Academic Qualifications of India’s Famous Writers & Authors

In recent years we have seen an increase in the number of Indian Authors and their award winning Novels and books. But, ever wondered if writing was their first career? Many of these established Authors started their career in different fields and later realized their passion for writing. Following is a list of some popular authors with their academic qualification and their first career.

Anurag Mathur – Educated at the Scindia School (Gwalior, India).

He earned his bachelors degree from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, and his masters from the University of Tulsa. Anurag Mathur’s first career was in career in journalism and publishing.

Khushwant Singh – Educated at Modern School, New Delhi, Government College, Lahore, St. Stephen’s College in Delhi and 

studied law at King’s College and qualified as a barrister from the Inner Temple. He started his career as a Reader for the Bar at the Inner Temple.

Chetan Bhagat - Educated at Army Public School, Dhaula Kuan, 

New Delhi. Mechanical Engineering at the Indian Institute Of

Technology (IIT) Delhi (1991–1995). He graduated from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. Chetan Bhagat’s first career was as an investment banker in Hong Kong.

Arundhati Roy – Went to Corpus Christi School in Kottayam 

followed by the Lawrence School, Lovedale, in Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu. Studied architecture at the School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi. Arundhati Roy’s first career was writing screenplays for television and movies.

Shobhaa De – Done her schooling from Queen Mary School,

 Mumbai and graduated from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai with a degree in psychology. Shobhaa De’s first career was Modelling.

Salman Rushdie – Educated at Cathedral and John Connon School 

in Mumbai, Rugby School, and King’s College, University of Cambridge, where he studied history. Rushdie’s first career was as a copywriter.

Ruskin Bond – Done his schooling at Bishop Cotton School in 

Shimla and graduated in 1952. He wrote his first novel at the age of 17 and also worked as a journalist in Delhi and Dehradun.

Vikram Seth – Primary education at The Doon School in Dehradun, then he moved to Ton bridge School in England. He then 

moved on to study English at Oxford, in between he changed his course to Philosophy, Politics and Economics studying at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Earned his graduate degree in economics at Stanford University, California. His interest in Poetry led him to study creative writing at Stanford and classical Chinese poetry at Nanjing University in China. His first career was writing.

Jhumpa Lahiri – Kindergarten in Kingston, Rhode Island. She graduated from South Kingstown High School and received her

 B.A. in English literature from Barnard College in 1989. Later she received multiple degrees from Boston University: an M.A. in English, M.F.A. in Creative Writing, M.A. in Comparative Literature, and a Ph.D. in Renaissance Studies. Jhumpa Lahiri’s first career was a fellowship at Province town’s Fine Arts Work Center.

Rohinton Mistry – Earned a BA in Mathematics and Economics at 

the University of Mumbai. Done BA in English and Philosophy from the University of Toronto. He worked in a bank for a while before starting his writing career.

Amitav Gosh – Educated at The Doon School; St. Stephen’s 

College, Delhi; Delhi University, the Delhi School of Economics and St. Edmund Hall, Oxford, where he was awarded a D. Phil. in social Anthropology. His first job was at the Indian Express newspaper in New Delhi.

Kiran Desai – Primary education in Delhi. Completed her schooling in Massachusetts. Studied creative writing at Bennington 

College, Hollins University, and Columbia University. Her first career was writing.

Amit Chaudhuri – Educated at the Cathedral and John Connon School, Bombay. Graduated from University College, London, and

 was a research student at Balliol College, Oxford. He was Creative Arts Fellow at Wolfson College, Oxford, and received the Harper Wood Studentship for English Literature and Poetry from St John’s College, Cambridge. He started his career in the field of Literature and Academics.