Veteran Author And St Xavier's Professor Nisha da Cunha Dies At 92 In Mumbai

Veteran author and former head of the English Literature department at St Xavier's College, Nisha da Cunha, passed away at her residence in Mumbai on Tuesday evening. She was 92 years old.

Born into a Gujarati political family in Delhi as the daughter of former finance and home minister H.M. Patel, da Cunha spent her early years in a home filled with books. She began her career in education at Miranda House in Delhi, where she taught English literature for five years before moving to Mumbai.

Her relocation to Mumbai followed her marriage to late advertising veteran Sylvester da Cunha. She subsequently joined St Xavier's College, where she taught English literature for 25 years before retiring as department head in 1985. Over her quarter-century at St Xavier's College, she taught numerous students who went on to prominent literary careers, including author and columnist Shobhaa De and city history columnist Meher Marfatia.

Following her retirement from academia, da Cunha embarked on a writing career encouraged by former diplomat A.D. Gorwala, whom she visited daily to read to post-retirement. She collaborated with David Davidar, a founding member of Penguin India, to publish her debut short story collection, "Old Cypress: Stories," in 1991. The launch of the book took place at her cottage-like home in Mumbai.

Da Cunha went on to publish several acclaimed fiction collections, including "The Permanence of Grief" in 1993, "Set My Heart in Aspic" in 1997, and "No Black, No White: Short Stories" in 2001. Writer and translator Shanta Gokhale paid tribute to da Cunha's lyrical prose, craft, and distinct literary voice.

At the time of her passing, an adaptation of her short story "Old Cypress" was being prepared for the screen. Her son, adman and playwright Rahul da Cunha, along with actor-director Bugs Bhargava Krishna, were planning to begin shooting the film project in October, with plans to release it in both Hindi and English.