"I never decided that I was going to become a writer, it was never a conscious decision. I got married, I had no definite career, I had 2 children. I was restless with being just a housewife and mother, I was looking for a job. Then we were in England for a year, my husband was a doctor. I was very isolated there because he was at work all day and I had these 2 children and no friends so then we returned and he said ‘why don't you write about our year there?'. Then I joined a journalism course. I loved writing, I felt at home with it…so I think in one way I stumbled into it but I really think of it this way as writing was something which was waiting for me along the line and then I reached that point, and then I knew what my life was going to be about."
- Shashi Deshpande

Shashi Deshpande began her career with short stories, but has since gone on to write children's books and many novels. Her subjects are the realities of women's lives and the truths that lie behind their silence. Deshpande is tuned in to the voices behind the silence.

"I think my style is really a very simple and stark style, which rarely draws attention to itself. I think I'm always very wary of melodrama, from florid flourishes. We have a particular problem of writing in English which is not really our mother tongue, but I find that writing in English suits me fine. It's a very utilitarian language and I think Indian languages are extremely flowery. I find myself much closer to English for my writing style and, of course, I use English in a very natural way."