Namita Gokhale

A novelist has the most prominent power to accumulate their thoughts in a paper through their magical words. Namita Gokhale is one of such novelists who has always put her optimistic thoughts in her compositions. Apart from inscribing books, she is also a publisher, editor, and festival director.

Namita Gokhale was born in 1956 in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. However, Namita was raised in Nainital. Over there, she lived with her aunts and her grandmother Shakuntala Pande. Namita has completed her degree in English literature from Jesus and Mary College, under the Delhi University. At the young age of 18, Namita decided to marry. Namita Gokhale is married to Rajiv Gokhale. Later the couple had two daughters. However, Namita delivered her two daughters when she was a student at the university.

Moreover, at the age of 26, Namita was expelled from college as she rejected taking lessons about the compositions of Geoffrey Chaucer. When Namita Gokhale was enjoying her student life, she started editing and organizing Super, which is a film magazine. However, Gokhale worked there for seven years, after which the magazine itself culminated. This end came up as a new beginning for Namita Gokhale. After this, she commenced to jot down her thoughts into a novel. She has composed a lot of fictional and nonfictional stories, which have gained recognition. Namita Gokhale debuted as a novelist in 1984 with her composition Paro: Dreams of Passion. Paro: Dreams of Passion is a fiction written by Gokhale. However, some other fiction compositions of her are Gods, Graves, and Grandmother, A Himalayan Love Story, The Book of Shadows, Shakuntala: The Play of Memory, Priya: In Incredible Indyaa, The Habit of Love, Things to Leave Behind, Lost in Time: Ghatotkacha and the Game of Illusions, Betrayed by Hope: A Play on the Life of Michael Madhusudan Dutt. Some nonfiction creations of Namita Gokhale are Mountain Echoes – Reminiscences of Kumaoni Women, The Book of Shiva, The Puffin Mahabharata, In Search of Sita, Travelling In, Himalaya: Adventures, Meditations, The Himalayan Arc: Journeys East of South-east, and Finding Radha: The Quest for Love. Namita Gokhale, along with William Dalrymple and Sanjoy K Roy, established the Jaipur Literature Festival. In 2002 she also organized the 'International Festival of Indian Literature-Neemrana.' Nonetheless, again in 2006 she again received the opportunity to formulate 'The Africa Asia Literary Conference'.

Gokhale has received several awards for her compositions. In 2017 from the Asam Sahitya Sabha, she received the Centenary National Award for Literature. In the same year, Namita also earned the Valley of Words Book Award, under Best English Fiction for Things to Leave Behind. However, for Things to Leave Behind in 2018 and 2019, Gokhale won the International Dublin Literary Award shortlist and Sushila Devi Literature Award under the category 'Best Book of Fiction Written by a Woman Author' respectively. Namita Gokhale is a fighter as she has fought and won the battle against a disease like Cancer.