Eminent author, journalist Gita Mehta dies at 80
Gita Mehta had extensively covered the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh as a war correspondent for the US television network NBC
Eminent writer and journalist Gita Mehta passed away in Delhi on Saturday evening.
She was 80 and was ailing for quite some time. Gita is survived by his son Ajay Singh Mehta.
Gita Mehta had extensively covered the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh as a war correspondent for the US television network NBC.
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Her film, a compilation of the Bangladesh revolution, Dateline Bangladesh, was shown in cinemas both in India and abroad. She also made films on elections in the former Indian princely states.
Born in 1943 to Biju and Gyan Patnaik in Delhi, Gita studied in India before moving to the University of Cambridge in the UK, where she met her future husband Sonny Mehta, who later went on to become president of the renowned publishing house Alfred A Knopf.
In 1979, Gita wrote her first book 'Karma Cola', a collection of essays on Indian spirituality and the perception of the Western world about it.
In 1989, she wrote her first novel 'Raj' where she discussed India's colourful history and culture against the backdrop of the Indian colonial past. 'Snakes And Ladder' written by Gita is among the most seminal work.
In January 2019, the government of India awarded her Padma Shri in the field of literature and education, which she declined saying it may be misconstrued due to the timing of the award as it had come just before the general election.
