Sunita Jain facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sunita Jain
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 13 July 1940 Ambala district, Haryana, India
|
| Died | 11 December 2017 New Delhi
|
| Education | BA, MA, PhD |
| Alma mater | Indraprastha College for Women (BA); Stony Brook University (MA); University of Nebraska-Lincoln (PhD) |
| Occupation | Poet, writer, novelist, scholar |
| Years active | Since 1962 |
| Spouse(s) | Adishwar Lal Jain |
| Children | Anu K. Mittal, Ravi K. Jain, Shashi K. Jain |
| Awards | Padma Shri The Vreeland Award (1969) Marie Sandoz Prairie Schooner Fiction Award Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan Award Delhi Hindi Academy Award Nirala Namit Award Sahityakar Samman Mahadevi Varma Samman Prabha Khetan Award Brahmi Sundari Award Sulochini Writer Award UP Sahitya Bhushan Award The Vyas Samman Award (2015) D.Litt. University of Burdhwan, 2015 |
Sunita Jain (born 1940, died 2017) was an amazing Indian writer and poet. She wrote many books and poems in both English and Hindi. She was also a respected teacher at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.
Sunita Jain wrote more than 60 books. She also translated many old Jain religious writings into English. She won several important awards for her work. These included the Vreeland Award and the Marie Sandoz Prairie Schooner Fiction Award. In 2004, the Indian government gave her the Padma Shri. This is one of the highest awards a civilian can receive in India. In 2015, she received the Vyas Samman for her excellent Hindi writing.
Contents
About Sunita Jain
Her Early Life
Sunita Jain was born on July 13, 1940. Her family lived in the Ambala district in Haryana, India. Her family was part of the Jain faith. When she was a teenager, her family moved to Delhi.
Sunita finished her first college degree (B.A.) at Indraprastha College for Women when she was 18. Soon after, she got married in Delhi. She then moved to the United States with her husband. She lived in Ohio, Switzerland, and New Delhi for short times. In 1965, they settled in Stony Brook, New York. Sunita continued her studies there. She earned her master's degree (MA) in American English Literature. Later, in 1968, she moved to Nebraska. There, she earned her highest degree, a PhD, from the University of Nebraska.
Her Career as a Teacher
In 1972, Sunita Jain returned to India. She taught for a short time at Indraprastha College. Then, she joined the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT Delhi). This is a very famous engineering college. She became the head of the Humanities and Social Sciences department. She retired in 2002 as a Professor of English.
While at IIT Delhi, she helped her department grow a lot. She was important in adding new advanced study programs. These included Master's and PhD degrees.
Her Books and Writings
Sunita Jain started writing when she was 22 years old. She wrote many short stories, novels, and poems. She wrote in both English and Hindi.
Some of her English books include:
- A Girl of Her Age (a novel, 2000)
- A Woman is Dead (short stories, 1980)
- Eunuch of Time and Other Stories (short stories, 1982)
She also published seven collections of poems. Some of these were later put together in books like Sensum: Collected Poems 1965-2000. She even wrote a book for children called The Mango Tree (2002).
Sunita Jain also wrote her own life story in Hindi. She published five novels and many poetry collections in Hindi. She translated several important works. One was Premchand: A Life and Letters (1993). She also translated poems by famous Indian poets like Kalidasa.
Awards and Honors
Sunita Jain received many awards for her writing.
- She won The Vreeland Award in 1969.
- She won the Marie Sandoz Prairie Schooner Fiction Award twice, in 1970 and 1971.
- She received the Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan Award in 1979 and 1980.
- She also got the Delhi Hindi Academy Award in 1996.
- In 2004, the Government of India gave her the Padma Shri. This is a very high honor for Indian citizens.
- Other awards include the Nirala Namit Award (1980), Sahityakar Samman (1996), and Mahadevi Varma Samman (1997).
- In 2015, she was awarded the Vyas Samman. This award is given for outstanding literary work in Hindi.
Her Passing
Sunita Jain passed away in New Delhi on December 11, 2017. She had been battling a rare blood disorder.
Images for kids
-
Sunita Jain
