Shobha De
Encyclopedia
Shobha Rajadhyaksha known as Shobhaa Dé , Previously Shobha Kilachand (born 7 January 1948) is an Indian
columnist and novelist.
, India
. She completed her schooling from Queen Mary School, Mumbai She graduated from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai with a degree in psychology
.
in 1970, during the course of which she founded and edited three magazines – Stardust
, Society, and Celebrity.
Stardust magazine is published by Mumbai-based Magna Publishing Co. Ltd. and was started by Nari Hira in 1971.[1] It became popular under the editorship of noted journalist, author and columnist, Shobhaa De. [2]
In the 1980s, she contributed to the Sunday magazine section of the Times of India. In her columns, she used to explore the socialite life in Mumbai lifestyles of the celebrities. At present, she is a freelance writer and columnist for several newspapers and magazines.
Shobhaa De is one of India’s top best-selling authors. All her 17 books have topped the charts and created records. “Spouse – The Truth About Marriage,” that examines the urban institution of marriage, sold 20,000 copies on the day of its official launch in Delhi and is currently being translated into several languages.
De gave a new definition to the mass market best seller with her breakthrough, bold and highly individualistic style that spoke a new language. She is credited with having given birth to “Hinglish,” a heady, irreverent mix of Hindi and English, that spoke to readers in an entirely new way.
Four of her titles, namely, “Socialite Evenings,” “Starry Nights,” “Sultry Days,” and “Second Thoughts” are course material in the University of London. Her work features extensively in Comparative Literature courses at Universities abroad and within India.
An academic examination of her books titled, “The Fiction of Shobhaa De,” compiled by Professor Dodiya, features 40 critical essays by academics – Indian and foreign. Over a hundred dissertations on her work are in various libraries worldwide.
Recipient of several awards for her journalistic contributions, De writes prolifically for Indian and International publications. She runs four weekly columns in mainstream newspapers, including the Times of India and Asian Age.
She has been the writer of several popular soaps on television, including India’s first daily soap, “ Swabhimaan’. She also anchored a prestigious weekly show called ‘Power Trip’ which featured India’s Billionaires as never before. She participates on a regular basis on important TV debates, such as The EDITORS’ VERDICT on ndtv during the Elections 2009.
She is recognized as an important social commentator and something of an authority on popular culture. Outspoken and forthright, De chronicles today’s India in her own inimitable style. More recently via her immensely popular blog and Twitter account.
Her books are best sellers in several regional languages, including Punjabi, Hindi, Gujarati, Malayalam, Bengali and Marathi .
“ Bollywood Nights” was launched at the London Book Fair in April 2007, and for the American market in the same year, by Penguin International. The U.K. edition of her latest work, ‘Superstar India’ was published in April 2009. ‘Superstar India’ sold over 100,000 copies in India during its first year, to establish a new record. It will be published in America in September 2009.
“Glitzernacht”, was launched at the prestigious Frankfurt Book Fair in 2006, followed by 4 more titles in German, with an additional 3 to follow.
The first of her Italian books, “Sorelle” was launched in Milan and Rome, followed by “Bollywood Nights” in May 2007.
Her books are in translation in Spanish, Italian, German, Hungarian, Portuguese, Turkish, Russian, Polish and Korean at present. Her first book in its French edition was published by Actes Sud in 2010.
She was the chief guest at Chandigarh University, in 2007. Department of English, where she delivered the Presidential Address on “ New Trends in Contemporary Writing”
De has participated in several literary festivals, including the prestigious Writers’ Festival in Melbourne. The Writers’ Festival in Hong Kong, Singapore and Jaipur, besides the literary festival called Kitaab in Mumbai. She has been invited to the Kovalam Lit Fest as well as the first South African Festival of Indian Authors in September 2009. Dubai Lit Fest in 2010. Jaipur Lit Fest 2010. Hay Lit Fest in the Maldives in 2010. Karachi Lit Fest in Feb 2011.
There are over 50 dissertations on her work in publication.
She was a part of the official Indian Delegation to the Global Women’s Forum at Deauville (France) in October 2008
She was a keynote speaker at the Leadership Conclave in Delhi, October 2009 . The subject – “Has the Indian Woman Come of Age, Finally?”
