Isha Basant Joshi (born Isha Basant Mukand nom de plume of Esha Joshi; 31 December 1908, date of death after 2004) was an Indian Administrative Service officer and poet. She published books under the name of Esha Joshi. She was the first Indian to be accepted into the "Bastion of the British" school of La Martiniere Girls High School in

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

.Uncivil Treatment
Shahira Naim ''The Tribune'' 14 November 2004, Chandigarh, India accessed July 2007 She was the first woman Indian Administrative Services officer of British India.

Early life and education

Joshi was born on 31 December 1908. After attending the La Martinere Girls High School,

, She went to

Isabella Thoburn College The Isabella Thoburn College (formerly the Lucknow Women's College and often called informally IT College) is a private multidisciplinary (humanities, social sciences, sciences, commerce, management and engineering) college for women in Luckno ...

and the

Lucknow University University of Lucknow (informally known as Lucknow University, and LU) is one of the oldest public state university based in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. LU's main campus is located at Badshah Bagh, University Road area of the city with a second ...

, where she gained her Master of Arts. She undertook higher studies in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

and then became a part of the

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the Public administration, administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. The IAS is one of the three All India Services along with the Indian Police Service (IPS) and the Indian ...

Career

The first woman IAS officer of Independent India, Joshi was posted as

Magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

and then as Assistant Commissioner in Delhi. She held senior and honorable positions in various departments and became the Commissioner-cum-State-Editor of the District Gazette until 1996. She served in senior roles in the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

. She edited a magazine before retiring from service in 1966. Joshi started her next phase of career as an author after her service as a

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

of India. She published a number of books under the name of Esha Joshi as well as a gazateer about

Bareilly Bareilly () is a city in Bareilly district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is among the largest metropolises in Western Uttar Pradesh and is the centre of the Bareilly division as well as the historical region of Rohilkhand. The city ...

under her own name in 1968. Her poetry was admired from several sources for its range of meters and "broader feminist mission".

Personal life

In 2004, it was reported that Joshi, who at that time was a 96-year-old widow, was being looked after by distant relatives in the servant quarters of a mansion on Kabir Marg in

. Following media reports, she was taken inside.The Lucknow Observer
January 2016 In 2016 a niece reported that she had died several years ago.

Major works

* ''Bareilly'' Gazateer in 1968. * ''The Jewel in the Case and other stories'', Esha Joshi at Alibris.com
accessed July 2007 * ''Spindrift: Poems'', , 1994, Writers Workshop * ''Sanctuary'', poems, 1987

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joshi, Isha Basant 1908 births Year of death missing La Martinière College, Lucknow alumni Indian women short story writers 20th-century Indian women writers Indian civil servants Writers from Lucknow University of Lucknow alumni Indian editors Indian magazine editors 20th-century Indian poets 20th-century Indian short story writers Women writers from Uttar Pradesh Indian women poets Indian women magazine editors 20th-century Indian women civil servants 20th-century Indian civil servants