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BIO
Born in Ann Arbor, MI, USA,
US citizen of Goan origin, part-time resident of California
and part-time resident of Goa, India.
Has worked as correspondent, columnist, editor (magazines, books), lecturer, art critic, independent curator, novelist, and
creative- writing teacher.
LANGUAGE FLUENCY:
Fluent in English and Spanish, ability to translate from Portuguese, French and Italian to English, with
a rudimentary knowledge of Hindi and Konkani.
EDUCATION AND WORK HISTORY:
1980-1981:
- while still an undergrad majoring in Comparative
Literature and pre-law at UC Berkeley, worked as an exercise contributor, copy editor and proofreader for college texts,
Journal to Essay, by Nell Sullivan (De Anza Community College) and English Language Program, by David Van Becker
(San Jose State University). Also tutored students in Spanish, ESL, English, and French.
1981-1982:
- began working full-time as a technical editor and translator
(English to French and Spanish) in the Silicon Valley area for manuals and short educational
films .
1983-1986:
- Assistant
and Copy Editor to Dr. Saryu Doshi, at Marg Publications, a publisher of scholarly art journals and books in Mumbai, India. Content:
primarily art historical/art critical. Twelve hardcover titles, and twelve soft cover journals completed over this period.
Some of the hardcover titles during my tenure:
Goa—cultural patterns
Maharashtra (large section on Film and Theatre)
India and Greece—cultural
parallels
Jain Miniature Painting
Also received direct curating training
1986-1990:
- Founding Editor and Managing Editor, Mega-city, monthly features magazine on Mumbai, published first by India Book House and taken over by Express Group.
1990-2000:
- freelance writer. Worked as a features writer for Reuters
(Asia); contributing writer/interviewer for Illustrated Weekly, Sunday Magazine, India
Today, Times of India, and others;
- book editor and Supreme Court petition editor for the
environmental NGO, Goa Foundation; book editor for a number of individuals (fiction and non-fiction);
- proposal writer and fund-raiser for several NGOs
working with different aspects of community development in India.
- wrote the narrative for several short commercial and
documentary films
- set up the first ever platform in Goa
for Industry (via CII) and Environment (assorted Goa-based NGOs) to meet and find areas of common ground.
- wrote the preliminary proposal for funding and
sponsorship to Fundacao Oriente for assistance in the translation of the Portuguese Civil Code as practised in Goa into English
to serve as a model for the implementation of a civil code throughout India.
Also wrote the preliminary proposal for sponsorship of emerging Goan artists and curated their first emerging artist exhibition
titled “Imagine”.
- wrote numerous articles on the need to implement Article
14 of the Indian Constitution, which calls for the creation of an Indian Civil Code, with particular emphasis on rights of
succession, as pertain to women and children.
2000-present:
· wrote the Diasporic novel, Skin (Penguin-India
2001, Mercure de France 2002, Editora Replicacao 2006), which traces a fictionalized matrilineal history of the descendents
of a slave brought to India from Angola in the 1600s. It is a story that outlines some of the ugly realities of
the Portuguese slave trade in Goa and the resulting Diaspora, as well as Goan upper- caste
preoccupations and color bias.
· Have written a number of book reviews. Until
May of 2002, was a weekly columnist for the Gomantak Times, (wrote over 300 hundred columns primarily concerning political,
social and environmental issues. Periodic guest contributor to the mainstream Indian press (India Today, Femina, Man’s World, Verve Magazine, The Navhind Times, The Herald, Times of India, etc.) Columnist for Goa Today.
· I conduct several creative writing workshops
each year, some of them free (in schools), some sponsored (for children and adults) by corporate organizations, such as YPO
(Young Presidents’ Organisation) and cultural institutions such as Fundacao Oriente.
· Wrote the novel The Disappearance of Irene Dos Santos, the Grand Central Publishing (Hachette USA) Focus Title for
Summer 2009, Barnes and Noble Discover Pick, Winner of a Publishers Lunch Deluxe award.
· Currently in the process of writing a third novel Just Another Car Bomb (working
title), as well as a collection of short stories and collection of poetry.
Published Historia, Memoria e Imaginacao (History, Memory and Imagination) in the May 2011 edition
of the Gulbenkian Foundation Literary magazine, Coloquio Letras.
· Founding Director and Convenor of the Advisory Board to Sunaparanta—Goa
Centre for the Arts, a Dattaraj V Salgaocar initiative.
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