Gita Mehta

Gita Mehta Biography

Gita Mehta is a Delhi-based Indian writer of Odisha origin. Apart from a well-known author, she is also a Documentary Filmmaker and Journalist. She is the daughter of the influential politician from Odisha, Biju Patnaik who served as the chief minister of the state during 1990-1995. Her younger brother Naveen Patnaik currently serves as the CM of Odisha since year 2000. Her husband, Sonny Mehta is also a media personality and journalist, who serves as the current editor-in-chief of Alfred A. Knopf and chairman of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Currently she shuttles through different cities, New York, London, and Delhi.

Gita Mehta was born in 1943 in Delhi, into a very influential political family. Her father Biju Patnaik remained a prominent political leader of Indian politics in the 1980s and 1990s, associated with Janata Dal. She married Ajai Singh "Sonny" Mehta, a leading journalist of the country. Her younger brother Naveen Patnaik is also a prominent political figure of Odisha, who has been serving as the chief minister of the state for the past 18 years.  

Gita’s education was completed in India and US, and started her profession in US in the early 1970s. She was a television war correspondent for US channel, NBC then. Right now she is a well-known figure of international circuit, who has produced and directed 14 television documentaries for UK, European and US networks. She has also done compilation work of Bangladesh revolution and a few more works to be shown in India and other countries. Her books have been translated into 21 languages. River Sutra and Raj are her published novels, while Karma Cola: Marketing the Mystic East and Snakes and Ladders: Glimpses of India are her non-fiction works.

Published: July 23, 2018

Updated: July 23, 2018