Shanta Gokhale

Doctor of Letters

Thursday 10 September 2026 - Orator: Professor Martyn Powell

Vice-Chancellor,

I first met Shanta last autumn at the opening of the Krishen Khanna retrospective curated by Dr Zehra Jumabhoy and Kajoli Khanna at the NGMA in Mumbai. We were delighted that Shanta’s affection for Bristol was such that she jumped at the opportunity to attend. But the manner of her arrival also says something about her – rather than thrusting forward as the guest of honour, she sat back on a bench in the midst of the paintings, taking the spectacle in – it was only belatedly that I realised that she had arrived and was able to introduce myself.

Shanta’s delight in being presented with a piece of Bristol Blue Glass has also stayed with me – as did the speed at which she did some research into its history!

Shanta’s connection to Bristol came through her undergraduate studies. She studied for a BA in English Language and Literature in Bristol, followed by a Masters in English at Mumbai University.

Shanta has worked across a range of professions, including education, journalism and public relations. It is, however, through her formidable literary output that we know her best. Even her time as a PR Executive at Glaxo was pushed into literary service, providing material for her first novel.

I think we would recognise Shanta primarily as a woman of letters (there are certainly a host of prizes to prove it). As a writer, opportunity came with a piece published in the Times of India – before that she had described writing as ‘a kind of hobby for me’. Newspaper and magazine feature writing morphed into short stories, and from that point, it’s very difficult to pigeonhole Shanta as a particular type of writer. Her genres demonstrate remarkable breadth, including novels, short stories, plays, journalism, screenplays, autobiographies and translations – both from Marathi into English and back again. As an historian I appreciate Shanta’s historical works, which have primarily focused on the history of the theatre – including work on oral history in the Scenes we Made. In the theatrical arena we can also add acting and directing to what increasingly feels like the biography of a polymath.

Given where we are today in Mumbai, it’s important to note Shanta’s commitment to place through literature. She has noted the importance of Marathi writers to her, and her translation work includes some of the leading figures in Marathi literature including prose, plays and poetry. Both of her novels were written in Marathi, so it’s important to recognise Shanta’s skills as a bilingual writer.

The radical nature of some of her decisions is striking. The first novel was on extramarital affairs and her first translation was a novel banned in Marathi as it was regarded as obscene. The Scenes we Made focused on the history of experimental theatre in Mumbai. I’d like to think that some of that boldness was influenced by her time in Bristol – a city known for its radicalism. That said, I suspect it was already deeply ingrained – such as in the inward response to a Bristol tutor who suggested that it was important to suffer to be a great writer. Why? Seemed to be her puzzled response, later describing the approach as ‘romantic nonsense’.

In the lead up to the exhibition in the MGMA last year one of the most striking features was the way in which our new campus became intertwined within existing cultural relationships in Mumbai. But I have also enjoyed recollections of separations between the two cities – the rambunctiousness of Mumbai compared with the silence of Bristol’s libraries when she first came over as an undergraduate.  

Finally, bringing this to today with her new book Of Ancestors and Friends: A Life with Books, published in July. It feels so attuned with a cultural moment as young people everywhere vaunt their credentials as bibliophiles, often with totes bag emblazoned with bookshops. I’m not sure how big the bag would have needed to be for your first purchase in Bristol – The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer.

As I look around, I look forward to the hubbub of very noisy study spaces here. I’m sure that all of our students, both here and in Bristol, will be able to use your book, and indeed career, as a guide to a life full of reading and writing.  

Vice-Chancellor, I present to you Shanta Gopal Gokhale as eminently worthy of the degree of Doctor of Letters, honoris causa.