->BostonMensa: removed Category:Women ambassadors using HotCat

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removed Category:Women ambassadors using HotCat

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{{short description|Indian diplomat and writer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2018}}
{{Infobox writer 
| name = Nina Sibal
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| image = Nina Sibal.png
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| birth_date = 1948 
| birth_place = Pune
| death_date = 2000 
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| occupation = Indian Foreign Service
| language =
| nationality = Indian
| ethnicity =
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| education =
| alma_mater = Delhi University
| period =
| genres = Short story, novel 
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| notableworks = 
| spouse = Kapil Sibal 
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'''Nina Sibal''' (1948 – 2000) was an Indian diplomat and writer, known for her prize-winning novel ''Yatra'' and other English-language fiction as well as for her work in the [[Indian Foreign Service]].

== Biography ==
She was born in [[Pune]]<ref name=encyc>Shyamala A. Narayan, [https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=nGfMAgAAQBAJ&dq "Sibal, Nina"] in ''Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English'', eds Eugene Benson, L. W. Conolly, Routledge, 2004, p 1473.</ref> to an Indian father and Greek mother.<ref name=jaggi>[[Maya Jaggi]] in ''The Guardian'', 22 October 1991: "Maya Jaggi finds out why diplomat-cum-writer Nina Sibal feels her worlds are not so far apart".</ref> After an MA in English at [[Delhi University]] (in [[Miranda House]]) she lectured there for three years. She also qualified in law and studied French. In 1972 Sibal joined the Indian Foreign Service and started work at the [[United Nations]] in [[New York City]]. Later she told a journalist that this threw her into "the deepest culture shock".<ref name=jaggi/> Other postings included [[Cairo]] and three years as deputy director-general of the [[Indian Council for Cultural Relations]]. In 1992 she became India's permanent delegate to [[UNESCO]] in Paris, and went to New York in 1995 to be director of its liaison office there.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mirandahouse.ac.in/MirandaHouse/UserSpace/UserName/admin/DynamicFolder/2006-2007/Alumnae/AlumniBioProfile_Ninasibal.htm |title=Miranda House obituary |access-date=7 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510071252/http://www.mirandahouse.ac.in/MirandaHouse/UserSpace/UserName/admin/DynamicFolder/2006-2007/Alumnae/AlumniBioProfile_Ninasibal.htm |archive-date=10 May 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

She was married to the lawyer and politician [[Kapil Sibal]] with whom she had two sons. While both spouses pursued demanding careers they maintained a "transcontinental" marriage according to politician, diplomat and writer [[Shashi Tharoor]].<ref name=eleph>Shashi Tharoor, [https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=uqvpZutXN7cC&pg=PA254&dq ''The Elephant, the Tiger, and the Cell Phone: Reflections on India,, the Emerging 21st-century Power''], Penguin, 2007, p. 254.</ref> She died from breast cancer<ref name=eleph/> in New York in June 2000.<ref>[http://www.thehindu.com/2000/07/01/stories/0201000j.htm "Nina Sibal dead"]{{dead link|date=April 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}, ''The Hindu'', 1 July 2000.</ref>
A Nina Sibal Memorial Award was endowed by her husband. The All India Women's Education Fund Association gives the award annually to an individual who plays a leading role in an organisation using innovative methods to help disabled and disadvantaged children.<ref>[http://aiwefa.org/aiwefa-nina-sibal-memorial-awards/ Nina Sibal Memorial Award], All India Women's Education Fund.</ref>

== Writing ==
Sibal's fiction was noticed in 1985 when her short story ''What a blaze of glory'' won an ''[[Asiaweek]]'' short story competition.<ref name=encyc/> It was later included in an anthology called ''Prize Winning Asian Fiction'' published in 1991.<ref>Leon Comber (ed.), [https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Wt5iAAAAMAAJ&q ''Prize Winning Asian Fiction''], Times Books, 1991.</ref>

''Yatra'', a novel published in 1987, covers more than a century in the life of a [[Sikh]] family. Their movements over time reflect the title: "[[Yatra]]" means journey or pilgrimage.<ref name=encyc/> Critics comment on the book's [[magical realism]], especially with respect to one character's changing skin colour, and make comparisons with [[Salman Rushdie]]'s [[Midnight's Children]].<ref name=encyc/> The author uses mythical elements in her story.<ref>Chandra Nisha Singh, [https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=-0zLyqVqL8QC&dq ''Radical Feminism and Women's Writing: Only So Far and No Further''], Atlantic, 2007,</ref> Themes include the [[Chipko movement]], the history of the [[Punjab]], the origin of [[Bangla Desh]], and the heroine's search for a father.<ref>Ray and Kundu, [https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Ryn28K7m6ucC&dq ''Studies in Women Writers in English''], Volume 3, Atlantic, 2005, p. 224.</ref> The novel can be criticised for being too crowded with multiple themes,<ref name=encyc/> but overall it was generally well received. It won the 1987 International Grand Prix for Literature in [[Algiers]].<ref name=encyc/>

''The Secret Life of Gujjar Mal'', Sibal's collection of short stories, was published in 1991. The stories are set in a variety of different countries, some of them disguised with fictional names: Mulgary echoes [[Bulgaria]] during the [[cold war]], for example.<ref name=jaggi/> These settings are not used simply as political or colourful backgrounds but are intertwined with the lives and emotions of the characters.<ref name=jaggi/> As well as the title story the collection contains six other stories: ''By his death, Swimming, The face of Dadarao, Fur boots, Sanctuary'' and ''The man who seeks enlightenment''.<ref>[https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/1857081 Stanford University Library.]</ref>

Her 1998 novel, ''The Dogs of Justice'', is set in [[Kashmir]] and tells the story of a rich [[Muslim]] girl. It was less well-received than Sibal's previous two books, with one critic saying it did not live up to the promise of the earlier works.<ref name=encyc/>

==Works==

*''Yatra: the journey'', Women's Press, 1987, {{ISBN|9780704350090}}
*''The secret life of Gujjar Mal and other stories'', Women's Press, 1991. {{ISBN|9780704342712}}
*{{cite book|title=The Dogs of Justice|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AabzkmYFn8wC&pg=PP334|year=1998|publisher=Orient Blackswan|isbn=978-81-7530-021-7|pages=334–}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sibal, Nina}}
[[Category:Women writers from Maharashtra]]
[[Category:1948 births]]
[[Category:2000 deaths]]
[[Category:Writers from Pune]]
[[Category:Politicians from Pune]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian novelists]]
[[Category:Indian women novelists]]
[[Category:Indian women short story writers]]
[[Category:Indian people of Greek descent]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian short story writers]]
[[Category:Novelists from Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Permanent Delegates of India to UNESCO]]
[[Category:Indian women ambassadors]]

Nina Sibal - Revision history

->BostonMensa: removed Category:Women ambassadors using HotCat