Nayantara Sahgal - Revision history

Muskit Gergous at 14:43, 23 July 2023

2023-07-23T14:43:19Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:13, 23 July 2023
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	'''Nayantara Sahgal''' (born 10 May 1927) is an Indian writer who writes in English. She is a member of the [[Nehru–Gandhi family]], the second of the three daughters born to [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]'s sister, [[Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit]].		'''Nayantara Sahgal''' (born 10 May 1927) is an [[Indian]] [[writer]] who writes in English. She is a member of the [[Nehru–Gandhi family]], the second of the three daughters born to [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]'s sister, [[Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit]].

	She was awarded the 1986 [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] for her English novel ''[[Rich Like Us]]'' (1985).<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/sahitya-akademi/awards/akademi_awards.jsp\|title=Sahitya Akademi Awards listings\|publisher=[[Sahitya Akademi]], Official website\|access-date=2 March 2011\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100925203857/http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/sahitya-akademi/awards/akademi_awards.jsp\|archive-date=25 September 2010\|url-status=dead}}</ref>		She was awarded the 1986 [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] for her English novel ''[[Rich Like Us]]'' (1985).<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/sahitya-akademi/awards/akademi_awards.jsp\|title=Sahitya Akademi Awards listings\|publisher=[[Sahitya Akademi]], Official website\|access-date=2 March 2011\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100925203857/http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/sahitya-akademi/awards/akademi_awards.jsp\|archive-date=25 September 2010\|url-status=dead}}</ref>

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2022-03-13T04:55:50Z

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← Older revision		Revision as of 10:25, 13 March 2022
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	{{short description\|Indian writer (born 1927)}}		{{short description\|Indian writer (born 1927)}}
	{{Use dmy dates\|date=~~June 2014~~}}		{{Lead too short\|date=February 2022}}
			{{Use dmy dates\|date=March 2022}}
	{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->		{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
	\| name = Nayantara Sahgal		\| name = Nayantara Sahgal
	\| image =Nayantara Sahagal,Indian origin english language writer,India.jpg		\| image = Nayantara Sahagal,Indian origin english language writer,India.jpg
	\| imagesize =		\| imagesize =
	\| caption = Sahgal at a press meet in 2016		\| caption = Sahgal at a press meet in 2016
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	\| occupation = Writer		\| occupation = Writer
	\| nationality = Indian		\| nationality = Indian
	\| parents = [[Ranjit Sitaram Pandit]] (father)<br>[[Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit]] (mother)		\| parents = [[Ranjit Sitaram Pandit]] (father)<br />[[Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit]] (mother)
	\| relatives = [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] (uncle)<br>[[Indira Gandhi]] (cousin)		\| relatives = [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] (uncle)<br />[[Indira Gandhi]] (cousin)
	\| children = [[Gita Sahgal]]		\| children = [[Gita Sahgal]]
	\| period = 20th century		\| period = 20th century
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	\| influences =		\| influences =
	\| influenced =		\| influenced =
	\|alma_mater= [[Wellesley College]]		\| alma_mater = [[Wellesley College]]
			\| awards = [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] (1985)
	\| website =		\| website =
	\| footnotes =		\| footnotes =
	}}		}}

	'''Nayantara Sahgal''' (born 10 May 1927) is an Indian writer who writes in [[English ~~language\|English]]~~. She is a member of the [[Nehru–Gandhi family]], the second of the three daughters born to [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]'s sister, [[Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit]].		'''Nayantara Sahgal''' (born 10 May 1927) is an Indian writer who writes in English. She is a member of the [[Nehru–Gandhi family]], the second of the three daughters born to [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]'s sister, [[Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit]].

