Esther David

Esther David Biography

Esther David Dandekar is a Jewish-Indian author, an artist and a sculptor from Ahmedabad. In 2010, she won Sahitya Akademi Award for - The Book of Rachel. Her first book, The Walled City was published in 1997. By the Sabarmati, The Man with Enormous Wings, The Book of Esther, My father’s zoo, Shalom India Housing Society and Sari Sutra are other published books of David. She has also edited a few books and has contributed a short story named The Worry Box and The Laughing Lady, for an anthology, 'City Stories’ and 'Nanki Chirai' in ‘Growing Up as a Woman Writer’. A web based audio-visual books for children - Gattu's Wildlife Adventures is another contribution of this noted writer.

Esther David was born on 17 March 1945 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat to Reuben David Dandekar, a hunter-turned-veterinarian. He is the founder of the Kamala Nehru Zoological Garden and Balvatika in the city of Ahmedabad. Her mother Sarah was a school teacher. As a child, she spent most of her time in zoo, in company with animals. She completed her schooling in Ahmedabad and graduated in Fine Arts and Art History from Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. It was during this time when she met Sankho Chaudhary, a renowned sculptor, who taught her sculpture and Art History. After graduation she started her career as a professor in art history and art appreciation in Ahmedabad. She has also worked as a faculty in Sheth C.N. Fine Art, CEPT University and NIFT.

As a writer, she started writing articles related to art. Very soon she became an art critic in Times of India and later began to write columns for Femina, a women’s magazine. Her first book, The Walled City was published in 1997. Shalom India Housing Society published in 2007 received positive response from critics. She is a single mother and grandmother of 2 kids.

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Updated: December 24, 2013