She is regularly invited to participate in prestigious All-India debates, like the annual one in Kolkata, The Telegraph Debate.
Invited regularly as a leading television panelist on national issues by India’s top anchors, Arnab Goswami, Rajdeep Sardesia, Karan Thapar
Considered one of the top Opinion Shapers in the region
She is on the Readers’ Digest List – “ India’s Most Trusted People” published in March 2010, along with Ratan Tata and Dr. Abdul Kalam.
She is on the list of ‘50 Most Powerful Women in India” published by the DNA Newspaper, March 2010.
Features on the 2010 list of ‘ India’s 50 Most Beautiful’ in Hi Blitz
Her latest book is titled ‘Shobhaa at Sixty’ and has been published by Hay House in 2010.
2010 saw her emerge as a Publisher in her own right, with the launch of her own imprint by Penguin Books, titled ‘The Shobhaa De’ Book
She is the cousin of ace photographer Gautam Rajadhyaksha.
Indian literature
Indian literature refers to the literature produced on the Indian subcontinent until 1947 and in the Republic of India thereafter. The Republic of India has 22 officially recognized languages....
columnist and novelist.
Early life
Shobha De was born in a Maharashtrian Brahmin family in MumbaiMumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. She completed her schooling from Queen Mary School, Mumbai She graduated from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai with a degree in psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
.
Career
After making her name as a model, she began a career in journalismJournalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
in 1970, during the course of which she founded and edited three magazines – Stardust
Stardust (magazine)
Stardust is an Indian monthly Bollywood news and gossip magazine published in English and Hindi. It also sponsors the Stardust Awards.-History:...
, Society, and Celebrity.
Stardust magazine is published by Mumbai-based Magna Publishing Co. Ltd. and was started by Nari Hira in 1971.[1] It became popular under the editorship of noted journalist, author and columnist, Shobhaa De. [2]
In the 1980s, she contributed to the Sunday magazine section of the Times of India. In her columns, she used to explore the socialite life in Mumbai lifestyles of the celebrities. At present, she is a freelance writer and columnist for several newspapers and magazines.
Shobhaa De is one of India’s top best-selling authors. All her 17 books have topped the charts and created records. “Spouse – The Truth About Marriage,” that examines the urban institution of marriage, sold 20,000 copies on the day of its official launch in Delhi and is currently being translated into several languages.
De gave a new definition to the mass market best seller with her breakthrough, bold and highly individualistic style that spoke a new language. She is credited with having given birth to “Hinglish,” a heady, irreverent mix of Hindi and English, that spoke to readers in an entirely new way.
Four of her titles, namely, “Socialite Evenings,” “Starry Nights,” “Sultry Days,” and “Second Thoughts” are course material in the University of London. Her work features extensively in Comparative Literature courses at Universities abroad and within India.
An academic examination of her books titled, “The Fiction of Shobhaa De,” compiled by Professor Dodiya, features 40 critical essays by academics – Indian and foreign. Over a hundred dissertations on her work are in various libraries worldwide.
Recipient of several awards for her journalistic contributions, De writes prolifically for Indian and International publications. She runs four weekly columns in mainstream newspapers, including the Times of India and Asian Age.
She has been the writer of several popular soaps on television, including India’s first daily soap, “ Swabhimaan’. She also anchored a prestigious weekly show called ‘Power Trip’ which featured India’s Billionaires as never before. She participates on a regular basis on important TV debates, such as The EDITORS’ VERDICT on ndtv during the Elections 2009.
She is recognized as an important social commentator and something of an authority on popular culture. Outspoken and forthright, De chronicles today’s India in her own inimitable style. More recently via her immensely popular blog and Twitter account.
Her books are best sellers in several regional languages, including Punjabi, Hindi, Gujarati, Malayalam, Bengali and Marathi .
“ Bollywood Nights” was launched at the London Book Fair in April 2007, and for the American market in the same year, by Penguin International. The U.K. edition of her latest work, ‘Superstar India’ was published in April 2009. ‘Superstar India’ sold over 100,000 copies in India during its first year, to establish a new record. It will be published in America in September 2009.
“Glitzernacht”, was launched at the prestigious Frankfurt Book Fair in 2006, followed by 4 more titles in German, with an additional 3 to follow.