	She was awarded the 1986 [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] for her English novel ''[[Rich Like Us]]'' (1985).<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/sahitya-akademi/awards/akademi_awards.jsp\|title=Sahitya Akademi Awards listings\|publisher=[[Sahitya Akademi]], Official website\|access-date=2 March 2011\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100925203857/http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/sahitya-akademi/awards/akademi_awards.jsp\|archive-date=25 September 2010\|url-status=dead}}</ref>		She was awarded the 1986 [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] for her English novel ''[[Rich Like Us]]'' (1985).<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/sahitya-akademi/awards/akademi_awards.jsp\|title=Sahitya Akademi Awards listings\|publisher=[[Sahitya Akademi]], Official website\|access-date=2 March 2011\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100925203857/http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/sahitya-akademi/awards/akademi_awards.jsp\|archive-date=25 September 2010\|url-status=dead}}</ref>
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	Sahgal's father [[Ranjit Sitaram Pandit]] was a [[barrister]] from [[Kathiawad]]. Pandit was also a [[Hindu texts\|classical]] scholar who had translated [[Kalhana]]'s epic history ''[[Rajatarangini]]'' into English from [[Sanskrit]]. {{Citation needed\|date=February 2020}} He was arrested for his support of [[Indian independence movement\|Indian independence]] and died in [[Lucknow]] prison jail in 1944, leaving behind his wife (Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit) and their three daughters Chandralekha Mehta, Nayantara Sehgal and Rita Dar. {{Citation needed\|date=February 2020}}		Sahgal's father [[Ranjit Sitaram Pandit]] was a [[barrister]] from [[Kathiawad]]. Pandit was also a [[Hindu texts\|classical]] scholar who had translated [[Kalhana]]'s epic history ''[[Rajatarangini]]'' into English from [[Sanskrit]]. {{Citation needed\|date=February 2020}} He was arrested for his support of [[Indian independence movement\|Indian independence]] and died in [[Lucknow]] prison jail in 1944, leaving behind his wife (Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit) and their three daughters Chandralekha Mehta, Nayantara Sehgal and Rita Dar. {{Citation needed\|date=February 2020}}

	Sahgal's mother, [[Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit]], was the daughter of [[Motilal Nehru]] and sister of India's first prime minister, [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]. Vijayalakshmi had been active in the [[Indian freedom struggle]], had been to jail for this cause and in 1946, was part of the first team representing newly formed [[India]] that went to the then newly formed [[United Nations]], along with [[M.C.Chagla]].<ref name="chagla">{{cite book\|last1=Chagla\|first1=M.C.\|title=Roses in December - an autobiography\|date=1 January 1974\|publisher=[[Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan]]\|location=Bombay\|edition=1}}, Tenth Edition, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 2000, {{ISBN\|81-7276-203-8}}</ref> After India achieved independence, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit served as a member of India's [[Constituent Assembly of India\|Constituent Assembly]], the [[Governors of states of India\|governor]] of several Indian states, and as India's ambassador to the [[Soviet Union]], the United States, [[Mexico]], the [[Court of St. James]], Ireland, and the [[United ~~nations]]~~. {{Citation needed\|date=February 2020}}		Sahgal's mother, [[Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit]], was the daughter of [[Motilal Nehru]] and sister of India's first prime minister, [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]. Vijayalakshmi had been active in the [[Indian freedom struggle]], had been to jail for this cause and in 1946, was part of the first team representing newly formed India that went to the then newly formed [[United Nations]], along with [[M.C.Chagla]].<ref name="chagla">{{cite book\|last1=Chagla\|first1=M.C.\|title=Roses in December - an autobiography\|date=1 January 1974\|publisher=[[Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan]]\|location=Bombay\|edition=1}}, Tenth Edition, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 2000, {{ISBN\|81-7276-203-8}}</ref> After India achieved independence, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit served as a member of India's [[Constituent Assembly of India\|Constituent Assembly]], the [[Governors of states of India\|governor]] of several Indian states, and as India's ambassador to the [[Soviet Union]], the United States, Mexico, the [[Court of St. James]], Ireland, and the United Nations. {{Citation needed\|date=February 2020}}

