Radhika Jha Biography and latest books by Radhika Jha

Radhika Jha, an Indian author, was born in Calcutta in 1970 and was raised in Delhi. She was educated at the Lawrence School, Sanawar and then did a BA in Anthropology at Amherst College that was followed by a Masters in Political Science from the University of Chicago. She has also stayed in Paris as an exchange student.

Radhika divides her time writing fiction and practicing/performing Odissi dance. In the past she has worked for Hindustan Times (HT) and BusinessWorld writing pieces on culture, environment and the economy. She has also worked for the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, where she founded the Interact project for educating children of the victims of terrorism in different parts of India.

Radhika is currently based in Tokyo with her husband and two children. She is fluent in Hindi, English, French, and Maithili.

Her works of fiction

·         Lanterns On Their Horns

Manoj Mishra gives up his PhD and shifts base with his wife to be part of KIRD - an institute that perfects artificial insemination, fertilizing the Indian cow with European sperm so that she produces more milk to end poverty in Indian villages. Meanwhile, in Nandpur (a remote village that has consciously decided to turn its back on modernity) Ramu, a villager marries a beautiful educated girl, Laxmi. A few weeks later Ramu finds an abandoned cow in the forest and adopts it. The two unlikely couples meet when Manoj inseminates Ramu\'s cow with the European bull sperm. This not only results in endless trouble, as now what is at stake is not a cow or a human, but the identity of Nandpur, and of India, itself.

·         The Elephant And The Maruti

Set in Delhi and Mangladi, these stories, promise a fascinating ride through the lives of everyday people grappling with themselves and with circumstances they can neither fully comprehend nor control. A freak episode involving an elephant and a Maruti has unimaginable consequences; love, fear and intrigue come together in a heady concoction in a restaurant in a faraway Paris; and a reticent schoolgirl in awe of beauty discovers its darker side in a rather strange encounter. Radhika weaves a rich tapestry of characters and unlikely situations in this offbeat compilation of short fiction which provides a unique glimpse into desperate worlds.

·         Smell

After the death of her father, protagonist Leela’s family is forced to leave Kenya and move base. Struggling to survive, on the streets of an alien city, Leela discovers a very unusual quality in herself - an extraordinary sensitivity to smell. A seemingly harmless and useful attribute, it gradually begins to influence Leela’s every emotion and response.