Celebrated writer Ved Mehta passed away at the age of 86 in New York on January 9. He was born in 1934 in Lahore, Pakistan, and lost his vision at the age of four. He was sent to study in a school for the blind in Bombay, followed by another one in Arkansas, US. Mehta was a staff writer for ‘The New Yorker’ magazine for 33 years. In an interview, Mehta had stated that writing was partially a result of his loneliness. In his life, Mehta wrote several books - most notable among them were his personal essays - and was considered to be quite a luminary. Mehta authored 27 books, and was a member of the British Royal Society of Literature. He also taught writing at numerous colleges and universities. Some of his famous books are:
'Daddyji' (1972) - This book is a biographical portrait of Mehta’s father Amolak Ram Mehta, a distinguished Indian public-health officer. 'Mahatma Gandhi and His Apostles' (1976) - This book is one of the great portraits of Mahatma Gandhi. 'Portrait of India' (1970) - Portrait of India presents Mehta’s impressions of his native land - his first-hand report on India’s villages and cities, its religions, politics and wars, its poets, philosophers, maharajas, and priests. 'Face to Face: An Autobiography' (1957) - Mehta’s first book is his autobiography. He describes his lonely and turbulent childhood in India, acceptance to the Arkansas School for the Blind, the way his life changed after that, leading to degrees at Oxford and Harvard Universities and a fruitful writing career. 'Fly and the Fly-Bottle: Encounters with British Intellectuals' (1962) - This book is a collection of Mehta’s revealing conversations with some of the 20th century’s most important philosophers: Isaiah Berlin, Gilbert Ryle, and Elizabeth Anscombe. 'A Family Affair: India Under Three Prime Ministers' (1982) -The book recounts the political history of India since independence. Mehta holds that India, although the world’s most populous parliamentary democracy, remains a feudal society, organised around principles of caste and family.