	[[File:Frida Kahlo in Sari.png\|thumb\|right\|Sahgal (right) with [[Frida Kahlo]] (centre) in Mexico City (1947)<ref>{{Cite news\|url=https://scroll.in/article/837352/flashback-how-mexican-artist-frida-kahlo-came-to-photographed-in-a-sari\|title=Flashback: How Mexican artist Frida Kahlo came to be photographed in a sari\|last=Prashad\|first=Vijay\|work=Scroll.in\|access-date=2017~~-11-24~~\|language=en-US}}</ref>]]		[[File:Frida Kahlo in Sari.png\|thumb\|right\|Sahgal (right) with [[Frida Kahlo]] (centre) in Mexico City (1947)<ref>{{Cite news\|url=https://scroll.in/article/837352/flashback-how-mexican-artist-frida-kahlo-came-to-photographed-in-a-sari\|title=Flashback: How Mexican artist Frida Kahlo came to be photographed in a sari\|last=Prashad\|first=Vijay\|work=Scroll.in\|access-date=24 November 2017\|language=en-US}}</ref>]]
	Sahgal attended a number of schools as a girl, given the turmoil in the Nehru family during the last years (1935–47) of the Indian freedom struggle. Ultimately, she graduated from [[Woodstock School]] in the Himalayan hill station of [[Landour]] in 1943 and later in the United States from [[Wellesley College]] (BA, 1947), which she attended along with her sister Chandralekha, who graduated 2 years earlier in 1945. She has made her home for decades in [[Dehradun]], a town close to [[Landour]] where she had attended boarding school (at [[Woodstock School\|Woodstock]]).<ref>{{Cite web\|url=https://www.outlookindia.com/outlooktraveller/travelnews/story/45394/at-home-in-dehradun\|title=At home in Dehradun: From Hindus to Muslims and Christians to Buddhists--revelling in the multi-cultural hues of the Doon Valley\|last=Sahgal\|first=Nayantara\|date=13 October 2014\|website=www.outlookindia.com\|language=en\|access-date=24 December 2019}}</ref>		Sahgal attended a number of schools as a girl, given the turmoil in the Nehru family during the last years (1935–47) of the Indian freedom struggle. Ultimately, she graduated from [[Woodstock School]] in the Himalayan hill station of [[Landour]] in 1943 and later in the United States from [[Wellesley College]] (BA, 1947), which she attended along with her sister Chandralekha, who graduated 2 years earlier in 1945. She has made her home for decades in [[Dehradun]], a town close to [[Landour]] where she had attended boarding school (at [[Woodstock School\|Woodstock]]).<ref>{{Cite web\|url=https://www.outlookindia.com/outlooktraveller/travelnews/story/45394/at-home-in-dehradun\|title=At home in Dehradun: From Hindus to Muslims and Christians to Buddhists--revelling in the multi-cultural hues of the Doon Valley\|last=Sahgal\|first=Nayantara\|date=13 October 2014\|website=www.outlookindia.com\|language=en\|access-date=24 December 2019}}</ref>

