Mridula Sinha

Mridula Sinha was a Hindi writer and the first woman to serve as Governor of Goa. She was named for the Padma Shri posthumously in 2021 in the field of literature and education, from Bihar ^[1].

Teacher

Sinha was born on 27 November 1942 ^[2]. She went to school at the Balika Vidyapeeth in Lakhisarai and took a master’s degree in psychology and a degree in education from Bihar University ^[2]. She taught at Dr S. K. Sinha Women’s College in Motihari, and later set up a school, Bhartiya Shishu Mandir ^[2].

Writer

She began writing as a student, and went on to publish more than 64 books of stories, novels, biographies and articles ^[2]. Her writing gave fresh life to folk culture, songs and tales ^[2]. She told the stories of Sita, Mandodari, Ahalya and Tara in the first person, and these books have been translated into many Indian languages and English ^[2]. Her novels Gharvas and Jyon Mehndi ko Rang took up questions of equality for women ^[2]. Bihar University gave her an honorary DLitt in 2015 ^[2].

Public life

In 1977 she became a constituency convenor, and in 1980, after the Bharatiya Janata Party was formed, co-convener of its women’s wing ^[2]. She later served three terms as its national president, and as a national vice-president of the party ^[2]. In 2014 she became Governor of Goa, serving a full term, and she was named an ambassador of the Swachh Bharat campaign ^[2].

Mridula Sinha died on 18 November 2020 ^[2].