Kamla Mankekar

Kamla Mankekar
Born1928 (1928)
Lahore
Died2018 (aged 89–90)
OccupationJournalist
LanguageEnglish
NationalityIndian
Notable worksDecline and Fall of Indira Gandhi, Breaking News
PartnerD.R. Mankekar

Kamla Mankekar (1928 (1928)–2018)[1] was an Indian journalist, author, and social activist. She is best known as one of the early female journalists in the independent India.[2][3][4]

Life and career

Kamla Mankekar was born in Lahore, British India (currently in Pakistan), the daughter of Lilavati and Harbans Lal.[5] Her family fled West Punjab for India as refugees during Partition.[4]

In Delhi, she studied at the refugee camp college, and took evening postgraduate classes in journalism.[4]

Mankekar started her career as writer, columnist, and sub-editor for the Indian News Chronicle,[4][6] In 1950, she started working for The Times of India, where she was a writer, sub-editor, and film critic.[4][7] She later worked at The Indian Express for five years.[7] She eventually went on to work as a freelance journalist.[7]

In 1958, she married D.R. Mankekar, author and former editor of both The Indian Express and The Times of India.[4][7][8] They would go on to co-author the book Decline and Fall of Indira Gandhi.[7][9]

An active member of civil society, she helped found the Consumer Guidance Society in Bombay, and was a long-time member of the All India Women's Conference.[7][1] She was also the first chairperson of the Delhi State Commission for Women,[2][7] a member of India's National Integration Council,[7] and on India's film censor board.[2]

In the 1960s, she headed the public relations department of Rallis India Ltd.[4]

She wrote about her experiences as a pioneering Indian female journalist in her 2014 memoir, Breaking News: A Woman in a Man's World.[2][1]

After the death of her husband, she moved to California to be near her children.[4][7]

Works

  • Abortion: A Social Dilemma (1973)[10][1]
  • Voluntary Effort in Family Planning: A Brief History (1974)[11]
  • Women in India (1975)[12]
  • Decline and Fall of Indira Gandhi (1977, with D.R. Mankekar)[9]
  • Nagendra Singh, A Many Splendoured Life (1998)[13]
  • Women Pioneers in India's Renaissance (2002, with Sushila Nayar)[14]
  • Culture and Religious Traditions in Temples of Goa (2004)[15]
  • Breaking News: A Woman in a Man's World (2014)[16]

References

  1. ^ abcdRai, Usha (1 March 2019). "Kamla Mankekar (1928–2018): Founder-Editor, Social Change". Social Change. 49 (1): 186–188. doi:10.1177/0049085719826670. ISSN 0049-0857.
  2. ^ abcdSharma, Kalpana (3 January 2015). "Keepers of the keys". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  3. ^Choudhary, Karan (20 August 2014). "The power of the pen then…". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  4. ^ abcdefgh"A Lady on Grub Street". The Indian Express. 4 April 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  5. ^Mankekar, Kamla (2014). Breaking News: A Woman in a Man's World. New Delhi: Rupa Publications India. p. 14. ISBN 9788129131201.
  6. ^Mankekar, Kamla (2014). Breaking News: A Woman in a Man's World. New Delhi: Rupa Publications India. p. 10. ISBN 9788129131201.
  7. ^ abcdefghi"Kamla Mankekar". Rupa Publications. Archived from the original on 23 December 2018. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  8. ^"Book extract: Decline And Fall Of Indira Gandhi by D.R. Mankekar". India Today. 30 June 1977.
  9. ^ abMankekar, Dinker R; Mankekar, Kamla (1977). Decline and fall of Indira Gandhi. New Delhi: Vision Books. OCLC 255889915.
  10. ^Mankekar, Kamla (1973). Abortion: a social dilemma. Delhi: Vikas Pub. House. ISBN 9780706902631. OCLC 732139.
  11. ^Mankekar, Kamla (1974). Voluntary effort in family planning: a brief history. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications. OCLC 1501807.
  12. ^Mankekar, Kamla; Central Institute of Research and Training in Public Co-operation (1975). Women in India. New Delhi: Central Institute of Research & Training in Public Cooperation. OCLC 6447993.
  13. ^Mankekar, Kamla; India; Ministry of Information and Broadcasting; Publications Division (1998). Nagendra Singh, a many splendoured life. New Delhi: Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India. ISBN 9788123006123. OCLC 39291215.
  14. ^Nayar, Sushila; Mankekar, Kamla (2002). Women pioneers in India's renaissance, as I remember her: contributions from eminent women of present-day India. New Delhi: National Book Trust, India. ISBN 9788123737669. OCLC 50719112.
  15. ^Mankekar, Kamla (2004). Culture and religious traditions in temples of Goa. New Delhi: Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India. ISBN 9788123011615. OCLC 60392445.
  16. ^Mankekar, Kamla (2014). Breaking news: a woman in a man's world. Rupa Publications India Pvt. Limited. ISBN 9788129131201. OCLC 894476694.
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