Bhaichand Patel is an Indian writer, columnist and novelist, who is best known for his witty and acerbic pieces in various reputed newspapers and magazines. Not only is he a columnist but also prides himself on being a major foodie. He devotes his time to seeing out as many restaurants, pubs and bars as he can find, so as to review them. He is similarly passionate about travel and is well-known for his engaging and humorous takes on his journeys to New York, Caracas, Cairo, Manila, Jerusalem, Fiji, New Delhi and Bombay: all of which he maintains are his home.
He also prides himself on his extensive knowledge of wine and spirits, partly because he spent as much time at bars as he did behind them in his stint as bartender, and also because he took the bar and is a celebrated lawyer with a degree from the London School of Economics.
Roshen Dalal was born in Mussoorie, and lived in various places in India, including Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi, before settling in Dehradun, where she now resides along with several rescued cats and a dog. She has an MA and a PhD in ancient Indian history from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She has taught both at school and university level, and has been involved in research in the fields of history, religion, philosophy and education. She is the author of the bestselling two-volume Puffin History of India; The Puffin History of the World, also in two volumes; India at 70: Snapshots since Independence; The Religions of India: A Concise Guide to Nine Major Faiths; Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide; The Vedas: An Introduction to Hinduism’s Sacred Texts and The Compact Timeline History of the World. Apart from books, she has written numerous articles and book reviews. Having been an editor for many years, she is now a full-time writer and is currently working on a book on the Upanishads.
Kamala das was born in Kerala on 31 March 1934, into a family that had made its mark in the world of letters. Greatly influnced by her Great- uncle she started writing after she got married. Widely read for her poetry, prose and columns, she has been immensely admired for the sensivity with which she has portrayed human emotions. She received the Asian World Prize for Literature as well as the sathiya Akademi Award in 1985. Panna is her first children’s book in English. She passed away, at the age of seventy- five, after a long illness on 31 May 2009.
Deepak Dalal gave up a career in chemical engineering to write stories for children. He lives in Pune with his wife, two daughters, and several dogs and cats. He enjoys wildlife, nature and the outdoors. All his stories have a strong conservation theme. His earlier books in the Vikramaditya adventure series are set in India’s wilderness destinations. This is his second book in the Feather Tales series.
Born in Kasauli in 1934, Ruskin Bond grew up in Jamnagar, Dehradun, New Delhi and Shimla. His first novel, The Room on the Roof, which was written when he was seventeen, received the John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize in 1957. Since then he has written over 500 shortstories, essays and novellas and more than fifty books for children.
He received the Sahitya Akademi Award for English writing in India in 1992, the Padma Shri in 1999 and the Padma Bhushan in 2014. He lives in Landour, Mussoorie, with his extended family.
Kaustubh Sonalkar is a business strategist, an out-of-the-box-thinker and an incurable believer in the potential of human connections. He uses his background in corporate strategy to sync business agenda with people management. His experience helps him design proactive and predictive policies, with a technologically-first approach. In his 20 years of experience across geographies and industry sectors, his focus has always been on cross-border cultural integration to drive performance. In his constant endeavour to engage with people around him, he focuses on writing for masses across the country, particularly the youth. He is passionate about women empowerment, transgender inclusion and the education of girl children – and believes that technology can go a long way in bridging access.
Kavitha Mandana is the author of Tenali Raman and Akbar, The Mighty Emperor. Her first YA novel was No.9 on the Shade Card. And her picture book, A Pair of Twins, was ranked among the Top 10 books for girls by the American Library Association in 2015 (The Amelia Bloomer List). Her short stories feature in various anthologies and textbooks. For the past eighteen years she’s been writing and illustrating for the Deccan Herald’s children’s supplement.
Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan decided she wanted to become an author at sixteen, and didn’t change her mind even when she turned thirty-three and was faced with the bleak financial reality of it. Her first book deal came out of her popular blog Compulsive Confessions (www.compulsiveconfessions.com), which she’s been running as a passion project for the last eleven years. She is also the author of three previous books: You Are Here, The Life & Times of Layla the Ordinary and Cold Feet, as well as a short story collection called Before and Then After. She lives in New Delhi with her partner and their three cats. She hopes to move to Goa soon.
