21 Facts About Urvashi Butalia

Urvashi Butalia was born on 1952 and is an Indian feminist writer, publisher and activist.

Urvashi Butalia is known for her work in the women's movement of India, as well as for authoring books such as The Other Side of Silence: Voices from and the Partition of India and Speaking Peace: Women's Voices from Kashmir.

Urvashi Butalia was born in Ambala, Punjab, into a progressive and atheist family of Punjabi heritage.

Urvashi Butalia is the third of four children of Subhadra and Joginder Singh Butalia.

Urvashi Butalia has one [older] sister, Bela, and two brothers, Pankaj and Rahul.

Pankaj Urvashi Butalia is a left-wing documentary filmmaker best known for a documentary on the miserable conditions of widows living in Vrindavan.

Urvashi Butalia earned a BA in literature from Miranda House, Delhi University, in 1971, a Master's degree in literature from Delhi University in 1973, and a Master's in South Asian Studies from the University of London in 1977.

Urvashi Butalia speaks Hindi, Punjabi and Bengali, along with English, Italian and French.

Urvashi Butalia started her career working with Oxford University Press in Delhi.

Urvashi Butalia worked for a year at their Oxford headquarters, before moving briefly to London-based Zed Books as an editor in 1982.

Urvashi Butalia then returned to India and, along with Ritu Menon, set up a feminist publishing house, Kali for Women, in 1984.

Urvashi Butalia engages herself in teaching at the Young India Fellowship at Ashoka University through her course on women, society and changing India.

Urvashi Butalia has written on gender, communalism, fundamentalism and media.

Urvashi Butalia's writings have appeared in several newspapers and magazines, including The Guardian, the New Internationalist, The Statesman, The Times of India, Outlook and India Today.

Urvashi Butalia has been a regular columnist for the left-wing Tehelka and for Indian Printer and Publisher, a business-to-business publication dealing with the print and publishing industry.

Urvashi Butalia is a consultant for Oxfam India and holds the position of Reader at the College of Vocational Studies at the University of Delhi.

Kali for Women, India's first exclusively feminist publishing house, which Urvashi Butalia co-founded with Ritu Menon, was set up in 1984 as a trust to increase the body of knowledge on women in the Third World, to give voice to such knowledge as already exists, and provide a forum for women writers, creative and academics.

Apart from several newspaper articles and op-ed pieces dealing with feminist issues, Urvashi Butalia has authored or co-authored several books.

Urvashi Butalia is an associate of the Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press.

In 2000, Urvashi Butalia won the Pandora Award from Women in Publishing.

In 2011, Urvashi Butalia was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India.