The first of her Italian books, “Sorelle” was launched in Milan and Rome, followed by “Bollywood Nights” in May 2007.
Her books are in translation in Spanish, Italian, German, Hungarian, Portuguese, Turkish, Russian, Polish and Korean at present. Her first book in its French edition was published by Actes Sud in 2010.
She was the chief guest at Chandigarh University, in 2007. Department of English, where she delivered the Presidential Address on “ New Trends in Contemporary Writing”
De has participated in several literary festivals, including the prestigious Writers’ Festival in Melbourne. The Writers’ Festival in Hong Kong, Singapore and Jaipur, besides the literary festival called Kitaab in Mumbai. She has been invited to the Kovalam Lit Fest as well as the first South African Festival of Indian Authors in September 2009. Dubai Lit Fest in 2010. Jaipur Lit Fest 2010. Hay Lit Fest in the Maldives in 2010. Karachi Lit Fest in Feb 2011.
There are over 50 dissertations on her work in publication.
She was a part of the official Indian Delegation to the Global Women’s Forum at Deauville (France) in October 2008
She was a keynote speaker at the Leadership Conclave in Delhi, October 2009 . The subject – “Has the Indian Woman Come of Age, Finally?”
She is regularly invited to participate in prestigious All-India debates, like the annual one in Kolkata, The Telegraph Debate.
Invited regularly as a leading television panelist on national issues by India’s top anchors, Arnab Goswami, Rajdeep Sardesia, Karan Thapar
Considered one of the top Opinion Shapers in the region
She is on the Readers’ Digest List – “ India’s Most Trusted People” published in March 2010, along with Ratan Tata and Dr. Abdul Kalam.
She is on the list of ‘50 Most Powerful Women in India” published by the DNA Newspaper, March 2010.
Features on the 2010 list of ‘ India’s 50 Most Beautiful’ in Hi Blitz
Her latest book is titled ‘Shobhaa at Sixty’ and has been published by Hay House in 2010.
2010 saw her emerge as a Publisher in her own right, with the launch of her own imprint by Penguin Books, titled ‘The Shobhaa De’ Book
Personal life
Shobha De met her present husband, shipping tycoon and business magnate Dilip De in 1981. He was a widower with two children (Radhika and Ranvir). Shobha (then Shobha Kilachand ) was a divorcee with two children of her own (Aditya and Avantika). The pair got married in 1984. She and Dilip De later had two more children (Arundhati and Anandita).She is the cousin of ace photographer Gautam Rajadhyaksha.
Books
- Shobhaa at Sixty"-2010
- Sandhya`s secret"-2009
- Superstar India - From Incredible to Unstoppable
- Strange Obsession –
- Snapshots
- Spouse: The truth about marriage
- SpeedpostSpeedpost (book)Speedpost is a book written in 1999 by Shobha De.The book is a series of letters to her six children, either grown, or nearly so. The subjects that she approaches through the medium of letters include: growing pains and adolescent anxieties about love, sex and friendship; religion and God; the...
- Penguin, New Delhi. 1999. - Surviving Men - Penguin, New Delhi, 1998
- Selective Memory - Penguin, New Delhi. 1998.
- Second Thoughts - Penguin, New Delhi. 1996.
- Small betrayals - UBS Publishers' Distributors, 1995
- Shooting from the hip - UBS, Delhi, 1994.
- Sultry Days - Penguin, New Delhi. 1994.
- Uncertain Liaisons - Penguin, New Delhi. 1993.
- Sisters - Penguin, New Delhi. 1992.
- Starry NightsStarry NightsStarry Nights was Shobha De's second novel. It is said that the novels' characters, Aasha Rani and her lover Akshay, were based on the real life love-affairs of Amitabh Bachchan with Rekha Ganesan and Dharmendra Singh Deol with Hema Malini...
-1989, India, Penguin, New Delhi ISBN 0-14-012267-2, Pub date ? ? 1989, paperback - Socialite EveningsSocialite EveningsSocialite Evenings is Shobha De's first novel. It describes a backdrop of Bombay high society and the lives of bored, rich housewives trapped in loveless marriages and engaging in ill-fated extramarital affairs, smug selfish husbands who use their wives more for social respectability than for love,...
-1989, India, Penguin, New Delhi ISBN 0-14-012267-2, Pub date ? ?