Manjula Padmanabhan (born 23 June 1953) is an Indian playwright, journalist, comic strip artist, and children's book author. Her works explore science, technology, gender, and international inequalities.

Life

Padmanabhan was born in Delhi in 1953 to an Indian diplomat father. She was raised in Sweden, Pakistan, and Thailand. She was an avid reader of comics and cartoons, and often drew and wrote as a child. When Padmanabhan was sixteen, her father retired and her family returned to India, where she was surprised by the more traditional society and was limited by not knowing Hindi or Marathi. Padmanabhan attended

Elphinstone College Elphinstone College is one of the constituent colleges of Dr. Homi Bhabha State University, a state cluster university. Established in 1823, it is one of the oldest colleges in Mumbai. It played a major role in shaping and developing the edu ...

. While at school, she worked at

Parsiana ''Parsiana'', is a semi-monthly magazine written in English and published in Bombay for the Zoroastrian community. As of 2019, it was in its 55th year of publication. History 1960s and 1970s ''Parsiana'' was founded in Bombay in November 19 ...

to gain financial independence from her family.

Career and works

Padmanabhan continued working as a journalist and book reviewer into her 20s and 30s. She began her career as an illustrator in 1979 with Ali Baig's book ''Indrani and the Enchanted Jungle''. In 1982, Padmanabhan created a comic strip, ''Doubletalk'', which featured the female character Suki. She wrote a pitch to ''

The Sunday Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'' editor Vinod Mehta, who published her strip for many years. Suki then appeared six days a week in Delhi paper'' The Pioneer'' from 1992 to 1998. When Vinod Mehta left the publications and ''The Pioneer'' stopped publishing comics, Padmanabhan stopped creating ''Doubletalk.'' Padmanabhan won the first ever Onassis Award for her play ''

Harvest Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most lab ...

''. An award-winning film ''

Deham ''Deham'' (The Body) is a 2001 film directed by Govind Nihalani based on playwright Manjula Padmanabhan's play ''Harvest''. It has Kitu Gidwani, Joy Sengupta, Alyy Khan, Surekha Sikri and Julie Ames in lead roles. It is a futuristic story de ...

'' was made by

Govind Nihalani Govind Nihalani (born 19 December 1940) is an Indian film director, cinematographer, screenwriter and producer, known for his works in Hindi cinema. He has been the recipient of six National Film Awards, and five Bollywood Filmfare Awards. In ...

based on the play. Padmanabhan has continued to work as an author and illustrator, and has published short stories within many different volumes. Padmanabhan returned to creating comics featuring Suki with the strip ''Suki Yaki'' for

The Hindu's Business Line ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

As playwright

*2006 - ''Sextet''. * 2003 - ''Harvest''. London: Aurora Metro Books * 1996 ''- The Artist's Model.'' * 1984 - "Lights Out"Manjula padmanabhan. (2013, Aug 24). ''Mint'' Retrieved from Proquest.

As author and illustrator

* 2015 - ''Island of Lost Girls.'' Hachette. * 2013 - ''Three Virgins and Other Stories'' New Delhi, India: Zubaan Books. * 2011 - ''I am different! Can you find me?'' Watertown, Mass: Charlesbridge Pub. *2008 - ''Escape''. Hachette. * 2005 - ''Unprincess!'' New Delhi: Puffin Books. * 2005 - ''Double talk''. New Delhi: Penguin Books. * 2004 - ''Kleptomania: Ten Stories''. New Delhi: Penguin Books. * 2004 - ''Mouse Invadors.'' Pan MacMillan. Written under the name Manjula Padma. * 2003 - ''Mouse Attack.'' Pan MacMillan''.'' Written under the name Manjula Padma. * 2000 - ''This is Suki!'' New Delhi: Duckfoot Press. * 1996 - ''Hot death, cold soup: twelve short stories.'' New Delhi: Kali for Women. * 1986 - ''A Visit to the City Market'' New Delhi: National Book Trust

As Illustrator

* 1989 - Indi Rana and Manjala Padmanabhan. ''The Devil in the Dustbin''. London: Hamish Hamilton. * 1984 - Maithily Jagannathan and Manjula Padmanabhan. ''Droopy dragon''. New Delhi: Thomson Press. * 1979 - Baig, Tara Ali, and Manjula Padmanabhan. ''Indrani and the enchanted jungle.'' New Delhi: Thomson Press (India) Ltd.

Comic Strips

* 2015 - ''Suki Yaki''. ''The Hindu's Business Line''. * 1982-1998 - ''Doubletalk''. ''The Sunday Observer'' and ''The Pioneer''.

Short Stories

* 2019 - "The Rehearsal" in ''Displaced lives : fiction, poetry, memoirs, and plays from four continents''. Ed. Frank Stewart, series editor; Alok Bhalla, Ming Di, guest editors. Honolulu : University of Hawaii Press. * 2012 - "The other woman" in ''Breaking the bow : speculative fiction inspired by the Ramayana''. Ed. Anil Menon, Vandana Singh. New Delhi: Zubaan.

Autobiography

* 2002 - ''Getting There''

References

External links

Manjula Padmanabhan
at

Penguin India Penguins (order Sphenisciformes , family Spheniscidae ) are a group of aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adap ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Padmanabhan, Manjula Indian women dramatists and playwrights Indian comics writers Indian cartoonists Indian women illustrators Indian women children's writers Indian children's writers Indian children's book illustrators Living people 1953 births 20th-century Indian women writers 20th-century Indian short story writers Women writers from Delhi 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Indian female comics artists Writers from Delhi Female comics writers