Kamla Mankekar

Kamla Mankekar (1928 (1928)[1]–2018)) 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]

Kamla Mankekar
Born1928
Lahore
Died2018
OccupationJournalist
LanguageEnglish
NationalityIndian
Notable worksDecline and Fall of Indira Gandhi, Breaking News
PartnerD.R. Mankekar

Life and career

Kamla Mankekar was born in Lahore, British India (currently in Pakistan), the daughter of Lilavati and Harbans Lal.[1] 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][5] In 1950, she started working for The Times of India, where she was a writer, sub-editor, and film critic.[4][6] She later worked at The Indian Express for five years.[6] She eventually went on to work as a freelance journalist.[6]

In 1958, she married D.R. Mankekar, author and former editor of both The Indian Express and The Times of India.[4][6][7] They would go on to co-author the book Decline and Fall of Indira Gandhi.[6][8]

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.[6] She was also the first chairperson of the Delhi State Commission for Women,[2][6] a member of India's National Integration Council,[6] 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]

After the death of her husband, she moved to California to be near her children.[4][6]

Works
  • Abortion: A Social Dilemma (1973)[9]
  • Voluntary Effort in Family Planning: A Brief History (1974)[10]
  • Women in India (1975)[11]
  • Decline and Fall of Indira Gandhi (1977, with D.R. Mankekar)[8]
  • Nagendra Singh, A Many Splendoured Life (1998)[12]
  • Women Pioneers in India's Renaissance (2002, with Sushila Nayar)[13]
  • Culture and Religious Traditions in Temples of Goa (2004)[14]
  • Breaking News: A Woman in a Man's World (2014)[15]

References
  1. Mankekar, Kamla (2014). Breaking News: A Woman in a Man’s World. New Delhi: Rupa Publications India. p. 14. ISBN 9788129131201.
  2. Sharma, 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. "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. 10. ISBN 9788129131201.
  6. "Kamla Mankekar". Rupa Publications. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  7. "Book extract: Decline And Fall Of Indira Gandhi by D.R. Mankekar". India Today. 30 June 1977.
  8. Mankekar, Dinker R; Mankekar, Kamla (1977). Decline and fall of Indira Gandhi. New Delhi: Vision Books.
  9. Mankekar, Kamla (1973). Abortion: a social dilemma. Delhi: Vikas Pub. House. ISBN 9780706902631.
  10. Mankekar, Kamla (1974). Voluntary effort in family planning: a brief history. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications.
  11. 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.
  12. 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.
  13. 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.
  14. 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.
  15. Mankekar, Kamla (2014). Breaking news: a woman in a man's world. ISBN 9788129131201.


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