	==Marriage and career==		==Marriage and career==
	[[File:Nayantara Sahgal.JPG\|thumb\|right\|200px\|Nayantara Sahgal speaking at the launch of ''Mistaken Identity'' by [[HarperPerennial]] in Delhi, November 2007]]		[[File:Nayantara Sahgal.JPG\|thumb\|right\|200px\|Nayantara Sahgal speaking at the launch of ''Mistaken Identity'' by [[HarperPerennial]] in Delhi, November 2007]]
	Sahgal has been married twice, first to Gautam Sehgal and later to E.N. Mangat Rai, a Punjabi Christian who was an [[Indian Civil Service]] officer.<ref>{{Cite news\|url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/literary-review/biography-of-nayantara-sahgal-by-ritu-menon/article6555161.ece\|title=Snippets from a rich life\|last=Choudhury\|first=Sonya Dutta\|date=2014~~-11-02~~\|work=The Hindu\|access-date=2019~~-05-25~~\|language=en-IN\|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> Though part of the Nehru family, Sahgal developed a reputation for maintaining her independent critical sense.<ref>{{Cite web\|url=https://jaipurliteraturefestival.org/archive/jlfspeakers/nayantara-sahgal-2/\|title=Nayantara Sahgal {{!}} Jaipur Literature Festival\|website=jaipurliteraturefestival.org\|access-date=2019~~-05-25~~}}</ref> Her independent tone, and her mother's, led to both falling out with her cousin [[Indira Gandhi]] during the most [[The Emergency (India)\|autocratic]] phases of the latter's time in office in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Gandhi cancelled Sahgal's scheduled appointment as India's Ambassador to Italy within days of her return to power. Not one to be intimidated, Sahgal in 1982 wrote a scathing, insightful account of Gandhi's rise to power.<ref>{{cite web\|url=https://www.loc.gov/acq/ovop/delhi/salrp/nayantarasahgal.html\|title=Nayantara Sahgal -- English writer: The South Asian Literary Recordings Project \|publisher=Library of Congress New Delhi Office\|website=[[Library of Congress]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.postcolonialweb.org/india/literature/choubey2.html\|title=Food Metaphor. A Champion's Cause: A Feminist Study of Nayantara Sahgal's Fiction with Special Reference to Her Last Three Novels\|website=Postcolonial Web\|first1=Asha \|last1=Choubey}}</ref><ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.sawnet.org/books/authors.php?Sahgal+Nayantara\|title=Bookshelf: Nayantara Sahgal\|publisher=South Asian Women's NETwork\| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160406093305/http://www.sawnet.org/books/authors.php?Sahgal+Nayantara\| archive-date= 6 April 2016\|url-status=dead}}</ref>		Sahgal has been married twice, first to Gautam Sehgal and later to E.N. Mangat Rai, a Punjabi Christian who was an [[Indian Civil Service]] officer.<ref>{{Cite news\|url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/literary-review/biography-of-nayantara-sahgal-by-ritu-menon/article6555161.ece\|title=Snippets from a rich life\|last=Choudhury\|first=Sonya Dutta\|date=2 November 2014\|work=The Hindu\|access-date=25 May 2019\|language=en-IN\|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> Though part of the Nehru family, Sahgal developed a reputation for maintaining her independent critical sense.<ref>{{Cite web\|url=https://jaipurliteraturefestival.org/archive/jlfspeakers/nayantara-sahgal-2/\|title=Nayantara Sahgal {{!}} Jaipur Literature Festival\|website=jaipurliteraturefestival.org\|date=17 September 2013\|access-date=25 May 2019}}</ref> Her independent tone, and her mother's, led to both falling out with her cousin [[Indira Gandhi]] during the most [[The Emergency (India)\|autocratic]] phases of the latter's time in office in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Gandhi cancelled Sahgal's scheduled appointment as India's Ambassador to Italy within days of her return to power. Not one to be intimidated, Sahgal in 1982 wrote a scathing, insightful account of Gandhi's rise to power.<ref>{{cite web\|url=https://www.loc.gov/acq/ovop/delhi/salrp/nayantarasahgal.html\|title=Nayantara Sahgal -- English writer: The South Asian Literary Recordings Project \|publisher=Library of Congress New Delhi Office\|website=[[Library of Congress]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.postcolonialweb.org/india/literature/choubey2.html\|title=Food Metaphor. A Champion's Cause: A Feminist Study of Nayantara Sahgal's Fiction with Special Reference to Her Last Three Novels\|website=Postcolonial Web\|first1=Asha \|last1=Choubey}}</ref><ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.sawnet.org/books/authors.php?Sahgal+Nayantara\|title=Bookshelf: Nayantara Sahgal\|publisher=South Asian Women's NETwork\| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160406093305/http://www.sawnet.org/books/authors.php?Sahgal+Nayantara\| archive-date= 6 April 2016\|url-status=dead}}</ref>

	[[Gita Sahgal]], the writer and journalist on issues of feminism, fundamentalism, and racism, director of prize-winning documentary films, and [[human rights activist]], is her daughter.<ref>{{Cite web\|url=http://allahabaddekho.com/Home/Vijaya_lakshmi_pandit\|title=Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit\|website=www.allahabaddekho.com\|url-status=dead\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222092019/http://allahabaddekho.com/Home/Vijaya_lakshmi_pandit\|archive-date=22 December 2019\|access-date=24 December 2019}}</ref>		[[Gita Sahgal]], the writer and journalist on issues of feminism, fundamentalism, and racism, director of prize-winning documentary films, and [[human rights activist]], is her daughter.<ref>{{Cite web\|url=http://allahabaddekho.com/Home/Vijaya_lakshmi_pandit\|title=Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit\|website=www.allahabaddekho.com\|url-status=dead\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222092019/http://allahabaddekho.com/Home/Vijaya_lakshmi_pandit\|archive-date=22 December 2019\|access-date=24 December 2019}}</ref>

