Sahgal, Nayantara (1927–)

views updated

Sahgal, Nayantara (1927–)

Indian novelist and journalist. Name variations: Nayantara Pandit. Born Nayantara Pandit, 1927, in Allahabad, India; dau. of Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit (1900–1990, politician and diplomat) and Ranjit Pandit; niece of Jawaharlal Nehru; cousin of Indira Gandhi; sister of Chandralekha Mehta (journalist) and Rita Dar; educated in India and US; children: 3.

Was writer-in-residence at Southern Methodist University, TX (1973, 1977), visiting scholar at Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University (1976), and fellow of Woodrow Wilson Center (1981–82); was member of Indian delegation to UN General Assembly (1978); works include Prison and Chocolate Cake (1954), From Fear Set Free (1962), A Time to be Happy (1958), This Time of Morning (1965), Storm in Chandigarh (1969), A Voice for Freedom (1977), A Situation in New Delhi (1977), Rich Like Us (1985), Plans for Departure (1985), and Mistaken Identity (1988); also wrote The Freedom Movement in India (1970) and Indira Gandhi: Her Road to Power (1982).