Bio
Hema Devare is a writer and playwright. A gold medalist from Nagpur University, she has written fiction as well as non-fiction in English, Hindi and Marathi.
While serving as a cultural correspondent for Loksatta, a Marathi daily, she wrote a collection of short stories, Vitalat Gelele Dhag and a book Vishwa Videsh Seveche describing life in the Foreign Service (1993) which was the first book on the subject by a spouse of an IFS officer.
She has edited a catalogue ‘Saree Sutra’ that traces the ancient commonalities between Indian and Indonesian textiles. She followed it up with her treatise in 2016 titled Ganga to Mekong: A Cultural Voyage through Textiles which is a much researched study on the Indian textiles and their association and influence on the cultural mores of Southeast Asia.
Hema’s writing on cross-cultural themes is inspired by her extensive travels with her diplomat husband.
She has penned two humorous three-act Hindi plays titled Bahu Pardesh Ki and Anokha Rishta on the theme of relationship between Indians and foreigners.
Hema has to her credit two dance dramas titled Baliyatra and Swapna Sakaram on the themes of historical connection between Bali and India and Chola trade expeditions to China.
Her Marathi novel Rajnitichya Hindolyavar describes the life and travails of a lady Indian Ambassador.
Her edited Indian recipe book titled Curries of India is still popular in Korea after forty years of its publication