	On 6 October 2015, Sahgal returned her [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] to protest what she called "increasing intolerance and supporting right to dissent in the country", following the murders of rationalists [[Govind Pansare]], [[Narendra Dabholkar]] and [[M. M. Kalburgi]], and the [[2015 Dadri mob lynching\|Dadri mob lynching]] incident;<ref>{{cite news\|last1=Ramachandran\|first1=Smriti Kak\|last2=Raman\|first2=Anuradha\|title=Nayantara Sahgal protests Dadri lynching, returns Akademi award\|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/nayantara-sahgal-to-return-her-sahitya-akademi-award/article7730676.ece\|access-date=7 October 2015\|work=The Hindu\|date=6 October 2015}}</ref> for this she was praised in 2017 by Karima Bennoune, [[United Nations]] monitor for cultural rights.<ref>{{cite web \| url=https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/un-body-praises-author-nayantara-sahgal-for-returning-sahitya-akademi-award-afte/303482 \| title=UN Body Praises Author Nayantara Sahgal For Returning Sahitya Akademi Award After Dadri Lynching \| work=[[Outlook India]] \| date=26 October 2017 \| access-date=28 October 2017}}</ref> In September 2018 she was elected as a Vice President of [[PEN International]].<ref>{{Cite web\|url=https://pen-international.org/news/the-84th-pen-international-congress-closes-in-india-with-a-focus-on-free-expression-and-women-writers\|title=The 84th PEN International Congress closes in India with a focus on free expression and women writers\|website=peninternational.org\|access-date=2019~~-09-04~~}}</ref>		On 6 October 2015, Sahgal returned her [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] to protest what she called "increasing intolerance and supporting right to dissent in the country", following the murders of rationalists [[Govind Pansare]], [[Narendra Dabholkar]] and [[M. M. Kalburgi]], and the [[2015 Dadri mob lynching\|Dadri mob lynching]] incident;<ref>{{cite news\|last1=Ramachandran\|first1=Smriti Kak\|last2=Raman\|first2=Anuradha\|title=Nayantara Sahgal protests Dadri lynching, returns Akademi award\|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/nayantara-sahgal-to-return-her-sahitya-akademi-award/article7730676.ece\|access-date=7 October 2015\|work=The Hindu\|date=6 October 2015}}</ref> for this she was praised in 2017 by Karima Bennoune, [[United Nations]] monitor for cultural rights.<ref>{{cite web \| url=https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/un-body-praises-author-nayantara-sahgal-for-returning-sahitya-akademi-award-afte/303482 \| title=UN Body Praises Author Nayantara Sahgal For Returning Sahitya Akademi Award After Dadri Lynching \| work=[[Outlook India]] \| date=26 October 2017 \| access-date=28 October 2017}}</ref> In September 2018 she was elected as a Vice President of [[PEN International]].<ref>{{Cite web\|url=https://pen-international.org/news/the-84th-pen-international-congress-closes-in-india-with-a-focus-on-free-expression-and-women-writers\|title=The 84th PEN International Congress closes in India with a focus on free expression and women writers\|website=peninternational.org\|date=8 October 2018\|access-date=4 September 2019}}</ref>

	==Bibliography==		==Bibliography==
	*''Prison and Chocolate Cake'' (memoir; 1954)		*''[[Prison and Chocolate Cake]]'' (memoir; 1954)<ref name=Sage1999>{{cite book \|last1=Sage \|first1=Lorna \|last2=Greer \|first2=Germaine \|last3=Showalter \|first3=Elaine \|title=The Cambridge Guide to Women's Writing in English \|date=30 September 1999 \|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] \|location=Cambridge \|isbn=0-521-49525-3 \|page=551 \|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NB59uc9_ss8C&dq=%22Prison+and+Chocolate+Cake%22&pg=PA551 \|language=en}}</ref>
	*''From Fear Set Free'' (memoir; 1963)		*''From Fear Set Free'' (memoir; 1963)
	*''A Time to Be Happy'' (novel; 1963)		*''A Time to Be Happy'' (novel; 1963)
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	*''A Situation in New Delhi'' (novel; 1989)		*''A Situation in New Delhi'' (novel; 1989)
	*''Lesser Breeds'' (novel; 2003)		*''Lesser Breeds'' (novel; 2003)
	* ''Relationship'' (collection of letters exchanged between Nayantara Sahgal and E.N.Mangat Rai;1994)<ref>{{cite web \| url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/book-review-nayantara-sahgal-and-e-n-mangat-rai-relationship-extracts-from-a-correspondence/1/293578.html \| title=Lost labour \| work=[[India Today]] \| date=30 June 1994 \| access-date=4 March 2015 \| author=Alok Rai}}</ref><ref>{{cite book \| title=Relationship \| publisher=Harper Collins \| author=Nayantara Sahgal, E.N.Mangat Rai \| pages=336 \| isbn=9788172236823}}</ref>		* ''Relationship'' (collection of letters exchanged between Nayantara Sahgal and E.N.Mangat Rai;1994)<ref>{{cite web \| url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/book-review-nayantara-sahgal-and-e-n-mangat-rai-relationship-extracts-from-a-correspondence/1/293578.html \| title=Lost labour \| work=[[India Today]] \| date=30 June 1994 \| access-date=4 March 2015 \| author=Alok Rai}}</ref><ref>{{cite book \| title=Relationship \| publisher=Harper Collins \| author=Nayantara Sahgal, E.N.Mangat Rai \| date=25 August 2008 \| pages=336 \| isbn=9788172236823}}</ref>
	* ''[[Before freedom: Nehru's letters to his sister 1909-1947]]'' (edited by Nayantara Sahgal)		* ''[[Before freedom: Nehru's letters to his sister 1909-1947]]'' (edited by Nayantara Sahgal)
	*''The Fate of Butterflies'' (novella; 2019)		*''The Fate of Butterflies'' (novella; 2019)

