Kamla Mankekar | |
---|---|
Born | 1928 Lahore |
Died | 2018 |
Occupation | Journalist |
Language | English |
Nationality | Indian |
Notable works | Decline and Fall of Indira Gandhi, Breaking News |
Partner | D.R. Mankekar |
Kamla Mankekar (1928[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]
–2018)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]