Ved Mehta, whose monumental autobiography explored life in India, dies at 86 Harrison Smith Ved Mehta, an author and journalist who helped introduce Americans to Indian history and culture, most notably in an epic 12-volume autobiography that melded the personal and political, recalling his childhood vision loss and the traumas of Indian partition, died Jan. 9 at his home in Manhattan. He was 86. The cause was complications from Parkinson’s disease, said his wife, Linn Cary Mehta. Mr. Mehta wrote for the New Yorker magazine for more than three decades, reporting on Oxford philosophers, Christian theologians, Noam Chomsky’s polarizing linguistic theories and the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi, whose disciples he spent years interviewing in the 1970s, long after the Indian independence leader was assassinated.
Ved Mehta, celebrated staff writer at The New Yorker and acclaimed author, passes away aged 86 Mehta was long praised by critics for his forthright, luminous prose with its “informal elegance, diamond clarity and hypnotic power”. Ved Mehta. Photo courtesy
Penguin Random House India
Ved Mehta, a longtime writer for
The New Yorker whose best-known work, spanning a dozen volumes, explored the vast, turbulent history of modern India through the intimate lens of his own autobiography, died Saturday at his home in Manhattan. He was 86.
The cause was complications of Parkinson’s disease, his wife, Linn Cary Mehta, said.
Associated with the magazine for more than three decades much of his magnum opus began as articles in its pages Mehta was widely considered the 20th-century writer most responsible for introducing American readers to India.
Ved Mehta, a longtime writer for The New Yorker whose best-known work, spanning a dozen volumes, explored the vast, turbulent history of modern India through the intimate lens of his own autobiography, died Saturday at his home in Manhattan. He was 86.
Associated with the magazine for more than three decades much of his magnum opus began as articles in its pages Mehta was widely considered the 20th-century writer most responsible for introducing American readers to India.
Besides his multivolume memoir, published in book form between 1972 and 2004, his more than two dozen books included volumes of reportage on India, among them Walking the Indian Streets (1960), Portrait of India (1970) and Mahatma Gandhi and His Apostles (1977), as well as explorations of philosophy, theology and linguistics.