->Vijay Barot: /* Marriage and career */ full stop

2021-12-06T03:32:09Z

Marriage and career: full stop

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{{short description|Indian writer (born 1927)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2014}}
{{Infobox writer 
| name = Nayantara Sahgal
| image =Nayantara Sahagal,Indian origin english language writer,India.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = Sahgal at a press meet in 2016
| pseudonym =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1927|05|10}}
| birth_place = [[Allahabad]], [[United Provinces of British India|United Provinces]], [[British India]]
| occupation = Writer
| nationality = Indian
| parents = [[Ranjit Sitaram Pandit]] (father)<br>[[Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit]] (mother)
| relatives = [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] (uncle)<br>[[Indira Gandhi]] (cousin)
| children = [[Gita Sahgal]]
| period = 20th century
| genre = Politics, feminism
| subject =
| movement =
| debut_works =
| influences =
| influenced =
|alma_mater= [[Wellesley College]]
| website =
| footnotes =
}}

'''Nayantara Sahgal''' (born 10 May 1927) is an Indian writer who writes in [[English language|English]]. She is a member of the [[Nehru–Gandhi family]], the second of the three daughters born to [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]'s sister, [[Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit]].

She was awarded the 1986 [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] for her English novel ''[[Rich Like Us]]'' (1985).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/sahitya-akademi/awards/akademi_awards.jsp|title=Sahitya Akademi Awards listings|publisher=[[Sahitya Akademi]], Official website|access-date=2 March 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100925203857/http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/sahitya-akademi/awards/akademi_awards.jsp|archive-date=25 September 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Early life==
Sahgal's father [[Ranjit Sitaram Pandit]] was a [[barrister]] from [[Kathiawad]]. Pandit was also a [[Hindu texts|classical]] scholar who had translated [[Kalhana]]'s epic history ''[[Rajatarangini]]'' into English from [[Sanskrit]]. {{Citation needed|date=February 2020}} He was arrested for his support of [[Indian independence movement|Indian independence]] and died in [[Lucknow]] prison jail in 1944, leaving behind his wife (Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit) and their three daughters Chandralekha Mehta, Nayantara Sehgal and Rita Dar. {{Citation needed|date=February 2020}}

Sahgal's mother, [[Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit]], was the daughter of [[Motilal Nehru]] and sister of India's first prime minister, [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]. Vijayalakshmi had been active in the [[Indian freedom struggle]], had been to jail for this cause and in 1946, was part of the first team representing newly formed [[India]] that went to the then newly formed [[United Nations]], along with [[M.C.Chagla]].<ref name="chagla">{{cite book|last1=Chagla|first1=M.C.|title=Roses in December - an autobiography|date=1 January 1974|publisher=[[Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan]]|location=Bombay|edition=1}}, Tenth Edition, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 2000, {{ISBN|81-7276-203-8}}</ref> After India achieved independence, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit served as a member of India's [[Constituent Assembly of India|Constituent Assembly]], the [[Governors of states of India|governor]] of several Indian states, and as India's ambassador to the [[Soviet Union]], the United States, [[Mexico]], the [[Court of St. James]], Ireland, and the [[United nations]]. {{Citation needed|date=February 2020}}

