Shakuntala Paranjpye (17 January 1906 – 3 May 2000) was an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

writer, actress and a prominent social worker. She was a member of

Maharashtra Legislative Council The Maharashtra Legislative Council or Maharashtra Vidhan Parishad is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of Maharashtra state in western India. Maharashtra Legislature Leaders Party Group Leader & Chief Whip and Whip Location Th ...

during 1958–64, and served as nominated member of

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

during 1964–70. In 1991, she was awarded

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 Januar ...

, the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, as recognition of her significant contributions in colonial and post colonial period particularly pioneering work in the field of

family planning Family planning is the consideration of the number of children a person wishes to have, including the choice to have no children, and the age at which they wish to have them. Things that may play a role on family planning decisions include marit ...

Biography

Shakuntala Paranjpye was the daughter of Sir R. P. Paranjpye, the first Indian to be

Senior Wrangler The Senior Wrangler is the top mathematics undergraduate at the University of Cambridge in England, a position which has been described as "the greatest intellectual achievement attainable in Britain". Specifically, it is the person who achiev ...

at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, an educationist, and India's High Commissioner to Australia during 1944–1947. Shakuntala studied for the

Mathematical Tripos The Mathematical Tripos is the mathematics course that is taught in the Faculty of Mathematics, University of Cambridge, Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. Origin In its classical nineteenth-century form, the tripos was a di ...

Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicen ...

. She graduated there in 1929. She received a Diploma in Education from

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

the next year. Shakuntala worked in the 1930s with the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is one of the firs ...

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, Switzerland.Sai speak!
The Times of India,8 July 2002. In the 1930s and 1940s, she also acted in some

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

and

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

movies. Shakuntala wrote many plays, sketches, and novels in

. Some of her work was in English. A Hindi children's movie, ''

Yeh Hai Chakkad Bakkad Bumbe Bo ''Yeh Hai Chakkad Bakkad Bumbe Bo'' (also known as ''The Sensational Six'') is a 2003 Indian children's film directed by Sridhar Rangayan, and written by Vijay Tendulkar and Sushma Bakshi. The film is based on a short story by Shakuntala Paranjp ...

'', which was based on a Marathi story by Shakuntala was released in 2003.

Personal life

Shakuntala was married for a short time to a Russian painter, Youra Sleptzoff. The couple's daughter,

Sai Paranjpye Sai Paranjpye (born 19 March 1938) is an Indian movie director and screenwriter. She is the director of the award-winning movies '' Sparsh'', '' Katha'', '' Chasme Buddoor'' and '' Disha''. She has written and directed many Marathi plays such as ...

, was born in 1938.Sai Paranjpye at ASHA
Soon after Sai's birth, she divorced Youra, and reared Sai in her own father's household. Sai Paranjpye is a noted Hindi movie director and screenwriter. She is known for her comedies and children's movies. In 1991, the Government of India awarded Shakuntala the

award as recognition of her significant contributions in colonial and post colonial period particularly in family planning.Padma Bhushan Awardees
Shakuntala Pranjpye, 1991, Maharashtra, Social Work. Sai Paranjpye, Arts, Maharashtra, 2006.

Filmography

*''Ganga Maiyya'' (1955) *'' Lokshahir Ram Joshi'' (1947) *''Ramshastri'' (1944) *''Jawani Ka Rang'' (1941) *''Paisa'' (1941) *''Stree'' (1938) *''

Duniya Na Mane Duniya may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Duniya'' (1968 film), a Hindi romantic thriller * ''Duniya'' (1984 film), a Hindi film * ''Duniya'' (2007 film), an Indian Kannada-language film * ''Duniya'' (album), a 1997 album by Raageshwa ...

'' (1937) *''Jeevan Jyoti'' (1937) *''

Kunku ''Kunku'' (Marathi title) is a 1937 Indian Marathi-language classic social drama film directed by V. Shantaram, and based on the novel, ''Na Patnari Goshta'' by Narayan Hari Apte, who also wrote film's screenplay. The film was simultaneousl ...

'' (1937) *''Sultana Chand Biwi'' (1937) *''Bahadur Beti'' (1935) *''Kali Waghan'' (1935) *''Typist Girl'' (1935) *''Bhakta Prahlad'' (1934) *''Bhedi Rajkumar'' (1934) *''Partha Kumar'' (1934) *'' Sairandhri'' (1933)

Authorship

*''Three years in Australia'', (English), Poona, 1951 * ''Sense and nonsense'', (English), New Delhi, Orient Longman, 197

* ''Kāhi Āmbat, Kāhi Goad'', (Marathi), Pune, Śrīvidyā Prakāshan, 1979. * ''Desh-Videshichyā Lok-Kathā'', (Marathi)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paranjpye, Shakuntala 1906 births 2000 deaths Marathi-language writers Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in social work Nominated members of the Rajya Sabha Indian women novelists Indian film actresses Actresses in Hindi cinema Actresses in Marathi cinema Indian birth control activists Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge Members of the Maharashtra Legislative Council 20th-century Indian actresses Marathi politicians Indian women dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Indian novelists Women writers from Maharashtra 20th-century Indian women writers 20th-century Indian educators 20th-century Indian women educators Educators from Maharashtra Dramatists and playwrights from Maharashtra Novelists from Maharashtra Women educators from Maharashtra Social workers from Maharashtra Women members of the Rajya Sabha