Archives: Authors

Sudha Murty was born in 1950, in Shiggaon, North Karnataka. Author, philanthropist, educator, public speaker and engineer, she completed her master’s in computer science from IISc, Bangalore. She is the founder of the Infosys Foundation and the chairperson of the Murty Trust. A bestselling author, with more than three hundred titles to her acclaim, some of her most famous books include Three Thousand Stitches, Dollar Bahu and Wise and Otherwise. She writes in English and Kannada, and her books have been translated into all major Indian languages and have sold over 60 lakh copies around the country.
Over the years, Sudha Murty has been recognized with many prestigious awards, including the Padma Bhushan and the Padma Shri from the Government of India in 2023 and 2006, respectively; Bal Sahitya Puraskar in 2023; the R.K. Narayan Award for Literature in 2006; the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award in 2020; and Lokmanya Tilak and Mahatma awards in 2024. She was also awarded the Rajyotsava and Attimabbe Award for excellence in Kannada literature from the Government of Karnataka in 2000 and 2012. Sudha Murty has received nineteen honorary doctorates from various universities across India. Currently, she is also serving as the President-nominated member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha.

Bhakti Mathur took to writing in 2010 when she created the popular Amma, Tell Me series of children’s picture books about Indian festivals and mythology. After a long stint as a banker, she now juggles her time between her writing, her passion for yoga and long-distance running, and her family. She lives in Hong Kong with her husband, their two children and two dogs. She holds a master of fine arts degree in creative writing from the University of Hong Kong and freelances as a journalist. When not writing or running after her young boys, Bhakti is happiest curled up with a book in one hand
and a hot cup of chai in the other. To know more, visit her at www.bhaktimathur.com.

As a middle grader, Divya wrote her first book. And then she promptly forgot the password to the file. She has learnt better and has now written four books. Her most recent book, Misfit Madhu, won the Neev Book Award and was featured on the Parag Honour List in 2023. Her other books include Dare Eat That (winner of the Gourmand Award in 2019), I Hate My Curly Hair and Written in the Stars.

When she is not hanging upside down doing anti-gravity yoga or chasing after her four-year-old, she is trying not to eat too much chocolate.

Dr Kashyap Patel is a practising oncologist and has been working directly with cancer patients for the past twenty years. He is the CEO of Carolina Blood and Cancer Care Associates. A certified trainer for physicians with the Education in Palliative and End-of-Life Care programme, he has been a speaker at several Continuing Medical Education events. He is also vice president of the Community Oncology Alliance, medical director at the International Oncology Network and chairman of clinical affairs at the Association of Community Cancer Centers, all in the US.
Dr Patel has led committees in numerous South Carolina hospitals and has extensive research experience in the field of oncology. He has also published and presented several articles in medical journals.

Pandit Amarnath (1924-1996) was an Indian Classical Vocalist and composer

Taslima Nasrin is an eminent writer and secular humanist who has been subjected to forced banishment and multiple fatwas. Her writings have been deemed controversial time and again because of their unflinching preoccupation with gender and communal politics. She has been living in exile since 1994.

Tulsidas, the most important of the saint-poets of the medieval Bhakti movement in northern India, is best remembered for his magnum opus, The Ramcharitmanas, regarded as one of the greatest achievements of Hindi literature.

CHANDRASEKHAR KAMBAR is an award-winning playwright who was born in 1937 in Ghodgeri, north Karnataka. Kambar also writes poetry, fiction and literary and cultural criticism in Kannada. He is the recipient of the Jnanpith Award and the Padma Shri. He is the president of the Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi.
Kambar’s oeuvre of over twenty-five plays comprises many well-known works, including Jokumaraswami, Siri Sampige and Mahamayi, among others. He also has eleven poetry collections and six novels to his credit. A man of many interests, Kambar is also an illustrious scholar, film-maker and teacher. He has held the posts of vice chancellor, Kannada University (Hampi), and chairman, National School of Drama (New Delhi).

Tanweer Fazal is professor of sociology at the University of Hyderabad. He has previously taught at the Centre for the Study of Social Systems, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. As a political sociologist, he specializes in the sociology of nationalism(s), community formation and identifications with specific focus on their implications on discourse of rights and entitlements. He is the author of Nation-state’ and Minority Rights in India: Comparative Perspectives on Muslim and Sikh Identities (2015) and Minority Nationalisms in South Asia (ed.) (2012). His forthcoming book is tentatively titled ‘Muslims, Law and Violence: Reflections on the Practices of the State’ (Three Essays, 2020).

Cheiro was the great Irish astrologer. His original name was William John Warner. Cheiro was born in November 1866 in England named place of Bre. Cheiro reached Mumbai at the age of 17 and here met a famous astrologer Vednarayan Joshi and after consulting him, he went to the Himalyas, Kashmir, Laddakh, Varanasi and studied astrology and extensively.