[[File:Frida Kahlo in Sari.png|thumb|right|Sahgal (right) with [[Frida Kahlo]] (centre) in Mexico City (1947)<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://scroll.in/article/837352/flashback-how-mexican-artist-frida-kahlo-came-to-photographed-in-a-sari|title=Flashback: How Mexican artist Frida Kahlo came to be photographed in a sari|last=Prashad|first=Vijay|work=Scroll.in|access-date=2017-11-24|language=en-US}}</ref>]]
Sahgal attended a number of schools as a girl, given the turmoil in the Nehru family during the last years (1935–47) of the Indian freedom struggle. Ultimately, she graduated from [[Woodstock School]] in the Himalayan hill station of [[Landour]] in 1943 and later in the United States from [[Wellesley College]] (BA, 1947), which she attended along with her sister Chandralekha, who graduated 2 years earlier in 1945. She has made her home for decades in [[Dehradun]], a town close to [[Landour]] where she had attended boarding school (at [[Woodstock School|Woodstock]]).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.outlookindia.com/outlooktraveller/travelnews/story/45394/at-home-in-dehradun|title=At home in Dehradun: From Hindus to Muslims and Christians to Buddhists--revelling in the multi-cultural hues of the Doon Valley|last=Sahgal|first=Nayantara|date=13 October 2014|website=www.outlookindia.com|language=en|access-date=24 December 2019}}</ref>

==Marriage and career==
[[File:Nayantara Sahgal.JPG|thumb|right|200px|Nayantara Sahgal speaking at the launch of ''Mistaken Identity'' by [[HarperPerennial]] in Delhi, November 2007]]
Sahgal has been married twice, first to Gautam Sehgal and later to E.N. Mangat Rai, a Punjabi Christian who was an [[Indian Civil Service]] officer.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/literary-review/biography-of-nayantara-sahgal-by-ritu-menon/article6555161.ece|title=Snippets from a rich life|last=Choudhury|first=Sonya Dutta|date=2014-11-02|work=The Hindu|access-date=2019-05-25|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> Though part of the Nehru family, Sahgal developed a reputation for maintaining her independent critical sense.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jaipurliteraturefestival.org/archive/jlfspeakers/nayantara-sahgal-2/|title=Nayantara Sahgal {{!}} Jaipur Literature Festival|website=jaipurliteraturefestival.org|access-date=2019-05-25}}</ref> Her independent tone, and her mother's, led to both falling out with her cousin [[Indira Gandhi]] during the most [[The Emergency (India)|autocratic]] phases of the latter's time in office in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Gandhi cancelled Sahgal's scheduled appointment as India's Ambassador to Italy within days of her return to power. Not one to be intimidated, Sahgal in 1982 wrote a scathing, insightful account of Gandhi's rise to power.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/acq/ovop/delhi/salrp/nayantarasahgal.html|title=Nayantara Sahgal -- English writer: The South Asian Literary Recordings Project |publisher=Library of Congress New Delhi Office|website=[[Library of Congress]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.postcolonialweb.org/india/literature/choubey2.html|title=Food Metaphor. A Champion's Cause: A Feminist Study of Nayantara Sahgal's Fiction with Special Reference to Her Last Three Novels|website=Postcolonial Web|first1=Asha |last1=Choubey}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sawnet.org/books/authors.php?Sahgal+Nayantara|title=Bookshelf: Nayantara Sahgal|publisher=South Asian Women's NETwork| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160406093305/http://www.sawnet.org/books/authors.php?Sahgal+Nayantara| archive-date= 6 April 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Gita Sahgal]], the writer and journalist on issues of feminism, fundamentalism, and racism, director of prize-winning documentary films, and [[human rights activist]], is her daughter.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://allahabaddekho.com/Home/Vijaya_lakshmi_pandit|title=Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit|website=www.allahabaddekho.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222092019/http://allahabaddekho.com/Home/Vijaya_lakshmi_pandit|archive-date=22 December 2019|access-date=24 December 2019}}</ref>

