Shobhaa De

Shobha De (née Rajadhyaksha, born 7 January 1948) is an Indian columnist and novelist.[1] She is best known for her depiction of socialites and sex in her works of fiction,[2] for which she has come to be known as the "Jackie Collins of India".[3][4][5]

Shobha De
De in 2015
BornShobha Rajadhyaksha
(1948-01-07) 7 January 1948
Satara District, Province of Bombay, Dominion of India
(present-day Maharashtra, India)
Occupation
  • Author
  • columnist
  • novelist
SpouseDilip De
Children6

Personal life

Shobhaa De was born as Shobha Rajadhyaksha[6] on 7 January 1948[7] in a Maharashtrian family[8] in Satara district, Maharashtra and brought up in Girgaon, Mumbai, India.[9] She did her schooling at Queen Mary School, Mumbai and graduated from the St. Xavier's College, Mumbai.[10][11][12] She married twice and has six children. Her second husband Dilip De is an businessman.[13][14]

Career

After making her name as a model and first working with Ashvin Gatha, she began a career in journalism in 1970, during the course of which she founded and edited three magazines—Stardust, Society, and Celebrity.[15][16] Stardust magazine, published by Mumbai-based Magna Publishing Co. Ltd., was started by Nari Hira in 1971 and became popular under the editorship of Shobhaa De. 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.[17][18][19][20]

Shobhaa De 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 second daily serial, Swabhimaan (first is Shanti).

De writes De Tour, a fortnightly column for The Week.[21]

De has participated in several literary festivals, including the Writers' Festival in Melbourne. She is a regular participant of Bengaluru Literature Festival, having been part of it since its first edition [22] and brand ambassador of Dehradun Literature Festival.

Controversies

The Shiv Sena has protested the publication of some of Shobhaa De's opinions, including the separation of Mumbai from Maharashtra to create a separate entity.[23]

During the 2016 Olympics, De suggested in a tweet that Indian athletes visit the Olympics merely to take selfies and spend government money. Her comment received widespread criticism from various quarters.[24]

In 2019, Abdul Basit, a former Pakistani envoy to India, revealed that a 2016 article written by De advocating plebiscite in Kashmir was under Basit's influence. De however, has denied any such involvement.[25][26]

Books
  • Small Betrayals (Forthcoming book) − Hay House India, New Delhi, 2014
  • Shobhaa: Never a Dull De − Hay House India, New Delhi, 2013
  • Shethji −2012
  • Shobhaa at Sixty −Hay House India, New Delhi, 2010
  • Sandhya`s secret −2009
  • Superstar India – From Incredible to Unstoppable
  • Strange Obsession
  • Snapshots
  • Spouse: The truth about marriage
  • Speedpost – 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.
  • Sisters – Penguin, New Delhi. 1992.
  • Starry Nights – 1989, India, Penguin, New Delhi ISBN 0-14-012267-2, Pub date ? ? 1989, paperback
  • Socialite Evenings – 1989, India, Penguin, New Delhi ISBN 0-14-012267-2, Pub date ? ?

See also

References
  1. "Shobhaa De, Penguin script new chapter". The Times of India. 9 April 2010. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  2. "How I became India Ki Lady Kamasutra". Times of India Blog. 3 December 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  3. "The Jackie Collins of India". Los Angeles Times. 1 April 1992.
  4. "Hooray for Bollywood". The Guardian. 3 May 2007.
  5. "Meet India's Jackie Collins, Shobhaa De". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 18 February 2013.
  6. "Biography". I love India.
  7. Dasgupta, Shougat (10 January 2018). "That Shobhaa De show: Godmother of Indian chatterati embraces her 70s with new book". India Today. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  8. Nandgaonkar, Satish; Rashid, Omar (14 April 2015). "My DNA is 100% Maharashtrian, says Shobhaa De". The Hindu. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  9. "70-year-old Shobhaa De's age-defying pictures will leave you stunned!". mid-day. 6 November 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  10. Akella, Swathi (20 June 2012). "Queen Mary School to cops: Save students from perverts". Pune Mirror. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  11. Sen, Debarati S. (12 October 2015). "My days in Xavier's were the defining years for me: Shobhaa De | Mumbai News - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  12. "St Xavier's College". Hindustan Times. 20 May 2008. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  13. Bobb, Dilip (28 February 2005). "Shobhaa De's 'Spouse' takes a hard look at Indian marriages". India Today. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  14. Daniel, Vaihayasi P (16 February 2005). "'Marriage is becoming like the dinosaur'". www.rediff.com. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  15. "Bio-Bibliographical Information Biographical references". Archived from the original on 27 October 2009. Retrieved 8 October 2010.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  16. Sai, Veejay (10 November 2010). "Veejay Sai Interviews Shobhaa De – India's Sexiest Sexagenarian". stewardshipreport.com. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  17. "-Pune Mirror". The Times Group. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  18. "-Mumbai Mirror". The Times Group. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  19. "-Ahmedabad Mirror". The Times Group. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  20. "How to be a chick: Magical detours in life -Bangalore Mirror". The Times Group. 29 January 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  21. "Columns". The Week. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  22. "Soak in the cultural extravaganza that's the Bangalore Lit Fest". 27 September 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  23. Nandgaonkar, Satish; Rashid, Omar (14 April 2015). "My DNA is 100% Maharashtrian, says Shobhaa De". thehindu.com. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  24. "This is what Shobhaa De said after getting slammed on Twitter for her comment on Indian Olympians". The Indian Express. 10 August 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  25. "Shobhaa De Denies Ex-Pak Envoy Claim He Influenced Her Kashmir Article". NDTV.com. 12 August 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  26. "Shobhaa De rubbishes Abdul Basit's claim that he influenced her to write article 'advocating plebiscite' in Kashmir". Firstpost. 12 August 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
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