rural Maharashtra and supplied electricity where there was none, provided the inspiration for a key segment of the 2004 movie Swades
Swades
Swades: We, the People is a 2004 Indian film written, produced and directed by Ashutosh Gowariker. The film stars Shahrukh Khan and debutante Gayatri Joshi...
directed by Ashutosh Gowariker
Ashutosh Gowariker
Ashutosh Gowariker is an Indian film director, actor, writer and producer. He is known for directing the films Lagaan , Swades , Jodhaa Akbar , What's Your Raashee and Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey...
Biography
D'Souza's father was former Maharashtra Chief Secretary and activist J.B. D'Souza http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:dd4YcqeWsJ4J:www.pucl.org/reports/Maharashtra/2001/srikrishna.htm+J.B.+D'Souza+Srikrishna&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=au (died September 2007 http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,,2185835,00.html). D'Souza did a BE in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from BITS Pilani (1976–81) and an MS in Computer Science from Brown UniversityBrown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
(1984).
Personal life
He married French language teacher Vibha Kamat in 1993, and they have two children, son Sahir, born 1999 and daughter Surabhi, born 2004.http://spfall2004.bitsaa.org/Fall2004/pdf/SelectedClassNotes.pdf He studied and worked as a software engineer in United States from 1981 to 1992 when he returned to India to write full time.http://studentorgs.utexas.edu/aidaustin/conf2004/speakers.html.As an alumnus of Birla Institute of Technology and Science
Birla Institute of Technology and Science
Birla Institute of Technology & Science, is a private university located in Pilani, Rajasthan, India. BITS Pilani is considered one of the most prestigious and selective universities in India...
, he is dedicated to alumni activities and has come over many times to his alma mater. He was there in February 2010 to promote his new book Roadrunner.http://www.prlog.org/10522614-dilip-dsouza-book-road-runner-an-indian-quest-in-america-bits-pilani-release.html. He is currently on the editorial board of the BITS Alumni magazine Sandpaper.http://sandpaper.bitsaa.org/team.htm. D'Souza also maintains a blog "Death Ends Fun" http://dcubed.blogspot.com where he has had some debates with right-wing bloggers.
Awards
D'Souza has won several awards for his writing, including the Statesman Rural Reporting Award, the Times of India/Red Cross prize, the Outlook/Picador nonfiction prize (for which he was also, earlier, runner up), the Sanctuary Magazine prize and more.http://ifellows2006.wordpress.com/fellows/dilip-dsouza/- Outlook/Picador prize in 2004 for his essay "Ride Across The River" http://www.outlookindia.com/fullprint.asp?choice=1&fodname=20050509&fname=dilipdsouza&sid=1. It was about an Army officer killed in action in Kashmir, examining patriotism through his example.
Affiliations
- D'Souza is a member of the Managing Committee of Citizens for Peace (CfP) in Mumbai.
- D'Souza has worked with the People's Union for Civil LibertiesPeople's Union for Civil LibertiesPeople's Union for Civil Liberties is a human rights body formed in India in 1976 by socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan, as the People's Union for Civil Liberties and Democratic Rights .-The indian emergency:...
(PUCL), the Narmada Bachao AndolanNarmada Bachao AndolanNarmada Bachao Andolan is social movement consisting of tribal people, adivasis, farmers, environmentalists and human rights activists against the Sardar Sarovar Dam being built across the Narmada river, Gujarat, India....
and Ekta.
- D'Souza was a member of the Pakistan-India People's Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD). The PIPFPD pursues "Track II diplomacy", meaning increased contact between ordinary people in both countries, towards peace between IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and PakistanPakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
.
- He was also a member of the India Progressive Action Group (IPAG) in Austin, Texas, that funded and worked closely with various rural development projects in India.
- He was on the editorial board of the Consumer Guidance Society of IndiaConsumer Guidance Society of IndiaThe Consumer Guidance Society of India is a consumer rights organisation based in Mumbai, India. It was the earliest consumers organisation in India, founded by nine women in 1966 , and became the first to conduct formal product testing in 1977. CGSI publishes a magazine, Keemat. Among the...
(CGSI) and the Foundation for Humanization.
- D'Souza was an invited speaker/panelist to the Austin conference of the Association for India's DevelopmentAssociation for India's DevelopmentThe Association for India's Development, Inc. is a secular charity organization based in the United States which promotes "sustainable, equitable and just development"...
(AID http://www.aidindia.org) and witnessed first-hand their relief and rehabilitation work in Tamil Nadu after the tsunamiTsunamiA tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
in December 2004.
Works
- Branded by Law: Looking at India's Denotified Tribes, by Dilip D'Souza. Published by Penguin Books, 2001. ISBN 0-14-100749-4.
- The Narmada Dammed: An Inquiry Into the Politics of Development, by Dilip D'Souza. Published by Penguin Books, 2002
- Roadrunner: An Indian Quest in America, by Dilip D'Souza. Published by HarperCollins India, 2009
- D'Souza wrote an account for salon.com, "Rain, Blood and Sirens" http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/07/12/india/, about the July 2006 train bomb blasts in Mumbai.
- He wrote an essay for the Washington Post, "Mumbai Under Siege" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/28/AR2008112802247.html, about the November 26, 2008 attack in Mumbai. Earlier he had written an essay for the Post, "House in a Slum? You Can't Afford It" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/25/AR2008012502776.html, on the housing crunch in Mumbai.
- A Hindustan Times oped essay, "It's Not a Tall Order" http://www.hindustantimes.com/It-s-not-a-tall-order/Article1-627193.aspx, as a response to the Adarsh housing society scam.
- Article in Forbes India, "Major Habib Ahmed's Journey From Pakistan to India" http://business.in.com/article/recliner/major-habib-ahmeds-journey-from-pakistan-to-india/22962/1, on a Pakistani major's return to India after 62 years.
- Hindustan Times oped essay, "Banal, Inexplicable" http://www.hindustantimes.com/Banal-inexplicable/Article1-671879.aspx, on the evidence against Binayak SenBinayak SenBinayak Sen is an Indian pediatrician, public health specialist and activist. He is the national Vice-President of the People's Union for Civil Liberties .He has been accused of sedition by the Chhattisgarh Government...
.
External links
- Dilip D'Souza columns at Rediff.comRediff.comRediff.com India is a news, information, entertainment, and shopping portal. It was founded in 1996 as "Rediff On The NeT" and is headquartered in Mumbai, India with offices in New Delhi and New York City, USA....
- Blog