On 6 October 2015, Sahgal returned her [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] to protest what she called "increasing intolerance and supporting right to dissent in the country", following the murders of rationalists [[Govind Pansare]], [[Narendra Dabholkar]] and [[M. M. Kalburgi]], and the [[2015 Dadri mob lynching|Dadri mob lynching]] incident;<ref>{{cite news|last1=Ramachandran|first1=Smriti Kak|last2=Raman|first2=Anuradha|title=Nayantara Sahgal protests Dadri lynching, returns Akademi award|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/nayantara-sahgal-to-return-her-sahitya-akademi-award/article7730676.ece|access-date=7 October 2015|work=The Hindu|date=6 October 2015}}</ref> for this she was praised in 2017 by Karima Bennoune, [[United Nations]] monitor for cultural rights.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/un-body-praises-author-nayantara-sahgal-for-returning-sahitya-akademi-award-afte/303482 | title=UN Body Praises Author Nayantara Sahgal For Returning Sahitya Akademi Award After Dadri Lynching | work=[[Outlook India]] | date=26 October 2017 | access-date=28 October 2017}}</ref> In September 2018 she was elected as a Vice President of [[PEN International]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pen-international.org/news/the-84th-pen-international-congress-closes-in-india-with-a-focus-on-free-expression-and-women-writers|title=The 84th PEN International Congress closes in India with a focus on free expression and women writers|website=peninternational.org|access-date=2019-09-04}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
*''Prison and Chocolate Cake'' (memoir; 1954)
*''From Fear Set Free'' (memoir; 1963)
*''A Time to Be Happy'' (novel; 1963)
*''This Time of Morning'' (novel; 1965)
*''Storm in Chandigarh'' (novel; 1969)
*''The Freedom Movement in India'' (1970)
*''Sunlight Surrounds You'' (novel; 1970) (with Chandralekha Mehta and Rita Dar i.e. her two sisters; this was the daughters' tribute to their mother)
*''The Day in Shadow'' (novel; 1971)
*''A Voice for Freedom'' (1977)
*''Indira Gandhi's Emergence and Style'' (1978)
*''Indira Gandhi: Her Road to Power'' (novel; 1982)
*''Plans for Departure'' (novel; 1985)
*''[[Rich Like Us]]'' (novel; 1985)
*''Mistaken Identity'' (novel; 1988)
*''A Situation in New Delhi'' (novel; 1989)
*''Lesser Breeds'' (novel; 2003)
* ''Relationship'' (collection of letters exchanged between Nayantara Sahgal and E.N.Mangat Rai;1994)<ref>{{cite web | url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/book-review-nayantara-sahgal-and-e-n-mangat-rai-relationship-extracts-from-a-correspondence/1/293578.html | title=Lost labour | work=[[India Today]] | date=30 June 1994 | access-date=4 March 2015 | author=Alok Rai}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title=Relationship | publisher=Harper Collins | author=Nayantara Sahgal, E.N.Mangat Rai | pages=336 | isbn=9788172236823}}</ref>
* ''[[Before freedom: Nehru's letters to his sister 1909-1947]]'' (edited by Nayantara Sahgal)
*''The Fate of Butterflies'' (novella; 2019)

==See also==
*[[Nehru-Gandhi family]]
*[[List of political families|Political Families of The World]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Ritu Menon, "Out of line: A literary and political biography of Nayantara Sahgal. 2014".<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.thehindu.com/books/literary-review/biography-of-nayantara-sahgal-by-ritu-menon/article6555161.ece | title=Snippets from a rich life | publisher=The Hindu | work=Review of the book "Out of line: A literary and political biography of Nayantara Sahgal" | date=2 November 2014 | access-date=4 March 2015 | author=SONYA DUTTA CHOUDHURY}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/HCI6K55tOVycDYnfqIKDPP/Book-Review--Out-Of-Line.html | title=Book Review "Out Of Line" | agency=Live mint | access-date=4 March 2015 | author=Vivek Menezes}}</ref>
*Asha Choubey, "The Fictional Milieu of Nayantara Sahgal: A Feminist Perspective. New Delhi: Classical. 2002."
*Asha Choubey, "A Champion's Cause: A Feminist Study of Nayantara Sahgal's Fiction with Special Reference to Her Last Three Novels".

{{Sahitya Akademi Award for English}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Wikiquote}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sahgal, Nayantara}}
[[Category:Writers from Allahabad]]
[[Category:1927 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Writers from Dehradun]]
[[Category:Wellesley College alumni]]
[[Category:Kashmiri people]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian novelists]]
[[Category:Indian women novelists]]
[[Category:Nehru–Gandhi family]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in English]]
[[Category:Novelists from Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women writers]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian women writers]]
[[Category:Women writers from Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:English-language writers from India]]