Gita Mehta
Encyclopedia
Gita Mehta is an India
n writer and was born in Delhi
in a renowned Oriya
family of freedom fighters. She is the daughter of Biju Patnaik
, an Indian independence
activist and a Chief Minister in post-independence Orissa
. Her younger brother Naveen Patnaik
is presently the Chief Minister of Orissa
. She completed her education in India and at the University of Cambridge
, United Kingdom
.
She has produced and/or directed 14 television documentaries for UK, European and US networks. During the years 1970-1971 she was a television war correspondent for the US television network NBC
. Her film compilation of the Bangladesh revolution, Dateline Bangladesh, was shown in cinema theatres both in India and abroad.
Although being the wife of Sonny Mehta
, head of the Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. publishing house, keeps her in the publishing limelight, she has emerged a writer in her own right. Her books have been translated into 21 languages and been on the bestseller lists in Europe, the US and India. The subject of both her fiction and non-fiction is exclusively focused on India: its culture and history, and the Western perception of it. Her works reflect the insight gained through her journalistic and political background.
Gita Mehta divides her time between New York, London and New Delhi.
India
India , 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...
n writer and was born in Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
in a renowned Oriya
Oriya people
The Oriya, known classically by various names , are an ethnic group of eastern India and of eastern Indo-Aryan stock...
family of freedom fighters. She is the daughter of Biju Patnaik
Biju Patnaik
Biju Patnaik was an Indian politician. Also known as Biju Babu.Son of Lakshminarayan and Ashalata Patnaik, Bijayananda Patnaik was born in Cuttack, Orissa on March 5, 1916..-Role in Indonesian freedom struggle:Biju...
, an Indian independence
Indian independence movement
The term Indian independence movement encompasses a wide area of political organisations, philosophies, and movements which had the common aim of ending first British East India Company rule, and then British imperial authority, in parts of South Asia...
activist and a Chief Minister in post-independence Orissa
Orissa
Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...
. Her younger brother Naveen Patnaik
Naveen Patnaik
Naveen Patnaik is an Indian politician and the current Chief Minister of Orissa, India and the chief of Biju Janata Dal, a regional political party in Orissa.-Personal life:...
is presently the Chief Minister of Orissa
Orissa
Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...
. She completed her education in India and at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
She has produced and/or directed 14 television documentaries for UK, European and US networks. During the years 1970-1971 she was a television war correspondent for the US television network NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
. Her film compilation of the Bangladesh revolution, Dateline Bangladesh, was shown in cinema theatres both in India and abroad.
Although being the wife of Sonny Mehta
Sonny Mehta
Ajai Singh "Sonny" Mehta is a publisher and editor-in-chief of Alfred A Knopf.He was educated at Lawrence School, Sanawar. He is referenced in the musical The Last Five Years and is well known for moving in with Douglas Adams in order to make sure he finished his book So Long, and Thanks for All...
, head of the Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. publishing house, keeps her in the publishing limelight, she has emerged a writer in her own right. Her books have been translated into 21 languages and been on the bestseller lists in Europe, the US and India. The subject of both her fiction and non-fiction is exclusively focused on India: its culture and history, and the Western perception of it. Her works reflect the insight gained through her journalistic and political background.
Gita Mehta divides her time between New York, London and New Delhi.
Works
- Karma ColaKarma ColaKarma Cola is a non-fiction book about India written by Gita Mehta originally published in 1979.- Subject matter :The story begins in the late '60s, when hundreds of thousands of Westerners descended upon India, disciples of a cultural revolution that proclaimed that the magic and mystery missing...
- Raj
- Snakes and Ladders: Glimpses of Modern India, London, Secker and Warburg, 1997. ISBN 0-436-20417-7
- A River SutraA River SutraA River Sutra is a collection of stories written by Gita Mehta and published in 1993. The book's stories are connected by both a geographical reference , and by the theme of diversity within Indian society, both present and past. Unlike some of Mehta's previous stories, the ones in A River Sutra...
- Eternal Ganesha
External links
- Research on Gita Mehta Bio-bibliographical Information